He Skipped University and Qualified in a Year | Jake Crossley from Phil Anderson Financial Services
The I just fell into Financial Planning PodcastShow Notes
Jake Crossley was on this show two years ago, at 20, as one of the youngest financial planners on the FCA register. He has come back at 22 with a lot more to say. He left Sheffield University part-way through, got all his exams done inside a year and walked into a profession that mostly tells people like him to go away and come back later. He has changed firms since we last spoke, and frankly so has the money. We got into: The career-ready internship he found by searching local firms and emailing them, and how making the tea turned into a job. Why he walked away from Sheffield Uni and whether he would make the same call again. The honest version of the early years, including why he says he was struggling and what changed it. Being the youngest person in the room with clients twice his age, and why he has never had the problem everyone warns him about The argument that reframes the whole age question: a planner with 30 years of retirement experience has still never retired themselves. Why he will not make a recommendation when the existing plan is already suitable, even though it pays him nothing. Jake isn't taking any liability whatsoever and what that actually means in practice. Rejection: how many times he has been told he is too young and why he stopped caring. The FCA register as a job list that nobody tells school leavers about. Finally the controversial one: why he is doing his chartered exams mainly so he does not have to do them later, and why he does not think they are making him better at the job. One line that stuck with me; "I don't personally feel that doing those exams is making me a better financial planner" If you are young and wondering whether this profession will have you, or you run a firm and keep hiring the same finished article, there is a lot in here you can steal. Chapters 00:00 Jamie's introduction00:40 Who Jake Crossley is01:06 Take me back to the start;01:40 The career-ready internship that started it02:55 Deciding university wasn't for him03:50 Phil Anderson, and the structure behind a young planner05:48 What his friends at university were doing06:58 Being brutally honest: the early struggle09:23 Finding the people who actually want advice11:04 Taking on fewer clients now than at the start15:35 When you legally have to seek advice18:58 Jake Crossley is not taking any liability20:15 Reputation, and why you don't cut corners22:22 Cold-calling firms, and never getting through25:32 Why he thinks he's done well this young29:26 Complex cases and the IHT problem in Cheshire32:01 The youngest planner in the room37:21 You've never retired yourself41:39 What makes a young team work45:23 Where he is with the exams46:53 What his friends thought when he skipped university49:29 Sheffield, and the people who stuck it out51:57 Advice for someone young trying to get in54:09 You're too young, you're this, you're that55:24 Would he go to university if he did it again?57:32 Go and call them; - the FCA register as a job list58:49 The exams: how he found them1:00:04 The controversial bit: are the exams making him better?1:01:00 An enemy of every exam body out there ha - Not really1:02:19 Filler in the trust planning exam
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