Working with a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional

Why Should You Work With a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional?

Anyone can call themselves a financial planner, financial advisor, investment advisor, etc. with no credentials necessary.

CFP™ professionals work under a fiduciary standard, which basically means putting the client’s interests above their own. In addition, they must meet the following requirements:

CFP™ Certification Requirements

To attain the right to use the CFP® marks, an individual must satisfactorily fulfill the following requirements:

• Education – Complete an advanced college-level course of study addressing the financial planning subject areas that CFP Board’s studies have determined as necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services, and attain a Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally accredited United States college or university (or its equivalent from a foreign university).  CFP Board’s financial planning subject areas include insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning;  
• Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination.  The examination, administered in 10 hours over a two-day period, includes case studies and client scenarios designed to test one’s ability to correctly diagnose financial planning issues and apply one’s knowledge of financial planning to real world circumstances;
• Experience – Complete at least three years of full-time financial planning-related experience (or the equivalent, measured as 2,000 hours per year); and
• Ethics – Agree to be bound by CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct, a set of documents outlining the ethical and practice standards for CFP® professionals.

Individuals who become certified must complete the following ongoing education and ethics requirements in order to maintain the right to continue to use the CFP® marks:

Continuing Education – Complete 30 hours of continuing education hours every two years, including two hours on the Code of Ethics and other parts of the Standards of Professional Conduct, to maintain competence and keep up with developments in the financial planning field; and

Ethics – Renew an agreement to be bound by the Standards of Professional Conduct. The Standards prominently require that CFP® professionals provide financial planning services at a fiduciary standard of care.  This means CFP® professionals must provide financial planning services in the best interests of their clients.