What No One Tells You About Being A Stock Broker

Lessons I Learned from My Experience

My fiance’s father was a stockbroker. He retired from the state and as an insurance agent. He now worked part-time as an independent stockbroker for an independent boutique brokerage firm. I was intrigued and asked him what was involved with his work, thinking it may be something I’d like to do as a side-job until I was ready to retire and be a full-time broker.

Paul (my future father-in-law) gave me a book on MacroEconomics and another on trade with China. He told me to read these, and we’d talk. I read them with interest and saw that most of the modern world’s growth was in the far east and developing countries at that time. There was a risk but lots of money to be made if a person was willing. We talked about my interpretations and discussed my financial theories and thoughts about the stock market in general. He was explaining how his job worked and how he made money for his clients.

In short order, he convinced me that he would take me under his wing and help me get started. Paul talked to the CEO over the brokerage firm, and they agreed to take me on if I could obtain the licenses, with Paul overseeing my work.

I learned that I’d need to pass the FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority)exams to become licensed. I would need the Series 6, which enabled me to sell investment company products and variable life annuities. I would also have to pass the Series 63 — state securities law exam to work. Paul’s books were quite dated, so I purchased new study guides and took online courses through Kaplan University. Their guides and online instruction, with quizzes, allowed me to pass these on the first attempt. These ran just under $2,000 combined. — Ouch!

The testing is done via the Pearson-Vue Testing Centers. These require registering your fingerprints, completing a background check to determine you aren’t a felon or have any record of financial crimes. You show up at the testing center at your pre-scheduled time and empty your pockets, have your palm scanned, and identity verified with two forms of identification. I tell people that even if…

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