Should I quit?

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this. I am 21, married, have 2 kids. Yes I know, I’m insane. Always wanted to get into finance and was offered a job at a retail firm to “build my own book”. Not one of the insurance pushers like North Western, they actually want you to build AUM.

I honestly am just completely lost. I am a year into this job, and it isn’t at all what I thought it would be in the sense that I am limited to what we can do as a firm due to compliance restrictions. I don’t feel like I am providing the best value to my clients, and I feel completely lost and alone.

I love finance itself, but don’t have a degree. Just the 7 and 66. I am studying for the CFA in my off time (not endorsed by the firm I work at). Should I try to quit and apply somewhere else? I have 3 years experience in different roles at my current firm, but feel like without a degree I won’t get far. Any input would be appreciated. Also don’t want to risk not having a paycheck with being married and having kids…..

4 Comments
 
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+1 - this is what you, OP, need to focus on. Getting a degree or at a minimum starting progress towards it. I would drop the CFA immediately - commendable but irrelevant for you right now - and enroll in a local community college to start getting credits. That's the cheapest way, IMO, to get started with some night classes or whatever your schedule will allow. You don't need a degree to be successful, but it's very limiting nowadays to not have one - in finance, it's a pre-requisite. 

Don't quit your job now - unless I'm misreading, it seems that they are willing to give you opportunities to do different roles which is a good thing. Do your best, do what you need to do to stay employed - I can't speak to the compliance item you mentioned, but unless the firm is doing something that's... shady.. keep plugging away. They may even be supportive of you going back to school to get your degree as well. 

I don't know what you are making , but some of the positions you described can be very low paying - you might benefit from looking around to see what is available. It's probably not going to be great, but frankly some wages I've seen for warehouse workers, UPS workers, etc. are pretty good and they might offer tuition assistance programs on top of it. Sure - it's not finance, but who cares? Supporting your family is the number 1 priority right now. 

 

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