My son has developed a pretty intense interest in the stock market over the last year and a half. He's been paper trading, testing different strategies, writing his own Pine Scripts, and a few months ago he even built his own trading bot. He uses Claude daily as part of the process.

I'm just a dumb knuckle-dragger in the construction industry trying to keep up and learn alongside him. College and major decisions are coming up fast. He's applying to Mays, so we'll see how that plays out.

I've been lurking on the stock market threads and know there are a lot of sharp Ags on this forum. I'm hoping some of you might have suggestions or perspective as he figures out next steps. We've talked to a few financial planners, and more than one has said they wouldn't recommend this as a profession.

Any thoughts, advice, or real-world experiences (good or bad) would be really appreciated. Is there a career path here or just a hobby?

Thanks,
Matt K. Class of '04

College of Ag now has Certified Financial Planner as a major. No, I don't know why Mays didnt host it, but Ag has it now.

Starting salaries 60k+
Pass CFP exam and other securities exams in first year or so, about 20-30% bump

1 Year (Early Career / Support Role): Median total compensation is $107,500 for newly credentialed professionals, often working as associate advisors, paraplanners, or financial analysts.

5 Years (Mid-Career / Established Advisor): Median total compensation climbs to $160,000 as professionals build their own client rosters and transition to service or lead advisor roles.

10 Years (Senior Advisor / Partner): Median total compensation reaches $239,000 to $255,000, with top firm owners, partners, or those managing large books of business earning well past $325,000

I have known several CFPs and I don't know any that are poor.

I would say it beats the heck out of construction or engineering, unless you are the owner.

As a CFP, he will need to be ok with lots of cold calling to get started. Maybe look at doing Finance as well as that would be more broadly useful and may really interest him given the stock market interest.

Yes. CFP may actually be 1099 employees and are many times paid just off commissions so the portfolio is key.

I was told it is better to look at smaller boutique firms vs one of the big guys like Edward Jones, Schwab, or Merrill as they are more- throw you a phone book and wish you luck. Cream rises to the top and the rest quit as they cant live on 30k a year.

But that isn't unique to CFPs. I worked at company where a mid level manager with the company 5 years went into outside sales and got fired in 3 months.
Our purchasing manager used to joke that he would learn the new sales guys names once they make it 3 months. We burned through 5 to 6 guys in 2-3 years.
Either fired or quit cause they made almost nothing if they couldn't sell.

If he wants to be a trader, I don't think the CFP route would be ideal. If he wants to get into the trading world, maybe tell him to inquire about Aggies on Wall St. through Mays. There are a couple of Ags that work on Wall St. who post on the boards on occasion. Not sure how to get their attention, though. He may want to check the Association of Former Students search to see if he may be able to find some people. Never hurts to try a few LinkedIn searches and reach out to Ags. Dallas has their exchange now too, which could be an option.

If he has the gumption, he can always look at a legit prop shop to back his trade. FTMO, The5ers, and Topstep are legit firms to look into.

I'm not a trained trader, so I can't help with where to go or give any leads. I taught myself how to trade for personal gain. Made the mistake of telling my boss, and he told our CEO that I know what I'm doing. Now I'm in charge of hedging our copper exposure.

Should've never opened my mouth. lol

Yeah I think he needs to decide if he wants to be a CFP or a trader, as they are two completely different career paths.

Given what you said, I would think that the Trading Risk and Investments Program might also be worth looking into. It's definitely energy-focused, but lots will translate.

Trading Risk and Investments Program - Mays Business School

AggieInHouston said:

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Given what you said, I would think that the Trading Risk and Investments Program might also be worth looking into. It's definitely energy-focused, but lots will translate.

Trading Risk and Investments Program - Mays Business School

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Recent grad 2018+ who works in Finance but did not do TRIP.

This is not what he is looking for, this program is mostly geared towards commodity "trading". Most applicants actually graduate out into scehduling roles before getting their own books. Most of the trading roles are to manage corporate commodity risk.

It sounds like your son is more interested in fund management/stock picking. I would strongly advise him against pursuing TRIP program at A&M.

Aggies on Wall St
Titans
Horizons (if it still exists)

Are the 3 programs I would recommend in that order

MKAG04 said:

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My son has developed a pretty intense interest in the stock market over the last year and a half. He's been paper trading, testing different strategies, writing his own Pine Scripts, and a few months ago he even built his own trading bot. He uses Claude daily as part of the process.

I'm just a dumb knuckle-dragger in the construction industry trying to keep up and learn alongside him. College and major decisions are coming up fast. He's applying to Mays, so we'll see how that plays out.

I've been lurking on the stock market threads and know there are a lot of sharp Ags on this forum. I'm hoping some of you might have suggestions or perspective as he figures out next steps. We've talked to a few financial planners, and more than one has said they wouldn't recommend this as a profession.

Any thoughts, advice, or real-world experiences (good or bad) would be really appreciated. Is there a career path here or just a hobby?

Thanks,
Matt K. Class of '04

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Your son needs to think bigger. We're talking about Algorithmic trading, crypto firms, etc. I have a student who was selected as a 40 Acres Scholar at UT Austin. He was competing with Ivy League students for super selective internships right after his freshman year in college, which took him to Miami to join a cryptocurrency trading firm. As a sophomore, he was interning in Switzerland during the summer, making the equivalent of six figures as a 20-year-old kid.

Your son has that kind of potential if he is already doing what you're saying he is doing. Feel free to contact if you have more questions.

MKAG04 said:

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My son has developed a pretty intense interest in the stock market over the last year and a half. He's been paper trading, testing different strategies, writing his own Pine Scripts, and a few months ago he even built his own trading bot. He uses Claude daily as part of the process.

