Would You Consider A Part-Time Career Helping Families Plan For Retirement?

1: We Do What's Right

We always do what's right for our clients.As I've stated, our moniker is "Advisor First" but that refers putting our Advisors ahead of management and the company, and treating our reps as actual people not production-machines. As for our clients, we put them first. In fact, my client website is named ClientFirst.pro.

“We believe helping people with the largest financial issue of their life ― building a lasting retirement income ― is a cause that reaches beyond our personal pocketbooks.” ―Michael

2: Low Barrier to Entry & Flexible Business Environment

1. Get started for the price of a license. We have very low expenses: $185 per month which includes compliance monitoring, and securities/Advisory/life insurance errors & omissions insurance.

2. No college degree, C.F.P., or previous experience required.

3. Work part-time. Set your own hours, go your own pace, work your own schedule.

4. Allow outside financial business (with approval). This means you can work in financial related businesses such as tax preparation, real estate, loans, car, home, health insurance, etc.

5. No production quotas or re-qualification.
Because our Advisors are able to work part-time with no minimum production requirements they don't need to "close sales" to survive, and thus don't look at their clients with "dollar signs" in their eyes. You can keep your job/career until you earn enough to go full-time (or don't).

"Less than 20% of hires, who cost as much as $300,000 to fully train, survive past year two and three on a four-year training plan.” ―Andre Cappon, a securities industry consultant, quoted in WealthManagement.com, March 31 2011

3: An Inch Wide and A Mile Deep

We believe in being "narrow and deep" in our expertise, instead of "broad and general".Specifically, we are focused on Retirement Income Planning. (We do a lot more, of course.)

"More wood behind fewer arrows.” ―Larry Page, former CEO of Google, quoted July 2011

4: We Have a Counter-Cultural Investment Philosophy

We do things differently, specifically our investment philosophy which is based upon the teachings of Nick Murray and Warren Buffett.
1. Investing is a long-term proposition. Short-term investing is speculating.
2. We believe in equities. Investing in the world’s great companies is the best way to counteract longevity-risk and inflation.
3. The most important factor in investor success is the Advisor who correctly modifies the client’s investment behavior.

5: Access to over 9,000 Products & Vendors

By being an independent firm and not being tied to a particular product provider, we can be impartial and truly do what's right for our clients.
We can offer: mutual funds, variable annuities, managed accounts, alternative investments, hedge funds, futures, private equity, REITs, opportunity funds, term life insurance, fixed products, living trusts, multi-custodian RIA platforms (Folio/Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, BNY Mellon/Pershing, US Bank, etc.), access to banks and Family Offices for high-net individuals, and much more.All from dozens of carriers and vendors. We have access to pretty much every financial product available in the independent market. In fact, we don't even have any proprietary products,

“Independent agents aren’t tied to one company, so they can offer you more options, saving you time and money.” ―Dave Ramsey

• See Our 9,000 Product List By Provider

6: Compensation & Ownership

Financial Advisors made a median salary of $95,390 in 2022. The best-paid 25% made $165,590 that year, while the lowest-paid 25% made $61,960.”* ―US News & World Report, 2024
However, in this business your income is based solely upon your work-ethic with no upper-limit.
Some of our compensation advantages:⬥ 100% pass-through revenue from the product-provider with no haircuts. Trails are paid when the product-provider pays them. For example, Jackson pays trails monthly, but some firms will hold the trails and only pay them quarterly (we pay immediately).⬥ Your upfront and trail/residual/fees payouts are the same. Some firms pay a lower commission on trails/residual/fees than they do on upfront revenue.⬥ When your commission level increases, the residuals on your old accounts are also paid at the new higher level. Some firms lock-in your commission rate forever based upon what is was when the account was opened. You do not need to re-qualify to maintain your payout level.⬥ We have a common-sense override system for those who wish to mentor other advisors.
There are many different ways of getting compensated: A-shares, B-shares, C-shares, F-shares, 12b-1 fees, Advisory fees, trails, renewals, residuals, additional contributions, etc. We offer them all. Below are just two examples:
Potential Up-Front Income From One "Sample" Middle-Class Family

