Story time Sunday

Hello, I am a newly registered member here in need of advice/insight from a community of experienced FAs and in general probably way smarter than average people. This might turn out to be a lot longer than needed but I feel like the more context I provide the more specific the advice will be to me. This is also how I would explain my situation to a newly met friend if I had one.

I’m 29, live with my gf, and work as a PC insurance sales agent for a large broker. I quit college at age 20 because once I got a job in sales I was immediately amongst the best rankings and started making more money than most people I knew with a 4 year bachelors degree & 50K in student loans. Currently, I pay the mortgage and she only pays a about 20% in household bills because I am having her accelerate in paying off her debt. I also make quite a bit more than her currently. I have been in the top 10% of producers in my company for 5 plus straight years and used to making about 70-100k a year with great benefits. It’s also work from home, super laid back, all inbound calls, and very easy work for the most part to be honest. The thing is I absolutely hate it because the conversations I’m having with people are just mind numbing. I feel like I’m wasting my natural talent and I know I’m a total dead end here. I know a lot of people that would be grateful to have my job and I truly am thankful for it especially where’s it taken me thus far, but I feel like I could do so much more.

I’ve always been on the hunt to “make a million” or “become rich”. My parents brought us here from Europe in 97’ from middle of a war and terrible things happening with 500$ in their pockets, 3 little kids w them, and none of us which speak English. My parents have worked retail and small labor jobs to now having their mortgage paid off, cars paid off, and living totally debt free which still only making 20$ bucks an hour. They are actual living proof of hard work pays off and I’ve developed a mentality from them that I’d say is priceless.

Anyway, ever since I was 16 and working/learning about money and economics, I’ve always had a very strong desire to one day make a million plus dollars. I’d retire my parents and enable them to live the last quarter of their life in total pleasure, while also being generous to a ton of other family back home in desperate need of it. I definitely have a natural passion for helping others and a soft spot for those in need. I’d love to be able to make a difference one day.

Back to the main story- on the side for the last 4-5 years I’ve been learning how to trade stocks and options. Mostly been focused on trading options for the last 3 years. One time towards the beginning of learning options, I made 120k in 4 days off 700$ bucks then lost it all going all in. Must have been beginners luck. I’ve had streaks where I’ve made 40-50k off very little then lost it all again. Most recently this year I started a new Ameritrade account with 300$, made 23k as of July, then lost it all from August to September. Looking back, it was mostly revenge trading and just very stupid decisions. Another thing I should mention about my current job is one thing I do LOVE about it is that I can trade from market open till close while still working my full time job. I can be on my phone for hours without anyone knowing about it because its WFM and in general it’s pretty slow work where I can do both at the same time.

So, for several years now I’ve had the idea that I will become rich and make a million plus off trading options by myself. I have slowly been losing hope in that thought unfortunately. I am currently -20K net in the hole with all the trading I've done since day one. So I’ve looked at other jobs over the past year and things I can do, but nothing really seems to really poke out at me as “That’s it, that’s for me!” type thing. Its all either a big paycut and sucks, or small paycut and still about something I have very little passion for.

Two weeks ago, I messaged a friend who’s family owns an Ameriprise financial firm for a referral I wanted to send them. Most of my friends know I do some investing so they reach out to me for who they can go to for a FA from time to time. I sent over the referral and just out of curiosity asked what it takes to be a FA for them. She tells me they’re actually looking to hire someone kind of as an assistant that can learn the ins/outs of it and learn to be a FA eventually.

I interviewed with her and the owner, with is her mother. Both were solid 7s in their primes btw boys. Nothing exciting, but could pass through. I know this will come up as a question as I’ve went through some of the other threads lol. She didn't say a ton about the job duties except things like assistant duties, learning paperwork, working under her and one of her main FAs, getting licensed, sitting in on their meetings, etc. Basically it would be starting from ground floor. 

They both seemed very genuine and honest the whole time. They seem like they have a great team at the firm and I would trust their process in teaching me exactly how they do everything to set me up for success to either become a FA for them one day, go to a different firm, or open my own. What wasn’t exactly clear to me is how the process would work as I progressed, how long before I start making the real money? Example- if I got series 66 and 7 within a year can I start selling immediately after or would they want me to keep learning for another year without a pay bump. Or should I expect to make 100k within a year or two of getting licensed? She also mentioned once I’m licensed I could go full commiss and “get” clients from them so I have a livable earning wage from day one of going full comiss. Idk how that part works but I don’t think I’d be able to afford to ‘buy” clients off of them. Is that a common practice people do in these situations?

Here are some additional key details. The pay for this role would be 45k a year. The benefits suck and are very minimal. Basically just a 5% 401k match. It would be 8-5 M-F in an office setting, where I have to dress up every day. Not sure I am going to enjoy it or not. Currently I WFM and sometimes don’t even brush my teeth/shower till noon. I can watch TV, do whatever, and have plenty of time to trade my options while still working. Don’t know how busy I’m going to be at the new place and if “looking at my phone to trade” will be highly frowned upon as it looks like I'm being a shitty employee. I will also have to learn a crap load of new stuff, I know the series 66 and 7 are not easy to pass. I am a pretty good test taker though and definitely willing to challenge myself.

Things I do know: Currently I’m making 70-80K a year (most  recently), have great benefits, and an easy ass job that I have plenty of free time with. I know that I also HATE my current job and I am at a dead end. I know that I hate the industry that I’m in. I know that I want so much more out of life and I want to be somewhat rich one day (or close enough to it) & to retire early. I know I want to be looked up to. I know that my passion lies somewhere within the financial industry and making a lot of money. I know that I was told by the firm owner that I could be making 5-10X what I make right now in 5-10 years. I know that they have a great team there and will most likely train me from A-Z about everything I need to do. I also know I am willing to lose the benefits because I can get on my girlfriends employer benefits as a “domestic partner”. I am also willing to lose the “easiness" factor of my current job and I am willing to study to get licensed. I know I will end up being a lot more “valuable” employee with these licenses even if I don’t stay at her firm and probably can land a better similar job than I have now. I know that I will almost be living paycheck to paycheck with my current expenses off a 45K a year annual salary. I think there’s room in there to save 300-400 a month if I’m real frugal, and I know I can ask more out of my gf for a little while too. I know we also want to start a family pretty soon. As I mentioned I’m 29 and she is 26. So Idk if this is great timing, or bad timing to start the path of becoming a FA. Also, I could be wrong but there is a pretty decent population of my culture where I live here and I bet 98% of them don't have any kind of FA. It might be a good little niche I could gain a lot of clients from potentially.

Things I don’t know: If I should do this or not. Idk if I'll hate my life even more making 45k a year and not being shit. Idk how long that pay will last for. Idk how much I should realistically expect to make in 2 years, 4 years, 6 years, 8 years, 10 years. If I'm making 70K year two then 80K year 3 and slowly up from there that is way better than making 45k a year for 5 years straight. Idk if I could survive off that for that long. Idk if I’ll enjoy working in an office not being able to jerk off middle of the day (joking plz don’t ban me), and dressing up in slacks every day. (side note, the front desk receptionist was definitely a solid 9.5 so that’s a major plus). Idk if let's say even if I don’t take this will I figure something else out or perhaps make it trading stocks one day like I dream to? Idk I should believe the firm owner telling me I will be making 5-10X what I make now in 5-10 years? I don’t really know the process along the way or how long it’ll take either. What should I believe and expect every year along the way?

If you were me and knowing what you guys know about how much you guys make, the industry, what to expect in reality, etc, what would you guys do? What would you do now, how would you do it, is there any smarter way to do it?