Which City would be best for finance degree? (employees, apply, employer)

[Student66]

I have a BS in Finance, currently in Florida, making insufficient income (not even $45k). I am wondering if better ops in Charlotte, NC, or, Kansas City or St. Louis, or Atlanta? And, at what point do you say, it is time to start looking out of state?

Is it possible to support a family, comfortably on one income? I know that for less than $45k, it is not enough for all the bills.

Appreciate encouraging replies.

thanks..
Shaggy

[personone]

Originally Posted by Student66

I have a BS in Finance, currently in Florida, making insufficient income (not even $45k). I am wondering if better ops in Charlotte, NC, or, Kansas City or St. Louis, or Atlanta? And, at what point do you say, it is time to start looking out of state?

Is it possible to support a family, comfortably on one income? I know that for less than $45k, it is not enough for all the bills.

Appreciate encouraging replies.

thanks..
Shaggy

Finance is a pretty broad degree. Based on your salary, you definitely aren't doing investment banking or private equity, so the best way for you to increase your marketability and pay would be to study for and pass the CFA exam. It would take some time (probably a few years), but it can definitely put you in a much higher salary range. Without more information about what kind of finance experience you have thus far, it's hard to know which other cities could offer more options. In general, your skill-set/marketability is more important than the city. Another option is to consider investing in an mba if you can do well enough on the gmat to get into a top program.

[MLSFan]

NYC for finance/wall street comes to mind...

you mentioned KC, KC has state street, always hiring new grads for finance. State of Missouri has high turn over for auditors so they always hiring as well. Both jobs are around $40k starting I think which is okay for KC for single person. IRS also operates from KC also, one of the few cities in the US where they have an office.

Are you really asking about raising a family on a single income from an entry job?

[Student66]

Thank you for your replies. I am 49..been in financial services/customer service, and spent years working up to around $40k. I think somehow, my financial increases have not kept up with cost of living increased expenses.

[Abvincent1]

Shaggy, I have a master degree in finance and let me tell you what I have learned. The demand for my skill set is there, and it is there in force. However, as you indicate it is location-specific. A few months back a health issue forced me out of my job; I resigned. Now that is all resolved and I am in search of a new gig (I am not interested in returning to my previous job). I struggled getting many responses until I recently completely redid my resume. Now I am getting calls and requests from all over, two of the most recent were from San Jose and Des Moines. I have applied to several local businesses as well and they too have quickly responded.

What I have found is most people don't grasp what you can do for their business. Meaning quantifying metrics and aligning them with strategy. I can easily take a company's financials and tell them whether what they are doing is working or whether they are fighting an uphill battle. I can tell them what projects they should invest in based projected returns and which will decay capital. I can tell them whether they should lever further or if doing so would lead to distress and if so what quantity of distress.

If I handed you a company's financials and asked you those questions or others could you calculate it? Finance has so many possible directions. Is your degree recent or did you receive it 20 years ago? A lot has changed since then.

Consider refreshing your skill set. A finance degree tells people you have analytical skills but that is about it. I would think based on demographics Florida has a tremendous opportunity for personal advisors. If you are interested in investments you could try that route. Relocating is an option but I don't think it will solve your issue. Figure out how to update your skill set and then go pitch it to businesses. I recently provided a start up healthcare firm with an outlay of their financial potentials based on general numbers I made up. I detailed how they could grow and what returns they could expect by taking different projects. I included it with my resume (all in PDF of course so they could not just steal my computations and input their own data) and they called me an hour later inquiring.

When you apply give them an example of your work. Maybe that will help you (by the way I am in my late 30s). Good luck

[nycnyc11209]

80% of people dont work in their degree field. branch out like to IT. IT Cert CCIE makes 100k+
BS degree doesn't mean a lot anymore

[jribe]

Originally Posted by Student66

Thank you for your replies. I am 49..been in financial services/customer service, and spent years working up to around $40k. I think somehow, my financial increases have not kept up with cost of living increased expenses.

depends on what your experience is in? I've worked in financial services in multiple cities in California, St Louis MO and Portland OR - all paid well but the best opportunity wise was either st louis (firm had over 5,000 people there) or SF. But that is just my employer - i also work in risk management, not finance specifically although my degree is in finance. Even in st louis very low level employees with no experience were making 40k so it sounds like you may need some career guidance? Let us know what kind of work experience you've had and if you're open to moving and there will be plenty of suggestions. Also consider your family situation, purchase or rent concerns $$ wise, and weather preference.