Pros
The satisfaction of seeing client's protect their families and achieve fiancial security. The application of sound principles of financial planning - cover their bases with risk management first - accumulate wealth towards long term financial goals using sound investment principles and finally wealth / estate preservation and distribution in later years. Each client is different and each client's goals are different. Therefore the job is never boring and I get to meet and develop very intimate level relationships with many very interesting families and businesses. It is these realtionships that keeps me coming back every day and watching parents accumulate the funds to educate their children and hopefully to retire comfortably and to pass on their estate to their children or continue their businesses to the next generation pursuant to their wishes and not in a haphazard ill-planned manner.
Cons
Northwestern Mutual, as with many financial services companies, contracts their distribution agents and so these people are essentially self employed. Those who work for them, as I do, are employed by someone who is self employed. There are no standards as to employee benefits, compensation packages, written performance expectations, equitable treatment expectations amongst employees who sit side by side yet work for vastly different employers in vastly different practices. So one can never be certain that you are being rewarded commensurate with effort, intellect or contribution when the person sitting next to you may be getting a higher salary because she is family to her employer - because she wears shorter skirts...for example. There are no career advancement opportunities for an Associate Financial Rep. at Northwestern Mutual so if you are not happy now, it is not likely that things will ever change enough to amke you happy. Because your Employer is self employed communication about what is going on within the practice is either nonexistent, or up to you to find out. I some employer / employee relationships there is respect and recognition as well as work / life balance but because of the contract / self employed nature of the distribution channels - there is a lot of opportunity for the employer to exploit the work ethic.