Why Choose a CFP® Professional?
For the past 35 years, the CFP® certification has been recognized as the gold standard in financial planning. Apart from the rigorous educational and experience requirements to obtain and maintain their CFP® certifications, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals have strict fiduciary obligations of loyalty and care to clients.
Why is the CFP® accreditation the gold standard among Financial Advisors?
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals have extensive educational, professional, and ethics requirements to earn and maintain the gold standard certification for financial planning.
What percentage of financial advisors are CFP® professionals?
About 29% of financial advisors in the United States are CFP® professionals.
There are approximately 617,549 registered representatives eligible to sell securities in the United States, according to FINRA. There are approximately 311,305 personal financial advisors in the United States according to Cerulli Associates. There are 90,569 CFP® professionals in the United States according to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
Education
CFP® professionals must have a bachelors degree and require 30+ hours of continuing education every two years, including obligatory ethics and professional responsibility courses.
Examination
CFP® candidates must pass a comprehensive 6-hour examination that tests their ability to apply financial planning knowledge in an integrated approach to real-life financial planning situations.
Professional Experience
Before qualifying for CFP® certification, financial planners must complete three years of professional work experience including directly implementing the complete financial planning process for clients.
Ethics
CFP® practitioners must pass an ethics review and abide by a strict code of professional conduct that avoids conflicts of interests and requires the advisor to act as a fiduciary when providing financial advice to clients.
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What is the difference between a CFP® professional and a financial advisor?
A CFP® professional is one of many types of financial advisors. A financial advisor must earn the right to call themselves a CFP® professional. Anyone can call themselves a financial advisor, because it’s a general term.
Here are a few considerations to why one might consider working with a CFP® professional:
Credentials
A financial advisor that earns the rights to use the CFP® marks shows an expertise towards financial planning, a level of professionalism, and distinguishes themselves for clients. If working with a qualified financial advisor is important to you, then make sure they are a CFP® professional.
Education
To satisfy the education requirement, a financial professional must first earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
Then, a financial professional must complete these additional educational requirements:
A CFP board educational program consisting of classes focused on: financial planning process and insurance, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning and employee benefits, estate planning, and financial plan development. Certain professionals may qualify for an accelerated education path.
To satisfy the exam requirement, a financial professional must pass the CFP® exam consisting of a six-hour multiple choice exam.
There is no requirement a financial advisor to earn a college degree or receive advanced financial planning education.
Experience
A financial advisor must accumulate approximately three years of work experience before using the CFP® marks. To satisfy the experience requirement, a financial professional must accumulate 6,000 hours of professional experience related to the financial planning.
There is no requirement for financial advisor to have work experience before selling securities.
Ethics
A financial advisor must adhere to a higher ethical standard and serve clients as a fiduciary when providing financial advice to clients before using the CFP® marks.
Most financial advisors are not held to similar ethical or fiduciary standards.