Scott Tominaga – The Challenges of Working in the Financial World

Scott Tominaga has been working as a financial advisor for over 20 years and during that time he has encountered just about every thing that you can imagine from businesses going under to people making huge profits based on his advice. We caught up with Scott last week to have a chat about what working in the world of finance is like, especially focusing on the challenges that he has faced during his many years in the industry.

Experts

There is a worrying trend in the financial world where everyone believes that they are an expert. Much of this comes from the fact that in order to succeed in many financial positions, one must be brimming with confidence. In the role of financial advisor you must have a little bit of knowledge about a lot of different financial aspects. Unfortunately many of the people that you encounter in this industry are people who know a lot about one area and very little about everything else. This can be frustrating for financial advisors and can make their job more difficult.

The Internet

The internet has of course brought with it a huge number of benefits for the world but it can be a dangerous tool for people to use, especially when it comes to finance. Essentially a financial advisor offers advice based on crunching huge amounts of data, using experience and making decisions based on facts, yet many people believe that they know more than them because they did a quick Google search about oil futures or commodity trading.

Asking For Help

Much like what happens with doctors and lawyers, whenever people find out that you are a financial advisor they cannot wait to start asking you questions about their portfolio or how to create a better monthly budget. It its understandable why people will ask you such questions but the last thing that you want is to go for a family dinner and have everyone asking you were they should invest next.

Reputation

Many people tar everyone in the financial industry with the same brush which should be reserved for those who carry out unscrupulous acts which give us all a bad name. Wall Street for example was dirty for many years and it is only recently that they have began to clean it up. Not only this but the financial crisis of 2008 was of course attributed to the way that banks dealt with mortgages, and this also contributed to the negative reputation that people in business must face.  There was a time where those working in finance gained a great deal of respect but a select few have muddied the waters and now people who work in finance are often demonized unnecessarily.

The world of finance is a brilliant place to work but, as with a great many industries, it is not without its challenges.