No one said managing other people’s money was an easy job. But these days making investors happy is taking a toll on financial advisors’ own health.
A report from health.com lists financial advisors as one of the 10 professions where workers are mostly likely to experience major depression in a given year.
Others on the list include health care workers, social workers, administrative staff support and maintenance/grounds people.
There’s a lot at stake when managing someone’s retirement nest egg. Job performance doesn’t just impact an advisor’s own livelihood, but rather it means the difference between helping someone retire comfortably or losing someone a portion of their assets on a bad investment.
Deborah Legge, PhD, tells health.com, “There is so much responsibility for other people’s finances and no control of the market. There is guilt involved, and when (clients) are losing money, they probably have people screaming at them with regularity.”
Since the financial crisis there’s been an increase in the number of reported suicides among financial advisors. In March, a Toronto-based financial advisor was found dead in his home after being sued by investors. In February, a Smith Barney broker named to Barron’s list of Top Advisors jumped from a bridge to his death. Deutsche Bank broker Russell Smith left a note to some of his clients before committing suicide in October 2008:
“Since you are reading this, I have just taken my life. It was necessary because the alternatives were totally unpalatable. I consider you a friend first and a client second. That said, I had a fiduciary relationship with you that charged me with putting your interest first. I can say that I always tried to do that. However, some of the investment recommendations that I chose did not work.”
Here’s the complete list of depression-prone professions.
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