Find a Job You Really Want In
A master’s degree in finance opens the door to many different employment opportunities. Most people with a finance degree end up in accounting, investing, banking, or as an analyst. All of these careers are math-heavy, meaning that you need to be comfortable and adroit with numbers.
Finance is a field that is based on detailed work. You need not only to be mathematically inclined but focused on small details and small sums. However, due to this fact, careers in the field are well-paid.
Key Takeaways:
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A degree in finance will set you up for careers in accounting, investing, analysis, and banking.
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Careers in finance are generally very well compensated, making it an excellent choice if how much you’re paid is a major factor in choosing a career for you.
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The majority of careers in finance require you to be excellent at math and computers.
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Most of the jobs listed here can be obtained with a bachelor’s degree as well as a master’s. A master’s will likely boost your pay, but you should consider what type of job you want to do before committing.
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Finance has a mixed reputation. While accountants and other financial experts are vital, they have gotten a bad reputation after the 2008 financial crisis.
10 Best-Paying Jobs for People With a Master’s in Finance
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Average Annual Salary: $91,000
To be a wealth management advisor, you have to be familiar with several areas of finance. As your job will be to advise people on how best to manage their wealth, you need to be familiar with stocks, investing, tax laws, and risk assessment. You may also work with accountants or lawyers who specialize in financial law.
Required Skills: Ability to collaborate, strong mathematical ability, financial expertise, and customer service skills.
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Average Annual Salary: $143,000
Often abbreviated to CFO, the chief financial officer is in charge of all the finances in the company. A CFO is one of the top directors, being in the executive suite. A person in this role is in charge of the company’s money, which means they spend time doing financial planning, budgeting, and analysis.
Required Skills: Managerial skills, financial knowledge, attention to detail, communication skills, and leadership ability.
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Average Annual Salary: $79,000
Investment analysts specialize in investments. They study stocks, bonds, commodities, and different currencies in order to understand risk and what is most likely to be a good investment. Most investment analysts work for investment firms, and their research is used to recommend investments to clients.
Required Skills: Attention to detail, strong mathematical and analytical skills, risk assessment and management, research ability, and communication and presentation skills.
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Average Annual Salary: $88,000
Actuaries’ primary focus is risk assessment. This is done through data collection and analysis. While most of your time will be spent on analysis and prediction, you’ll also be required to generate charts, graphs, and reports to help communicate your findings.
Required Skills: Excellent mathematical and analytical skills, as well as the ability to communicate your research effectively. Presentation skills are a major boon as well.
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Average Annual Salary: $69,000
As a finance analyst, you’d spend a lot of time pouring over a company’s financial records. Your job is to take the business’s financial past and make recommendations for the future. This includes investments, business strategies, and budgeting decisions. It will require a lot of time to draw up reports and present your findings.
Required Skills: Excellent mathematical ability and analytical skills, risk assessment, and predictive ability. Organizational skills are a must, as well as attention to detail.
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Real Estate Agent
Average Annual Salary: $91,000
While there are several degrees that prepare you to be a real estate agent, finance is an excellent choice. Real estate agents sell people’s houses. However, in that process, there’s a lot of paperwork, legal requirements and budgeting that they need to take into account.
Required Skills: Customer service skills, familiarity with the housing market, time management (many set their own schedules), and building rapport with clients.
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Average Annual Salary: $101,000
Controllers are experts in finance management. They are in charge of managing the finances of an organization. They are the ones responsible for setting budgets for the fiscal year and making sure that they’re followed. Part of their job is to make budget cuts as needed and decide which budget items need to be dropped.
Required Skills: Integrity is paramount, as they deal with huge sums of money. They also need to be excellent with accounting and auditing, as well as being able to communicate their choices and back them up with mathematical evidence.
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Average Annual Salary: $127,000
This job usually requires having several years of experience under your belt. Investment associates recommend investment options to companies and their executives. While many works for a company, sometimes they’ll work as a contractor to make recommendations or settle disputes. Many will also specialize in a particular area.
Required Skills: Experience with stocks and investing, mathematical skills, risk assessment and management, and strong communication skills.
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Average Annual Salary: $101,000
As the name suggests, finance managers manage the financial aspect of an organization. This involves overseeing the financial department of the organization, coming up with viable financial strategies, financial research, and drawing up reports. You will also be responsible for helping the executives with their decision-making.
Required Skills: Strong mathematical and analytical skills, people skills, managerial know-how, and risk management.
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Average Annual Salary: $74,000
Like most analysts, business analysts spend most of their time interpreting data. Their specialty is business, and in that vein, they study the business’s past actions, as well as the current market, and make recommendations on the best business strategies to be taken.
Required Skills: Analytical skills, business acumen, communication skills, as well as organizational abilities and attention to detail.
10 Entry Level Jobs for People With a Master’s in Finance
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Average Annual Salary: $54,000
Accountants specialize in dealing with financial records. Many accountants will specialize in one type of financial management, but as a rule, they have a breadth of knowledge. They can work either for private individuals, an accounting firm, or a business. They ensure the accuracy of financial statements and organize accounts.
Required Skills: Attention to detail, strong organizational skills, computer ability, and bookkeeping skills.
