Careers: Five Jobs for Our Shores

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A call center in Bangalore, India, can sell someone a loan. But would people entrust all aspects of their financial future to someone they have never met? In the offshoring game, the need for a relationship gives the personal financial planner an edge. Planners look for more than just data. They need to scope out a client's priorities. "A person may mention that his family didn't help support his college tuition," says Elizabeth Jetton, an Atlanta-based planner who has met each of her 65 clients in person, "and you notice he starts fidgeting. That body language alone tells me something. He doesn't want to repeat this for his own kids." With baby boomers funding retirements and more people reluctant to go it alone like in the go-go '90s, the College for Financial Planning reports that median annual earnings for certified planners have grown 28%, to $153,500, over the past three years.

Planners thrive on knowing they help clients with their retirement, but market swings alone don't deliver memorable moments. "Try being in a room with a couple as they decide a fair amount of money to give each of their children when they die," says Jetton. "It's grueling."