I'm just a dumb knuckle-dragger in the construction industry trying to keep up and learn alongside him. College and major decisions are coming up fast. He's applying to Mays, so we'll see how that plays out.

I've been lurking on the stock market threads and know there are a lot of sharp Ags on this forum. I'm hoping some of you might have suggestions or perspective as he figures out next steps. We've talked to a few financial planners, and more than one has said they wouldn't recommend this as a profession.

Any thoughts, advice, or real-world experiences (good or bad) would be really appreciated. Is there a career path here or just a hobby?

Thanks,
Matt K. Class of '04

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Tell him to ignore anything GeorgiAg posts. He has no idea what he is doing.

My advice is to stay outta this kid's way. Sounds like a smart kid and he's gonna make bank.

Nah. Cold calling for Edward Jones sounds better.

aggiez03 said:

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College of Ag now has Certified Financial Planner as a major. No, I don't know why Mays didnt host it, but Ag has it now.

Starting salaries 60k+
Pass CFP exam and other securities exams in first year or so, about 20-30% bump

1 Year (Early Career / Support Role): Median total compensation is $107,500 for newly credentialed professionals, often working as associate advisors, paraplanners, or financial analysts.

5 Years (Mid-Career / Established Advisor): Median total compensation climbs to $160,000 as professionals build their own client rosters and transition to service or lead advisor roles.

10 Years (Senior Advisor / Partner): Median total compensation reaches $239,000 to $255,000, with top firm owners, partners, or those managing large books of business earning well past $325,000

I have known several CFPs and I don't know any that are poor.

I would say it beats the heck out of construction or engineering, unless you are the owner.

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This is likely what I would do if I could go back.

Instead I wound up in construction. Oof.

MyNameIsJeff said:

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aggiez03 said:

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College of Ag now has Certified Financial Planner as a major. No, I don't know why Mays didnt host it, but Ag has it now.

Starting salaries 60k+
Pass CFP exam and other securities exams in first year or so, about 20-30% bump

1 Year (Early Career / Support Role): Median total compensation is $107,500 for newly credentialed professionals, often working as associate advisors, paraplanners, or financial analysts.

5 Years (Mid-Career / Established Advisor): Median total compensation climbs to $160,000 as professionals build their own client rosters and transition to service or lead advisor roles.

10 Years (Senior Advisor / Partner): Median total compensation reaches $239,000 to $255,000, with top firm owners, partners, or those managing large books of business earning well past $325,000

I have known several CFPs and I don't know any that are poor.

I would say it beats the heck out of construction or engineering, unless you are the owner.

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This is likely what I would do if I could go back.

Instead I wound up in construction. Oof.

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Yep, started in residential construction for production builder, but was able to get out and in another industry now

REALLY appreciate everyone's thoughts!!! You've given us several things to explore. I'll share all this with my son and we'll dive deeper.

If you live in Houston area I'd be happy to get lunch with your son. Otherwise I'd be happy to do a zoom call with him. Message me and we can get something set up.

CFP is a great career path and Mays has options now for that. But it sounds like your son may be more interested in a CFA type career path. I'm a CFA and work in investment management. I wish someone had told me about the CFA in high school as it likely would have totally altered how I approached my path at A&M.

A&M/Mays has routes for pretty much all corners of the industry but the real competitive ones require some knowledge of where to place yourself (what clubs to join, what major to pick, what classes to take, what internships to go after). There are some decisions that need to be made pretty early on (freshman year) to really put yourself on the correct path and not realize senior year that you should have been interviewing for specific internships a few years ago. It can be overwhelming but doing informational interviews as a high schooler will put him so far ahead for discovering exactly what he wants to do and how to get there. So you are doing the right thing and there's a ton of Aggies that are willing to help.

We're in New Braunfels but would love to set something up! I'll send you a PM.

I'm the director of the new Texas A&M financial planning clinic which opens this fall. Feel free to connect if you'd like to talk more about the financial planning department or clinic. Sounds like he's got a bright future!

My advice to anyone early on in college, or about to start, is to make sure the degree you get makes you something, not some general generic degree. Get an accounting degree and you are an accountant. Get a geology degree and you are a geologist. When companies post a job opening, they are looking for a professional in that area, not some jack of all trades that can do the job. Jack of all trades are great and make companies successful, but that is not what they set out to hire. Once you are in, you can go any direction you want, but being something will help you get in and you always have that to fall back on.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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My advice to anyone early on in college, or about to start, is to make sure the degree you get makes you something, not some general generic degree. Get an accounting degree and you are an accountant. Get a geology degree and you are a geologist. When companies post a job opening, they are looking for a professional in that area, not some jack of all trades that can do the job. Jack of all trades are great and make companies successful, but that is not what they set out to hire. Once you are in, you can go any direction you want, but being something will help you get in and you always have that to fall back on.

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I'll echo this - I got into A&M under the BlinnTeam program back in 2010. I struggled to figure out what to do and was never successful in getting to Mays as I didn't have the GPA.

I never really knew what I wanted to do, but I've always been kind of a financial markets junkie. Ended up just going into the college of Ag under the "leadership and development" major which was very broad. I was eventually able to get into Mays and got a degree in real estate finance, which has all worked out and I love that aspect of taking what

But I wish I applied myself more like OP's kid to learn the trading aspect. I find that stuff really alluring right now and have been learning a ton. I feel like if I had a do over, a bachelor in finance and working in Wall Street, commodities or bond trading would be tremendous career.

Also - if your kid hasn't already, Liars Poker is a fantastic book to read.