Becoming an investment advisor was actually my first choice when I originally asked the question “how do I start my own business?” about 5 years ago

My corporate employment background is banking so I was pretty used to giving people advice on where to put their money… but the downside of banking was the amount of money I was paid in commissions was HORRIBLE compared to the guys who were doing investment consulting through their own licenses.

When you sell investments, whether they are stocks, mutual funds, cash value insurance policies, or even real estate, and you sell them through your own license, you make 20 times, 50 times what you would make if you worked with someone. someone else’s brokerage.

So I decided to get my investment license and started selling.

There are two big advantages to getting into the investment consulting business.

First, you don’t need to have millions of dollars to start investing. You can use other people’s money and you will be paid accordingly. For example, instead of starting with $100 a month with your own money, you could get a client who has MILLIONS in their wallet and would get commissions paid out in the Millions instead of a few hundred dollars.

Side note: You really have to be careful when managing other people’s money, because not only can they chase your license, but they will never refer new clients to you. That’s why you study and get licensed before making any recommendations.

Second, you are paid residual commissions each year based on the size of your portfolio. So let’s say it takes you 5 years to get $10 million worth of clients into your portfolio, and let’s say you get paid an annual residual commission of 2%… 2% of $10 million is $200,000.00.

Which means you will be paid LESS $200,000.00 each year that those accounts are in your portfolio. And if you’ve done your job right, that $10 million will turn into $12 million the next year, and $15 million the year after, and so on.

So, every year in a row, you’ll earn 2% on the new amount… so your residual income will grow exponentially every year.

So this all sounds great, right? But there’s a pretty obvious question that’s kicking around right now, which is…

“Arman, isn’t this a ‘bad time in the market’ for investments? Isn’t this a dangerous place to start my own business?”

And that’s a perfectly logical question… and the answer is no, it’s not dangerous at all.

Let me explain…

When I say investments, I don’t mean just stocks…or just mutual funds…there are literally hundreds of ways to invest and grow money. And there is ALWAYS something that works well. Your job as an investment advisor is to stay on top of what’s going well.

For example… The stock market and the real estate market behave in the same patterns. That is, if the stock market is not doing so well (at the time of this writing) it means that real estate prices are not doing so well either (which they are not at the moment).

There are 2 points I want to make about the stock market and the real estate “problem” going on right now.

First. Yes, it’s true that stock and real estate prices have been falling more lately than they’ve been rising…but if prices are down, that means it’s a BUYERS market.

So as an advisor, you will look for people who have the money to invest. And you EDUCATE yourself on what are the best options for your customers.

Second. When the stock market and real estate markets don’t do well, the gold and silver markets do. At the time of this article, the price of silver is up over 100% over the last 6 months. And you don’t have to take my word for it…just Google it and you’ll see.

So it all depends on how informed you are and how carefully you study the patterns of the economy.

Which brings me to my last point…

Starting your own investment business is probably one of the cheapest ways to start a business. Outside of the initial cost of your licenses and the cost of continuing education (which is less than a few hundred dollars per year), there are no other costs.

There are no products to buy from wholesale stock, because their products are the new account apps that will be provided to you free of charge from any product provider you choose to work with.

You don’t have to hire any employees for the first year or two because you won’t be doing much “maintenance” when it comes to the business. Just focus on building your customer list. The initial commissions from sales will be more than enough to afford a great lifestyle for you and your family. And the residual money under your management will guarantee you a GREAT retirement.

As long as you have a good understanding of the economics and the features and benefits of the investment options you choose to promote, you can sell MILLIONS of dollars in investments with the use of a pen and a piece of paper.

That’s how I started and actually continued to do business when I was consulting. I had a nice zip-up folder that I took with me to my appointments with some charts that I had laminated, and that was it.

Sold over $25 million in investments in less than 3 years of consulting. (Sadly, more than half of that was done when he was still benched)

If you have no problem sitting down in front of people and explaining investment concepts to them, you will have no problem making money in your own investment consulting business.

There is a reason so many millionaires are made in this business model…because the profit per sale ratio is SO huge. With an hour’s worth of work, you can earn $200,000.00. It is not a joke.

And if you’re really comfortable talking big numbers, you can earn a few million dollars on that same hour’s worth of work.

Pretty cool, huh?

I just want to give you some of the licenses you can get if you want to invest. These are not all the licenses that are available, BUT they are the most common and with them you can sell practically ALL types of investments. And they ALL have the potential to make someone a millionaire.

Life License – This is technically a life insurance license, but as the life insurance industry has developed, you can sell 70% of investment products with this simple license.

Series 7 – This is THE investment adviser license. With this license you can sell anything outside of Real Estate. Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Annuities, etc.

Real Estate – This one shouldn’t require much explanation. Obtain this license to sell Real Estate. I think if you are trying to sell commercial real estate you will need a separate license.

Also, if you’re looking for independent reading on the subject, here’s a list of some of the best books ever written on investing in the Stock Market, Precious Metals, and Real Estate.

Good luck.

Trump Strategies for Real Estate – Donald Trump

Warren Buffet invests like a girl. And why you should too – Warren Buffet

Rich Dad Advisors: A Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver – Michael Maloney