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The CFP Board of
Standards created the Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) designation
to aid consumers in evaluating any financial advisor they may be considering.
The rigid qualifications a financial planner must meet in order to utilize the
CFP® mark of distinction are listed below.
Tested
For Competency
When selecting a
financial planner, you need to feel confident that the person you choose to
help you plan for your future is competent and ethical. To earn the right to
use the CFP® marks, individuals must complete the following competency requirements.
Education:
Develop theoretical
and practical financial planning knowledge by completing a comprehensive course
of study at a college or university offering a financial planning curriculum
registered with the CFP Board of Standards.
Examination:
Pass a comprehensive
two-day, 10-hour CFP® Certification Examination that tests their ability
to apply financial planning knowledge in an integrated format. Based on regularly
updated research of what planners do, CFP Board’s exam covers the financial
planning process, tax planning, employee benefits, retirement planning, estate
planning, investments and insurance.
Experience:
Have a minimum of
three years’ experience in the financial planning process prior to earning
the right to use the CFP® marks. As a result, CFP® practitioners possess
financial counseling skills in addition to financial planning knowledge.
Committed
to Ethical Conduct
Ethics:
As a final step to
certification, CFP® practitioners agree to abide by a strict code of professional
conduct, known as CFB Board’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility
that sets forth their ethical responsibilities to the public, to clients and
to employers.
Through the Code
of Ethics, CFP® practitioners agree to act fairly and diligently when
providing you with financial planning advice and services, always putting your
interests first. The Code of Ethics states that CFP practitioners are
to act with integrity, offering you professional services that are objective
and based on your needs. They are required to provide you with information about
their sources of compensation and conflicts of interest in writing, and must
keep personal details obtained while working with you confidential.
Re-Certified
Every Two Years
Once certified, CFP®
practitioners are required to maintain technical competence and fulfill ethical
obligations. Every two years, they must complete a minimum of 30 hours of continuing
education, staying current with developments in the financial planning profession
to better serve their clients. Two of these hours are spent studying or discussing
CFP Board’s Code of Ethics or Practice Standards.
In addition to the
biennial continuing education requirement, all CFP® practitioners voluntarily
disclose any public, civil, criminal or disciplinary actions that may have been
taken against them during the past two years as part of the re-certification
process.
About CFP
Board
CFP Board is a nonprofit
professional regulatory organization founded in 1985 to benefit the public by
fostering professional standards in personal financial planning. An independent
certifying organization, CFP Board owns the marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
PLANNER™.
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