Personal Financial Advisors

AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
42%
risk level
POLLING
42%
Based on 422 votes
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
15.4%
by year 2032
WAGES
$95,390
or $45.86 per hour
Volume
283,060
as of 2022
SUMMARY
JOB SCORE
6.9/10

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Automation risk

42% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): Occupations with a moderate risk of automation usually involve routine tasks but still require some human judgment and interaction.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Persuasion

  • Social Perceptiveness

  • Assisting and Caring for Others

  • Negotiation

  • Originality

User poll

42% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 42% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Personal Financial Advisors will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?






Sentiment

The following graph(s) are included wherever there is a substantial amount of votes to render meaningful data. These visual representations display user poll results over time, providing a significant indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Personal Financial Advisors' job openings is expected to rise 15.4% by 2032

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2021 and 2031
Updated projections are due 09-2023.

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2022, the median annual wage for 'Personal Financial Advisors' was $95,390, or $45 per hour

'Personal Financial Advisors' were paid 106.0% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $46,310

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2022 there were 283,060 people employed as 'Personal Financial Advisors' within the United States.

This represents around 0.19% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 522 people are employed as 'Personal Financial Advisors'.

Job description

Advise clients on financial plans using knowledge of tax and investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans, and real estate. Duties include assessing clients' assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status, and financial objectives. May also buy and sell financial assets for clients.

SOC Code: 13-2052.00

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Comments

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Greer (Low) says
Over half the job is people skills. Convincing someone to do what’s best for them, even though it’s difficult or scary, requires a level of trust that you need a real human to cultivate. The investment selection and portfolio rebalancing are already automated to one extent or another. What people can’t easily get is EQ of a knowledgeable financial advisor who can help them stack rank their goals and allocate their investments accordingly.
Nov 06, 2023 at 11:07 PM
Jaye (Low) says
Although the technical knowledge and minor tasks can be relatively automated, relatability/communication skills are core competencies that would be very difficult for AI to replicate.

How can one relate to a line of code, or trust that the programmers inherent biases are not skewing the results?
Aug 31, 2023 at 10:51 AM
Larry Goldstein says
I am a 35 year old advisor. Most of my clients are 50+ and have no time or interest in managing their financial life. Every generation has do it yourselfers and that’s great. Park your tiny account at Fidelity put it in an ETF and keep crying about 1% fees. Truth is most advisors would never work with you anyway because you’re broke. you’ll never need to worry about true diversification. It’s only when you have real money that you need to consider taxes, income, stock options, ladders, covered calls etc. When the Internet boom happened, they predicted the end of advisers at that time, because every client would have access to the information advisors do. We’ll, how’d that end up working out? A.I has so far made my work life easier. If the worst case scenario plays out, I’ll find another job ✌️
May 21, 2023 at 03:57 AM
Ray says
A life plan advisor deals with how much does one need and when do they need it. That includes, a proper fitting portfolio/investment/product that deals with premature death, loss of ability to work, kids college, future retirement wants and needs, etc. Now, I believe serious individuals would prefer to have these needs dealt with by a caring, highly skilled individual with great interpersonal skills. A robot ones not meet that criteria.
Apr 08, 2023 at 05:35 PM
Jan Lu says
Addressing the broader issue of whether AI will replace not only finial services workers but also workers in general:

I’m completely on the fence when it comes to which jobs and when AI will replace the human workforce. I don’t underestimate the ambitions of tech producers and the average human being's preference for the quick, easy, and cheaper option to bring about such a situation. And let’s not forget how far technology has come since the Internet, let alone the simple calculator.

All this said we shouldn’t think that the scenario where AI could replace the human workforce is one that’s predetermined. “We” (everyone single one of us) have the collective ability to cause or prevent such an eventuality. We must also consider how viable an AI-dominated society and economy would really be. Every government across the globe would have its hands cut out with a population whose majority is unemployable. Imagine the civil unrest? Another consideration is the damage this could do to the economy; if a massive portion of humanity isn’t working, and isn’t getting a wage like they used to, we would see an unprecedented reduction in the flow of money around the economy. And what happens to money when there is a lack of exchange taking place? Doesn’t the value of money decrease? The financial advisors in this forum would be the best to elaborate on this or to correct my statement.

In conclusion: while I have no doubt that the ambitious tech lords and their acolytes will do what they can to bring about an AI world, the question of whether humans from governments to ordinary citizens will allow it is another thing altogether.
Dec 07, 2021 at 09:42 AM
David says
Honestly, this job feels like people coping/in disbelief mode like Librarian was in say 2004. "people will still want us and need us don't worry, we have personal care, robots or tech won't replace us". In reality, future people will simply skip the step of using advisors because there are too many free sources of data and the market is so easy a chimp could invest.

