Stock Broker Salary
Before the near collapse of the United States and global financial markets in 2008, the median stock broker salary was $68,680, with the middle half earning between $40,480 and $122,270.
Since the near collapse of the financial markets, many investment banks were forced into bankruptcy, were sold at huge discounts to other financial institutions and near the epi-center of the crises an estimated 200,000 fiancial service workers in the greater New York area alone, including many stock brokers, lost their jobs.
After the near collapse of the financial markets three years ago, the stock market has rebounded, with billions of dollars traded each day in stocks, bond, etfs, indexes, mutual funds and other financial instruments and although employment in the financial securities markets has rebounded somewhat, many financial firms remain smaller, more profitable and with higher amounts of capital and the likelihood of hiring additional financial services workers is a pretty dim prospect.
Since many stock brokers are employed in the retail segment of the financial markets, offering advice and buying and selling stocks for individuals, investment clubs and perhaps local pension funds and individual IRA’s, a stock broker salary is usually pegged to commissions. A stock broker may recieve a base stock broker salary but his actual annual pay, often including bonuses, is usually pegged to the total value of stock trades handled for his customers, on either a monthly, quarterly or anuual basis.
Scattered throughout the American financial services industry, including the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Excahnge, NASDAQ, and the many smaller regional markets, are many different levels of stock and commodity brokering and each level requires a license from the Financial Regulatory Agency, FINRA.
An entry level stock broker position with a retail firm, usually requires at least a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, marketing, economics or something related to business. To become a stock broker on the retail level, the stock broker must pass the Series 7 licensing exam, a six hour rigorous exam with 250 questions that tests the broker’s knowledge of stocks, bonds, options, business, economics and security laws, especially as they relate to legal and ethical relationships with clients and the markets.