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Average Annual Salary: $63,000
Auditors go over a company’s finances in order to make sure everything’s on the up and up. Internal auditors do this as well, save that they work for the company in question. They help protect the company from theft and malfeasance, along with making sure that the company’s finances are being distributed properly.
Required Skill: IT expertise, communication skills, attention to detail, and mathematical ability. Integrity is also vital.
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Average Annual Salary: $57,000
Insurance adjusters are the ones who decide how much of a payout is received when an insured item is damaged, destroyed, lost, or stolen. They need to be on the lookout for fraud and subterfuge, all while filling the contract’s obligations.
Required Skills: Appraising and evaluating aptitude, attention to detail, and computer skills.
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Average Annual Salary: $51,000
Tax preparers do exactly what their name says: they prepare taxes for a client. They can work either for an individual, a business, or other organizations. They collect the financial information needed and fill out and file the tax forms on their client’s behalf. They’re experts on tax law and regulations.
Required Skills: Expertise in tax law, attention to detail, ability to work under strict deadlines, and communication skills.
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Average Annual Salary: $64,000
As the name says, finance advisors advise clients on financial matters. The client in question can be an individual or a company. Their specialties can vary, but they can help clients boost their financial situation, pay down debt, make smart investments, or set and attain financial goals.
Required Skills: Attention to detail, customer service skills, communication skills, mathematical ability.
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Stock Broker
Average Annual Salary: $59,000
Stock brokers manage and sell stocks. They need to be knowledgeable about stocks and the laws and regulations surrounding trading. Stock brokers usually work with clients in order to make recommendations and sales. The majority of them are paid on commission, which makes sales vital to the job.
Required Skills: Sales know-how, knowledge of FINRA and other laws and regulations, good communication skills, and attention to detail.
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Average Annual Salary: $38,000
The majority of this job is bookkeeping. Accounts payable clerks spend their time making sure that the accounts are correct and accurate. This requires a lot of comparisons and some financial knowledge to make sure that the accounts and amounts all make sense and are consistent.
Required Skills: Attention to detail, integrity, computer skills, and mathematical ability.
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Average Annual Salary: $61,000
Underwriters most often work for an insurance company, though they can also work for a loan provider. The underwriters’ main task is assessing risk. They look at the application, either for insurance or a loan and determine how much of a risk the client presents. They’ll then calculate how much to charge them or if they should deny the request.
Required Skills: Strong mathematical aptitude, attention to detail, computer skills, and analytical ability.
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Average Annual Salary: $45,000
As a loan officer, your job is to determine whether or not a loan should be approved or not. You will evaluate the request, along with information about the requester, such as their financial health, and make a recommendation based on that. The majority of loans aren’t approved or are only approved with caveats, so you have to be willing to say no.
Required Skills: Risk assessment, attention to detail, customer service skills, and computer skills.
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Average Annual Salary: $43,000
Mortgage loan processors aid in getting the loan approved, processed, and paid out. They work with underwriters and loan officers in order to determine eligibility. They are the ones who will interview the client, help them with finding the best fit for them, and decide whether or not to approve the loan application.
Required Skills: Excellent communication and customer service skills, attention to detail, and math aptitude.
Finance Master’s Degree Options
While finance is an excellent degree choice, there are some similar degrees that are also worthwhile. If you’re trying to decide whether to get a degree in finance or something similar, here are some options to explore.
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Accounting. This degree covers many of the same concepts as finance. It has to do with budgeting, taxes, and money management.
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Business Administration. While business administration covers other topics as well, financial management is a huge part of business administration. It’s not as in-depth, but it will cover similar topics.
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Statistics. While not specific to finance or money management, understanding statistics will help you with analysis, investing, and detecting fraud, as well as making you a math expert.
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Taxation. Yes, you can get a master’s, specifically in taxation. The United States tax code is complex, allowing for plenty of content. Being a tax expert helps you with accounting, investing, and analysis.
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Economics. While not quite the same as finance, economics covers how economies work. This knowledge can help you with investing, money management, and business strategies.
Master’s in Finance Jobs FAQ
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What can you do with a master’s degree in finance?
A master’s degree in finance will open the door to financial-based positions, such as accounting, loan management, banking, and investments. It gives you expertise in money management, which means that you’ll be prepared to do most jobs that have to do with money.
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What skills do you need for finance jobs?
The skills you need to excel in finance jobs are attention to detail, integrity, mathematical aptitude, risk assessment, and computer skills. Almost all financial positions require analyzing budgets and financial records, which means that paying attention to small discrepancies is vital.
And as you will be working with large sums of money, you need to not only have integrity but project it, or people won’t want to work with you.
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Do employees with a master’s in finance get paid more?
Yes, as a rule, employees with a master’s in finance get paid more than those with just a bachelor’s. However, this will depend on the job you end up with. Some, like wealth management advisors, prefer a master’s degree, while many of the jobs listed here can be attained with just a bachelor’s degree.
A master’s degree will make you more attractive to employers and likely get you a higher paycheck. You will, however, need to make the calculation of whether or not the pay raise will counteract how much more your degree costs.
Author
Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.
