Stock brokers typically earn from $48,000 to $60,000 per year.
Brokers are responsible for acting as the intermediary in a transaction, usually involving the sale of stocks--between one party that owns the stock and another party that wants to purchase an ownership share in a company. For this job, stock brokers are paid a salary which is supplemented to a large degree by commissions on sales. Another type of broker is the real estate broker, which is involved in the sale of property.
Salary
The middle 50 percent of stock brokers earns from $48,288 to $60,127, with a median salary level among stock brokers of $55,542. The median annual salary for sales agents for all investment products, including securities and commodities, was $68,680 in 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Brokers involved with security and commodity transactions earned an average salary of $85,580. Salaried benefits for brokers typically include health insurance, paid travel, life insurance and retirement benefits.
Commission
Brokers are sales agents, and as such receive a large amount of compensation through commission on sales. As a trainee, a stock broker may earn a large amount of their annual wages through salary, but as the broker becomes more experienced, the contracted salary will decrease and become a "draw against commission," a minimum salary which is predicated on how many clients a broker expects to have. The amount of commission which a broker can earn will drop during market slumps.
Employment
Stock brokers typically work an extended workweek which includes all regular business hours as well as nights and weekends, which may be more convenient for their clients. Although many brokers still work with their clients in person, digital trading systems enable brokers to work in a remote location, receiving calls and following up on sales leads. Employment for all financial sales agents, including stock brokers and security and commodities investment agents, is expected to increase by about 9 percent between the years of 2008 and 2018.
Real Estate Brokers
Real estate brokers are the other main type of brokers working in America. Instead of stocks, real estate brokers facilitate the sale of properties between owners and prospective buyers. Real estate brokers made an average salary of $78,360, or $37.68 per hour, during 2009. Real estate brokers also receive a large portion of their salaries from commission, but the commission is often split between the property owner's broker and the buying party's broker.
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