Certified Financial Planner™
A Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) is a mark of distinction that is held by fewer than 5% of financial planners. Two members of our team have earned the CFP® certification.
The rigorous education and testing that a CFP® certificant undertakes is a commitment to obtaining the technical knowledge to assist clients with a wide variety of financial needs. The CFP® training regimen is backed by additional requirements for experience and adherence to a code of ethics that marries technical expertise with a client-centered commitment to service.
The CFP® is administered by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., a nonprofit organization that is devoted to maintaining high professional standards for personal financial advisors. These standards are designed to both support a strong working relationship between an individual advisor and his or her clients, as well as to strengthen the overall professionalism of financial advisors.
Why You Should Hire a CFP®
The CFP® is one of many certifications in the field of financial planning. When it’s time to find a financial planner, why should you select a planner who is a CFP®? Why are so many of the best Maryland financial planners, D.C. financial planners and Virginia financial planners CFPs?
The answer is that a CFP® has passed rigorous training and education standards. The 10-hour, two-day CFP® exam requires applicants to demonstrate their ability to apply planning principles to real-world scenarios similar to those they may encounter on behalf of their clients. The exam is so rigorous that only about 60% of first-timers pass the test.
Even after passing the exam, candidates also must accrue three years of experience as a personal financial professional (supervisor, direct support, teacher, or personal delivery of financial planning) before they have earned the CFP® designation. To maintain their CFP®, they must stay on top of new ideas in investing, retirement planning, insurance and other subjects by taking continuing education courses.
Why You Should Hire a Fee-Only CFP®
When a CFP® also operates as a true Fee-Only professional, you have the best of both worlds. A Fee-Only Certified Financial Planner™ not only has demonstrated competency in a wide range of planning issues, but the advisor is committed to providing unbiased advice that is not tainted by commissions and hidden compensation. Ethics is a hallmark of both the CFP® program and the membership standards of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), which represents Fee-Only financial advisors internationally.
Financial planning is too important to be left to an advisor who has incomplete training or who focuses on only one aspect of your financial life. Visit with us to learn more about the comprehensive skills and high ethical standards of a Fee-Only Certified Financial Advisor™.
Click here to visit the CFP® Board of Standards website.
Click here to visit the CFP® Ethics page.