Do You Need a Certified Financial Planner, CFP®?

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The CFP® Board and its many members have done a great job promoting the benefits of working with a CFP® when seeking financial guidance…and for good reason.

The designation ensures that its bearer has completed a thorough education (7 courses typically require a year or more to complete), a rigorous and comprehensive exam (it has approximately a 60% pass rate), and at least 2 years of full-time industry experience.

A CFP® professional also has a fiduciary responsibility to their clients. This is a fancy word to mean that a fiduciary must put your interests ahead of their own.

While this may seem obvious and unnecessary to state, the ‘standard of care’ is lower for many other financial professionals.

All of the above is far more than most ‘financial advisors can claim. In fact, the titles of Financial Advisor/Planner/Coach can be claimed by anyone, whether they have credentials or not.

Are all the rest sketchy?

This doesn’t mean financial professionals without the designation do not have valuable experience and credentials. There are bloggers…