Top 3 Highest Paying Careers for Finance Majors

by A Guest Author

Finance in general is among the highest paying college majors. Finance incorporates concepts on economics, accounting, and mathematics that suite the business environment. Most finance careers focus on managing an organization’s money in order to increase its profits as well as the organization’s value. The actual salaries in finance however vary depending on the chosen financial career path, experience and the geographical location. The best financial paying jobs are in the managerial field for more experienced workers. For beginners, financial or budget analysts pay very well.

Financial Managers

Financial managers oversee the financial work of an organization. They plan and direct issues on investment, accounting, recruitment, banking, payroll, forecasting, insurance, securities among many other financial activities. They also carry out negotiations on behalf of the company and communicate with stockholders and investors on raising the company’s capital. These managers operate at a branch, office, or department level of a company. Financial managers are mostly full time workers, and work for very long hours since the career is very demanding. They work in areas like the banking and insurance sectors. Financial managers earn titles like Controller and VP of Finance. Their average annual salary is about a hundred thousand US dollars or slightly more. To become a financial manager, one has to have a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting business or economics, together with a minimum working experience of five years in any business or financial occupation.

Actuaries

Actuaries are business professionals who analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty of the statistical data in companies. They use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to make predictions on events likely to occur and help organizations and clients to develop policies that minimize the potential risks. The career is a full-time job characterized by frequent traveling in order to meet with clients. A bachelor’s degree in mathematics, actuarial science, finance, economics, or statistics is a basic requirement for getting a job as an actuary. Internship experience and a pass in at least one actuarial exam are other job entry requirements for beginners. However, it takes a series of tests that can take four to eight years before one can become a fully certified professional in this field. The median annual wage of an actuary is around eighty US dollars.

Budget Analysts

Budget analysts estimate the financial needs of a company and prepare a budget accordingly. They evaluate on ways of maximizing profits and distribute the available funds efficiently. Although they are not involved in the actual implementation of the budget, they closely monitor institutional spending. Budget analysts ensure competence, accuracy, and conformance with all the procedures, laws, and regulations of an organization. This career path entails very high ethical standards due to the confidentiality of the financial information. A bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement although most of the employers prefer employees with masters. Almost half of the budget analysts work with the government, the remaining percentage of analysts work in various areas within the private sector. A good number of these jobs are full time and the budget analysts work with time restraints. The average annual salary of a budget analyst is around sixty thousand US dollars although some analysts earn as high as ninety thousand US dollars.

The entire group of high paying jobs in the financial department, place a lot of emphasis on responsibility and consequences for mistakes. A small error in these career paths could send one packing. Before focusing on very high paying financial jobs, it is essential for one to determine whether they can deal with the pressure, as well as the risk of losing in this very competitive field.

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About The Author:

Lois Stantham is a financial analyst and guest author at Best Finance Schools, a site with reviews of top-rated finance degree programs online.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by epSos.de

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