Financial Planner
Financial planners help people work out what their money is for, then build a plan covering super, investments, insurance and retirement.
- Median salary
- $134,300
4.4%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 24,000
1.3%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +12.7%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- 3 out of 10
- Average hours
- 44/wk
+4h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
- Most financial planners work in an advice practice, a bank, an industry super fund or their own business, meeting clients in person and doing the modelling and paperwork between appointments.
- Mortgage and insurance broking each deal with a single product, while a planner looks at a client's whole financial position.
- You give personal advice under an Australian Financial Services Licence, either holding your own or working as an authorised representative of the licensee that holds it.
How much do financial planners earn?
The median full-time salary for a financial planner is $134,300 per annum, before tax, up $28,400 since 2018.
Income follows the fees your client book generates, so a planner on a salary inside a bank or industry fund and one running their own practice may earn very different amounts for similar work. Check whether a quoted figure is base salary or includes bonuses tied to new client numbers, and ask where the advice fee comes from, since it may be deducted from the client's super or billed directly.
What does a financial planner do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Sitting with a client to work out what they want their money to do, from a first home to an earlier retirement
- Building a statement of advice in planning software such as Xplan or Midwinter, with the reason for every recommendation written out
- Explaining super, insurance and investment trade-offs in language that does not need a glossary
- Reviewing a client's strategy when their job, health or family changes, and adjusting the plan around it
- Keeping files, disclosure records and continuing education up to date, because a recommendation can be examined years after it was made
What skills do financial planners need?
Employers look for investment and financial advice, regulatory compliance, financial analysis and modelling, backed by Xplan fluency and strong client relationships and advisory.
Specialist skills
- Investment and financial advice
- Regulatory compliance
- Financial analysis and modelling
Software and tools
- Xplan
- Midwinter
- Excel
General skills
- Client relationships and advisory
- Written communication
- Stakeholder management
Is the job growing?
About 24,000 people work as financial planners in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 12.7% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a financial planner?
Here's the path most financial planners take, step by step.
- 1Complete an approved degree
The education standard requires a bachelor's degree or higher approved by the Minister, usually in financial planning, commerce or business. A three-year degree is the common starting point, and tax, superannuation and investment subjects are the ones practices ask about when you apply.
- 2Finish a professional year
The professional year is around 12 months of supervised work, roughly 1,600 hours, with an experienced adviser checking your advice as you learn to write it. It is paid work, and practices that take on new advisers often start them as a paraplanner while the supervision is completed.
- 3Pass the financial adviser exam
The exam is set by ASIC and covers advice, ethics and the regulatory framework. You have to pass it within two years of starting your professional year.
- 4Get on the register and work under a licence
Personal advice is given under an Australian Financial Services Licence, so you either hold your own or become an authorised representative of a licensee. ASIC keeps the Financial Advisers Register of who is authorised and what they are qualified in, and clients do look at it.
- 5Keep your continuing education current
Registered advisers complete 40 hours of continuing professional development each year, and part of that covers ethics. Courses in aged care, estate planning or small business advice are a common way to specialise later.
Study routes we have checked
Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.
- Bachelor of Business (Financial Planning)
A recognised route into this role
Only degrees approved under the Corporations (Relevant Providers Degrees, Qualifications and Courses Standard) Determination 2021 count, so check the specific course is on the approved list. You also need the professional year, the exam and registration as a relevant provider; the degree alone does not confer registration. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
- Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning
A recognised route into this role
Only approved courses count, so check the specific course is on the approved list. You also need the professional year, the exam and registration as a relevant provider; the qualification alone does not confer registration. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Ready to apply as a financial planner?
Whether you're working toward becoming a financial planner or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a financial planner move to?
Moving into Stockbroker typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $3,600 a year more on average.
- Investment BankerRecorded move$134,300same pay
- Finance BrokerRecorded move$134,000−$300
- Mortgage BrokerRecorded move$134,000−$300
- AccountantRecorded move$104,200−$30,100
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Stockbroker Financial planners bring investment knowledge and client advisory skills, and the move into stockbroking needs only a short course. | +$3,600 | 47% | short course |
Investment Banker Financial planners bring client advisory and financial analysis skills, but moving into investment banking requires a new qualification.Known move | +$0 | 25% | requalify |
Finance Broker Financial planners bring client advisory and financial product knowledge, and the move into finance broking needs minimal retraining.Known move | −$300 | 64% | minimal |
Mortgage Broker Financial planners bring lending and property finance knowledge, and the move into mortgage broking needs only a short course.Known move | −$300 | 60% | short course |
Accountant Financial planners bring client advisory and financial analysis skills, though moving into accountancy requires a recognised accounting qualification.Known move | −$30,100 | 13% | requalify |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a financial planner?
