Why Choose a CFP

The Four E’s Essential to Earning the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER License CFP logo


1. 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 100 educational programs registered with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board).

2. 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.

3. Experience - CFP practitioners must have a minimum of three years' experience working in the financial planning process prior to earning the CFP marks. As a result, CFP practitioners have demonstrated a knowledge of counseling skills in addition to their financial planning knowledge.

4. Ethics - As a final step to certification, CFP practitioners must pass an ethics review and agree to abide by The CFP Board's Financial Planning Practice Standards and 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.

It is also necessary for every CFP certificant, once certified, to get re-certification every two years. Those seeking to maintain their certification must attain a minimum of 30 hours of continuing education, in order to stay current with developments in the financial planning profession to better serve their clients. Two of these hours must be spent studying the CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility or Financial Planning Practice Standards.