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CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)

Issued by: Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

Longview team members holding this credential include Jessica Hovis Smith, Andrew Gipner, Jeff Jones, Lauren Cooper, and Jeff Cedarholm.

From the CFP Board website:

The CFP® certification process, administered by CFP Board, identifies to the public that those individuals who have been authorized to use the CFP® certification marks in the U.S. have met rigorous professional standards and have agreed to adhere to the principles of honesty, integrity, competence and diligence when dealing with clients.

Continuing education requirement includes 30 hours every two years.

Requirements include the “Four E’s” of Education, Examination, Experience, and Ethics.

The Education requirement for attaining CFP® certification includes two main parts:

  1. Complete college or university-level coursework through a program registered with CFP Board, addressing the major personal financial planning areas identified by CFP Board’s most recent Job Analysis Study; and
  2. Verify that you hold a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university (accreditation must be recognized by U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree is awarded).

Candidates must complete CFP Board education requirements in the major personal financial planning areas, including:

  • Professional Conduct and Regulation
  • General Principles of Financial Planning
  • Education Planning
  • Risk Management and Insurance Planning
  • Investment Planning
  • Tax Planning
  • Retirement Savings and Income Planning
  • Estate Planning
  • Financial plan development (capstone) course

The Examination is a six-hour examination “designed to assess the candidate’s ability to integrate and apply a broad base of financial planning knowledge in the context of real-life financial planning situations.” In 2018, the overall pass rate was 60%. Prior to 2015, the examination was a two-day, ten-hour examination.

The Experience requirement “indicates to the public the ability to provide financial planning unsupervised, and CFP Board requires 6,000 hours of professional experience related to the financial planning process, or 4,000 hours of Apprenticeship experience that meets additional requirements.” This is the equivalent of three-years of experience or two-years under the Apprenticeship model.

The Ethics requirements asks CFP® professionals “to agree to adhere to the high standards of ethics and practice outlined in CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (“Code and Standards”) and to acknowledge CFP Board’s right to enforce them through its Disciplinary Rules and Procedures (“Disciplinary Rules”).” Candidates must also complete a detailed background review.