The typical financial planner is 43 years old; 67% are men, 84% work full-time, and full-timers average 44 hours a week.
- 43
- Median age
- 33%
- Female share
- 84%
- Full-time
- +4h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a financial planner?
You'll spend a good share of each week in meetings, then about as long alone at a desk turning what you heard into a plan that holds up. The pressure arrives at predictable moments, when markets fall and clients ring, and at review time when a year of files comes due at once. If you like explaining a decision until the client can repeat it back to their partner, the work rewards that patience. It wears down people who want a fast answer and a quick win, or who resent the compliance load a recommendation carries for years.
What people like
- Your plan changes what someone can do. You often see the result, whether that is a client retiring when they wanted to or a family clearing a mortgage years earlier than they expected.
- Clients stay for decades. Advice relationships run for years, so over time you learn about the children, the business and the health problems, and each review is easier than the last.
- You get paid to explain. If you enjoy taking something complicated and leaving someone clearer about it, the client meetings are the part you'll look forward to.
- The work is yours to run. Experienced planners decide who they take on and when they work, and many end up running their own practice.
What people find hard
- Annual reviews land together. Client reviews cluster around the end of the financial year and the anniversary of each plan, so a quiet fortnight can turn into back-to-back files.
- Compliance sits over everything. Every recommendation is documented, disclosed and retained, and the file notes take time no client will ever see.
- People call when things are bad. A market fall, a redundancy, a diagnosis or a death in the family brings the hardest conversations, and you carry them with the client.
- The first years are slow. Building a client book takes time, and junior planners often spend their early years on paraplanning and business development before the relationships are theirs.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ financial planners?
Financial and Insurance Services employs the largest share of financial planners, followed by Professional, Scientific and Technical Services.
Top employing industries
- 1Financial and Insurance Services
- 2Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 43.2% | |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 26.4% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 18.9% | |
| Year 12 or below | 6.8% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 2.5% |
Will AI replace financial planners?
Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.
This job rates low for AI exposure, because what clients pay for is the conversation and the accountability held by a named adviser. Planning platforms already assemble portfolio data, run retirement projections and draft chunks of the statement of advice, which cuts the paperwork but does not decide what someone should do with their money. Learning the platform your practice uses well, early, pays off, since clients stay with the adviser who can model a scenario quickly and explain it plainly.
How a typical week splits
- Reviews, file notes and compliance records15% of the week
Meeting summaries, disclosure records and annual review documents are largely generated from the platform's data, with an adviser checking and signing each one.
- Writing the statement of advice30% of the week
Software now assembles the standard paragraphs and product comparisons, but the reasoning behind each recommendation is written by the adviser and signed off in their name.
- Modelling scenarios in Xplan or Midwinter20% of the week
Retirement age, contribution and drawdown projections run in seconds, and the judgement sits in which assumptions you choose and how you explain them.
- Meetings and discovery with new clients35% of the week
The conversation covers family, health, work and what someone actually wants, and no model reads the hesitation in a client's answer to a question about risk.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Common questions about becoming a financial planner
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do financial planners earn?
$134,300 per year before tax is the median for full-time financial planners, so half earn more and half earn less. Fees on the funds you look after and the size of your client book move that figure further than experience alone. Check whether a package includes bonuses tied to new client numbers, because that changes what a base salary is worth.
How do you become a financial planner?
You need an approved degree, around 12 months of supervised work in a professional year, and a pass in the financial adviser exam before you can give personal advice. A common route for career changers is to start as a paraplanner while completing the study and the supervision. Accountants and bankers bring useful skills across, but they still complete the same education and supervision requirements.
Are financial planners in demand?
Financial planners are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 12.7% over the decade to 2035. Focus your search on practices advertising a professional year or a paraplanning role, since that supervised year is what turns study into the ability to advise clients on your own.
What hours do financial planners work?
Full-time planners average 44 hours a week, and 84% work full time. Client meetings are often booked early or late to fit around work. Ask how the practice handles those hours and whether time off in lieu is offered.
Will AI replace financial planners?
Not in the near term, because the parts clients pay for are the conversation and the accountability that sits with a named adviser. Software does more of the drafting, data gathering and reporting, which frees up time and changes what a junior planner is expected to produce. Learn the planning platform your practice uses and practise turning a model into a recommendation someone can act on.
What can financial planners move into?
Finance broking uses the same client advisory skills and needs little retraining, and it pays $300 less. Many planners eventually run their own practice, where your income becomes the fees the business earns and you carry the cost of staff, systems and licence arrangements. Moving into accounting means requalifying, and it pays $30,100 less, which suits someone drawn to the technical side of the work.
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