Financial managers oversee investments and other financial matters of banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Managers typically earn an excellent salary after getting an education in accounting or finance-related disciplines.
Financial management is actually a huge category and one of the biggest employment areas that pays well over $50,000. In May of 2010, there were about 479,000 financial managers, and they were earning a large median annual salary of $103,910. This is one of the highest average incomes based on occupation, particularly considering the availability of so many jobs in this area.
With that said, it is not necessarily easy to become a financial manager. Extensive education in finance or accounting is generally required, and some jobs require a large amount of experience before moving up the ranks to financial manager.
Depository credit intermediation is the biggest employment category. These are positions related to accepting deposits and lending those deposits. An example would be a bank manager, which is a common type of financial manager.
The second category is company management. For example, a Chief Financial Officer in a corporation performs finance management.
Insurance carriers also provide around 20,000 jobs for financial managers. As major investors of money, the insurance carriers need managers to oversee those investment activities to avoid excessive risk and other potential problems.
Local governments also have nearly 20,000 jobs for financial managers. Nondepository credit intermediation is the other employment category in the top 5 for finance managers. This is also money lending but without the use of customer deposits. Rather, the institution borrows money from other institutions to lend and then seeks a return on those loans.
To become a financial manager, you will almost always need at least a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business, or a related field like economics. This is generally considered the minimal training for this high-paying job. You may even need a master’s degree in one of these fields and a CPA license for some manager positions.
Resources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Jobs and Salary for Financial Managers