^{*The revenue numbers above are examples for illustrative purposes only. Results are not indicative of your performance; which may be greater or less than shown. Mutual funds payout is A-share. VA payout is 7%. The commission rate shown is for a "newer" part-timer.}
Potential Residual Income

"If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you'll work until you die.” ―Warren Buffet, INC. Magazine, July 2018

^{*The revenue numbers above are examples for illustrative purposes only. Results are not indicative of your performance; which may be greater or less than shown. The average revenue trail of 0.75% is based upon mutual funds 12b-1 fees, variable annuity trails and Advisory fees.}
Another facet of residual income not shown here are automatic monthly investments. Every time a client makes an automatic deposit, you get paid.

Above is our success story, of which a majority are part-timers.

"I like a business that, when it's not managed at all, still makes a lot of money.” ―Warren Buffett

With us you can have your own unique website and custom email to use with your clients.For example, my client web site is ClientFirst.pro and the email I use with prospects, clients and the public is [email protected]. My clients never see my broker/dealer email address. In fact, the only place that Innovation Partners appears is in the appropriate disclosures - I am never promoting IP but myself.
⬥ Here is another example of one of our Advisors: TomHess.org

“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” —Tom Peters

7: T.E.R.S.H.

“Nearly 71% of New Advisors drop out in five years. “In an industry where 55% of new clients come through referrals and relationships… If you do not join an established practice with a senior advisor who is providing some mentorship, providing ways to be successful in this business you’re not going to make it to that sixth year.”
―Financial Advisor Magazine, January 2025

Our Group’s specialty is Training, Education, Resources, Support and Help – it’s what we do best. Our mentoring system is proven and documented. We believe in "open-source" ideas ― we share and give everything we have in that it may be useful to others. We freely distribute resources and encourage others to modify and improve upon them. Our culture is one of camaraderie and helping each other – this is the wonderful "cross-pollination" philosophy of our Group. You’re never alone and we’ll always support you.
What we don't do:⬥ No meetings on the weekends.⬥ No mandatory live webinars.⬥ No daily check-in calls, webinars etc. No micro-managing.⬥ No rah-rah or pump-up events.

“We are light on hype and heavy on training.” ―Michael

A small sampling of our resources include:⬥ We have a Telegram chatgroup called AdvisorFirst Dailies where I share 1 - 4 practical lessons every day. (Feel free to join - it's free and anonymous.)⬥ We have a private Telegram chatgroup for our Advisors where everyone can ask questions, answer questions and collaborate. No one is as smart as everyone.⬥ Our AdvisorFirst Wiki contains over 36 years of experience in one place.⬥ I send out a weekly Advisor Training Email Newsletter.⬥ I host a weekly live webinar called Monday Kickoff Meeting.⬥ Perhaps most importantly, I am always available as your personal mentor via chat, phone and webinar.

“In business, I found nothing came close to the impact of mentors. At every stage of my career, I sought out the most successful people around me and asked for their help and guidance.” ―Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi
“We believe a competent Advisor is a confident Advisor, and a confident Advisor is a productive Advisor.” ―Michael

8: Make A Complex Subject, Simple

“Everything should be made a simple as possible, but not more so.” ―Albert Einstein

Whether it's products, strategies, procedures, or philosophies, we believe that simple is almost always best.
Just one example is we use DocuSign for 95% of our paperwork. This dramatically reduces our administrative burden. Also, our new business process includes an automated trade blotter (meaning we don't have to do it) and our firm forwards the applications to investment companies for us. This is unusual in the industry.
Using Docusign e-signature also enables you to work remotely, including developing clients in other states without have to physically meet them (you must be licensed there, of course).

1. For more details read my Exploring the AdvisorFirst Business Model article.2. Subscribe to my weekly Advisor email newsletter. It includes a recording of our weekly Monday Kickoff webinar, prospecting/sales tips, Advisor book-of-the-week and much more.