For example, look at what services SoFi offers on their brokerage it's revolutionary. When you first heard "stonks always go up brrrrr" then that was the exact point the financial advisors and other various staff felt the chill up their spine of oncoming obsolescence.

Like Librarians in 2004 though, if you have the job now you won't even consider retirement for 15 years you're good. Are Advisors being used by Millennials and Gen Zoomer? I really am beginning to doubt it highly, they will just put all their money in SPY, QQQ, SOXL, REITs and move on with their lives.

Robots didn't kill Advisors but technology did and the ETF.
Nov 14, 2021 at 08:16 PM
Dan Pimental Strategy says
Personal finance isn't interesting to everyone! And it doesn't have to be. But if you're neglecting your finances, it's likely worth it to hire. A financial advisor is not just someone who helps with investments. Their job is to help you with every aspect of your financial life.
Nov 10, 2021 at 04:26 AM
Mr. Daniel Pimental says
A financial plan creates a roadmap for your money and helps you achieve your goals. Without financial planning, future success cannot be expected.
Sep 23, 2021 at 01:43 PM
Personal Investor (Moderate) says
Robo advisors are getting more powerful and more popular!
Aug 20, 2021 at 06:22 PM
jeroen Arendonk (Low) says
Because people like talking to people instead of the computer
May 09, 2021 at 05:55 PM
GGF (Highly likely) says
I work in an investment firm in Mexico and we are already automating it.
Apr 22, 2021 at 04:32 AM
Jason (Highly likely) says
I’m a FA, most of my peers are simple sales people who offer nothing unique in the way of asset management. Everything they do other than “hand holding” during scary markets can easily be replicated by a computer interface. While this is important, people like me have developed systematic forward looking rules based algos that will and have protected client assets from large market drops. This will alleviate the necessity to “hold hands” - perhaps dim underestimating the value of human to human contact but I doubt it.
Apr 11, 2021 at 02:33 PM
Robot says
Robots can handle the admin tasks, but not the planning. Planning is more personal than financial. Good luck bots.
Dec 09, 2020 at 09:30 AM
Mitch (No chance) says
Just don't see it happening.

Lot of emotional intelligence in planning.

AI will just make planners better.
Jun 12, 2020 at 01:17 AM
Max (Low) says
People raised in an age of recession prefer to bank in person because they are comforted by seeing the place their paycheck and deposits go each week.
Jan 19, 2020 at 12:44 AM
chris says
I live in Africa - one of the most unpleasant daily experiences is a visit to the bank.

The staff are unhelpful and untrained, cannot answer simple questions and it seems the solution to a problem is to call the call centre which I could do from home.

A physical visit to the bank is deliberately discouraged by management - it is not possible to find a manager in a bank.

Not much fun and clearly a strong incentive by the bank owners to discourage visits which will reduce the number of staff required. I do not see 'brick and mortar' banking surviving.

Most questions are dealt with through the call centre and I see this as the future. This can be fairly easily changed to a 'press 1 for...' system which once again removes the requirement for staff.

The service industries such as banking are ripe for automation. I think Digital Banking will change the requirement for a visit to the bank. What do you think?
Mar 13, 2021 at 05:51 PM
Core (Highly likely) says
Financial robots have been used in companies for a long while. The analysis of personal data and big data will be the doorway for robots to enter personal finance.
Nov 25, 2019 at 02:02 AM
AI Robot (Highly likely) says
I'm coming for your jobs Financial Planners. Learning fast. Give me 10 years.
Nov 22, 2019 at 05:45 AM
Mr. Planner says
Can a robot provide life planning or financial therapy? Doubtful. Keep trying, bud.
Jun 12, 2020 at 01:16 AM
Will says
Sounds like you guys are financial advisors. lol
Aug 28, 2019 at 07:49 PM
Mr. Planner says
Sounds like you are in need of genuine planning.

All the best,
Mr. Planner.
Oct 22, 2019 at 08:15 PM
Mr. Planner says
Genuine financial planning has so much overlap with therapy. Helping people make the most of their lives with the money they have, is the job. This site needs to seriously reevaluate this ranking.

All the best,
Mr. Planner.
May 09, 2019 at 05:34 PM
Jim (No chance) says
My financial planner coaches me on life steps and how that will impact my money. These so called Robo advisors just shoot out a boring allocation like a target date fund.
Apr 13, 2019 at 07:48 AM

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