WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE A CFP PRACITIONER
Choosing a financial planner may be one of the most important decisions you make for yourself and your loved
ones. Financial planners can provide you and your family with guidance over your lifetime, or work with you to address specific
concerns as needed. Regardless of how you choose to work together, a planner can play a central role in helping you meet your life
goals and achieve financial well-being. Consequently, take the time to select a financial planner who is competent and trustworthy,
one on whom you can depend for professional advice and services.
Certified Financial Planner® Practitioners
(a certification mark), CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® help you identify financial planners who are
committed to competent and ethical behavior when providing financial planning services. CFP Practitioners have taken the extra step
to demonstrate their professionalism by voluntarily submitting to the rigorous CFP certification process. In addition to
significant education and experience requirements, they must pass a comprehensive exam that tests their personal financial planning
knowledge and skills, continually update their abilities and abide by a strict Code of Ethics.
When you work with a CFP Practitioner, you are the focus of the financial planning relationship and your needs drive the financial
planner's recommendations. As a client, you can choose from a wide variety of planners and planning services. CFP Practitioners
work in several settings including small financial planning practices, large financial services firms, credit unions, banks and
other financial institutions. Planners are compensated for the services they provide in different ways, as well. Some are paid
through commissions, and others through fees or a combination of both. While all CFP Practitioners are trained to provide you with
comprehensive financial planning services, some specialize in one or more areas, or work with specific types of clients. Interview
several CFP Practitioners and choose the one with whom you feel most comfortable and who best meets your needs.
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, CFP Practitioners complete the following competency
requirements.
- Education
CFP Practitioners develop theoretical and practical financial planning knowledge by completing a
comprehensive course of study at a college or university offering a financial planning curriculum, including over 90 educational
institutions registered with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board).
- Examination
CFP Practitioners must pass a comprehensive two-day, 10-hour CFP® Certification Examination that
tests their ability to apply their financial planning knowledge in an integrated format. Based on regularly updated research of
what planners do, the CFP Board's exam covers the financial planning process, tax planning, employee benefits and retirement
planning, estate planning, investment management and insurance.
- Experience
CFP Practitioners must have a minimum of three years' experience counseling clients on financial
matters prior to earning the CFP marks. As a result, CFP Practitioners possess financial counseling skills in addition to their
financial planning knowledge.
- Ethics
As a final step to certification, CFP Practitioners agree to abide by a strict code of professional
conduct, known as the CFP 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 they provide 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. All CFP Practitioners are required to
provide you with information about their sources of compensation and conflicts of interest in writing. In addition, CFP
Practitioners must keep personal details obtained while working with you confidential.
Re-Certified Every Two Years
Once certified, CFP Practitioners are required to maintain their technical competence and fulfill ethical
obligations. Every two years, CFP Practitioners 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 the CFP
Board's Code of Ethics.
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 their re-certification.
Financial Planning Practice Standards
You may be confused about how to distinguish financial planning from other kinds of financial advice. To help you
understand what to expect from the financial planning process, CFP Practitioners follow certain standards - called practice
standards - when they provide financial planning advice. Practice standards describe the process you should reasonably expect a
financial planner to use during a financial planning engagement. These standards are based on a six-step financial planning
process, documented through CFP Board research.
The Financial Planning Process
- Establishing and defining the client-planner relationship
- Gathering client data including goals
- Analyzing and evaluating the client's financial status
- Developing and presenting financial planning recommendations and/or alternatives
- Implementing the financial planning recommendations
- Monitoring the financial planning recommendations
When providing financial planning advice, a CFP Practitioner will define the scope of the work she will do with you, and clearly
explain and document the services she will provide, her method of compensation and other relevant information. CFP Practitioners
will work with you to determine your personal and financial goals, needs and priorities; understand your time frame for achieving
results; and discuss your tolerance for financial risk. Practice standards also require the CFP Practitioner to gather all
necessary financial information about you when developing your personal financial plan.
A Matter of Trust
As more people call themselves "financial planners," finding the right professional to address your financial
planning needs isn't always easy. Take your time when choosing a financial planner. Before making a decision, become familiar with
the planner's business style and understand the level of services he provides. Look for a measure of the planner's commitment to
ethical behavior and adherence to high professional standards. Most importantly, look for a financial planner who will put you and
your needs at the center of every financial planning engagement.
Check Your Planner's CFP License Status
To verify that your planner is authorized by the CFP Board to use the CFP marks, call toll-free 1-888-CFP-MARK
(888-237-6275) or visit the CFP Board's web site at www.cfp-board.org
About the CFP Board
The 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, the CFP Board owns the CFP
certification mark and the marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®.
Free informational brochures, 10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Financial Planner and What You Should Know About Financial
Planning, are also available from the CFP Board.
1700 Broadway, Suite 2100
Denver, Colorado 80290
Tel: (303) 830-7500
Fax: (303) 860-7388
e-mail: mail@cfp-board.org
www.cfp-board.org
Toll-free: 888-CFP-MARK
Download a copy of this form for future reference. (To view the form you must have
Adobe Acrobat Reader, if you don't have the reader, you can
download it for free)
is a certification mark owned by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board). CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
PLANNER® are federally registered service marks of the CFP Board. ©1999 Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. All
rights reserved.
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