Certified Financial Planner Objectives and Roles.

What Is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)?

Certified Financial Planners are experts in the fields of taxes, financial planning,  estate planning and retirement. The curriculum is owned and awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc.  The individuals who successfully complete the CFP board’s initial exam and continue to ongoing annual education programs to sharpen their skills and certification. The main thrust of this exam help in many areas like managing their finances, like retirement, investing, education, insurance, and taxes. Becoming a CFP is one of the most difficult and stringent processes in dealing with terms of financial advisors. This requires years of experience, successful completion of standardized exams, demonstration of ethics, and formal education. The important aspect of CFPs is that they have to give fiduciary duty, meaning they have to make decisions with the client’s best interest in mind.

Understanding the thrusts areas of CFP

CFP helps individuals to manage their finances. These areas include different needs like investment planning, retirement planning, insurance, education, and so on. The most important aspect of a CFP is being the fiduciary of your assets, meaning they will make decisions with the best interest in mind. CFPs are all-inclusive, particularly when compared to investment advisors. CFPs start the process by evaluating current finances including cash, assets, investments, or properties to come up with an idea of net worth. They also take concerned about your liabilities like mortgages or student debt. From this point they work with you and your needs to come up with a financial plan. For instance, if you are near your retirement they will create a financial plan which would see you through your retirement years. If you have a child who will start college then a CFP will make a financial plan to manage the cost of education.

A CFP is generally a financial advisor but one with a certified designation demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of financial planning. A CFP can be called an elevated Financial Advisor. The requirements to become a CFP are the most difficult and strict in the Industry. All CFPs are held to the standards of fiduciary duty meaning they need to put the client’s interest ahead of their own. For example, they made more money by selling one product against another but the product that made them less money was better for you, which means they must recommend that product.  Acting as Fiduciary duty is clearly laid in the CFP board and states that a CFP providing financial advice to the client must act as fiduciary acting against the best interest of the client. There are three main fiduciary duties of a CFP 1. Duty of loyalty 2. Duty of care. 3 Duty to follow client’s instructions.

How to Become a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

A CFP designation involves meeting requirements in four areas of formal education, performance in the CFP exam, relevant work experience, and demonstration of professional ethics.  The educational requirements comprise two major components. The individual must verify that they hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited university or college recognized by the United States department of education. Secondly, they must complete a list of specific courses in financial planning as specified in financial planning. The second requirement is waived if the candidate holds certain accepted financial designation like chartered financial  Analyst or Certified public accountants designation or a higher degree in business like the master of business administration(MBA). As far as relevant experience is concerned a candidate must have at least three years of full-time professional experience in the industry or two years in an apprenticeship role. Finally, candidates must adhere to CFP’s board of standard professional conduct. They must disclose their information about their involvement in a variety of areas such as criminal activity, inquiries by government agencies, bankruptcies, customer complaints, or terminations by employers.

Talking about professional experience, candidates have to prove that they have at least 3 years or 6000 hours of full time professional experience in Industry or two years in an apprenticeship role subjected to further individualized requirements.

Certified Financial Planner Course

The CFP course is one of the top certificates in Financial Planning which is available today, but learning and earning CFP takes a broad range of knowledge and strong educational background. This program is meant for students interested in this prestigious certification and is best suited for working advisor which balance different responsibilities. Through this cutting-edge program and expert faculty instructions, you can lead yourself to pass the CFP exam while furthering your education and opening new doors of personal and professional growth.

Educational Requirements require this program as a high school diploma or the equivalent but to earn a   mark of CFP you must complete seven required courses and receive a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. You must pass the CFP exam and have to complete 6000 years of professional experience as a financial advisor or 4000 hours of apprenticeship experience. Continuing education credit is required to maintain CFP marks, thus agreeing to CFP Board’s ethics pledge.

Jobs and career prospects in CFP

The United States Department reports that jobs in financial planning are expected to grow faster than average by 7% through 2028. Even better, Financial Advisor was ranked 6th position in Best business jobs by US News and World Report in 2020. Financial planning is growing as a profession and this field offers a wealth of career opportunities. Personal financial advisors guide their clients through comprehensive planning which covers aspects of their financial lives. Whether it is helping a client to invest to pay for college or building a solid investment portfolio to approach the retirement years with confidence to reach people with their financial goals. There are many career routes that you can bear to reach the zenith of success. Working as a financial planner means you can find a job in large banks, credit unions a national advisor house, or a small independent firm. You can develop your own niche that focuses on one of the areas of planning, or you can move to the academic field as a professor or researcher or you can even start your own company. With so many different opportunities you can find the right fit for yourself. Job titles and responsibilities may vary from firm to firm, but there are many typical roles in financial planning.

Conclusion -

Certified Financial Planner or CFP is an individual that takes care of your financial life like investment planning, retirement planning, insurance, education, mortgages, and student debts. This field offers many career routes working as a financial planner in large banks, and credit unions or you can even move to the academic field as a professor or researcher to start your own company.  

Certified Financial Planner - Full Form, Areas, Courses, & Jobs