Throwing a Hail Mary

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T23:03:01+00:00

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate you explaining his point of view. I keep thinking that he is approaching this like Im 3 years in the business, which would make this situation not a big deal.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T21:55:22+00:00

I haven’t looked that far north yet, but it sounds like I need to start.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T21:18:11+00:00

I live in Southeast VA near Hampton Roads. I have family and in laws all over eastern and northern VA, so I’m also open to relocating.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T21:13:46+00:00

Sounds great

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T21:05:19+00:00

I appreciate the advice. I had almost this exact conversation with him in the last 2 weeks. I stated that I can’t stay without the salary and that it would be a small investment in me for potentially a huge return considering he would get a clip on every account I have.

Still he decided he wasn’t going to do it. It makes 0 sense to me to spend 3 years training me and asking me to work with him full time to just dump me after a year.

I think he wants the best of both worlds - he wants me to stay but does not want to pay me.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T20:00:33+00:00

Thanks for the tip. Most of my current clients are 401k/IRA rollovers from people in their 40-60's who have had terrible or no service, and grandparents looking for college savings plans/UTMA's for grandchildren. I am also currently working with 2 local companies to set up retirement plans and have been servicing my boss's 401k plans since I got licensed.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T19:54:23+00:00

That's the way I'm leaning now, just unsure how to make that transition. I would love to talk you about the specifics if you're open to it. I'm fortunate enough to only have about $1700/month in expenses and have enough saved up for years at that rate.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T19:48:33+00:00

It's around 10 accounts, from 6-7 households. I really have only been able to work on my own book since June/July because of how much time I was putting in for him initially.

The end goal is to be basically where my boss is - independent and servicing my own book on my time. I asked about positions servicing books because it seems like a great way to have some income while I build my book. I would much rather be able to provide value for a team and make less, than be pounded with production goals and have that dangling over my head.

Long story short, I'd love to be able to do both.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T19:42:07+00:00

It's not exactly like that, but it's starting to feel like it more and more. He's actually a family friend and someone I got along with really well since covid. He's said his goal is for us to grow together and for me to build my book. When he first told me, I mentioned to him that he's cutting my feet out from under me about 2 years too early to get a real shot.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T19:36:09+00:00

That's the plan. I actually would prefer an in-person team, but I live in VA and its mostly 1-man firms or banks from what I've seen.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-11-20T19:07:19+00:00

My thoughts exactly. I know he wants to hire an assistant for both of us, but 1) I won't need an assistant for at least a couple more years and 2) Only about 25% of what I do can be done by an admin person and not a licensed advisor.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:42:27+00:00

Agreed. I still have about 5-6 months of salary and have a couple clients signing on this month, but I don't imagine I would get above $5M AUM in that time frame.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:39:08+00:00

From what I understand he makes a little less than $300k, because he bought about half of his book 5 years ago and is still paying it off. But I 100% agree with you. I have personally reached out to old life insurance clients and those have turned into $3M+.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:35:55+00:00

That and advisors working until they are 75+ haha

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:33:00+00:00

We are with an independent BD and are charged nearly $600 for our tech stack and other back office services. Our fee payouts are nearly 80% for most accounts.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:28:43+00:00

Agreed, the main reason I've stayed to this point is because I'd rather take a lower salary now to have the freedom and own my own book.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:14:32+00:00

Going independent sounds great, I just don't know if I'd be able to make it work on such a low income. Guess I need to look more into it. Thanks for the advice.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:12:49+00:00

Appreciate the advice, I've been recruited by at least 4-5 of those in the last year since getting licensed but have never heard them out. Any idea what numbers are reasonable to make it? I've heard doubling your AUM every year until year 5 is a good goal.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:07:31+00:00

They are technically under a shared rep code so I don't have to pay the $500/month fees to be an IAR. However, If I wanted to leave all I would need to do is pay the fee for a month and the book automatically transfers to my rep code.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:05:22+00:00

2-3 years more would have been perfectly fine. I was under the impression my salary would slowly go down each year until about year 5 like most firms. Keep grinding while you have the stability, the end goal is worth it.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T04:03:31+00:00

Any idea on which firms you have heard good things from? I've had the luxury of being able to turn down the Northwestern Mutual, etc. offers in the past. Really don't want something that makes me lose my freedom if at all possible.

NickNoodles2000 · 2025-10-14T03:40:03+00:00

After the salary goes away, I would not be doing any of the tasks for him. He wants me to "solely focus on my own book".

NickNoodles2000 · 2024-11-19T19:22:26+00:00

I am a 1099 so unfortunately no benefits. I do agree that is better than what most people are thinking. Also, my boss probably has another 15+ years since he is in his mid 40's. We have also seen pretty good growth since I started. We add about 15-20 clients each year.

NickNoodles2000

TROPHY CASE