How to Become a Certified Financial Planner Professional

Difficult financial times have proven the importance of proper financial planning (for both the future and emergencies), and the need for strong ethical dealings by our financial professionals. Financial planning professionals with strong ethics, good interpersonal skills, highly educated, and responsible are in need and greatly rewarded. By becoming a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Professional you will gain the respect and prove your credentials to your peers, employers, and customers. Only those financial planners that meet rigorous certification requirements set forth by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards will be able to use the CFP credential.

Complete the required CFP education
The educational requirement for this certification is two part. First you needed financial planning knowledge through a college or university offering a financial planning curriculum approved by the CFP Board (these programs consist of credit and non-credit courses). You can also fulfill this requirement by transcripts of education and work experience for review by the CFP Board. Additionally, you will also need to earn at least a bachelor's degree (in any field) from an accredited college or university.

Take and pass the CFP examination
The CFP examination is an extensive 10 hour, multiple choice examination; which tests your ability to apply your financial planning knowledge. The exam covers the financial planning process, employee benefits and retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning, investment management, and insurance.

Attain the required financial planning experience
You must work as a financial planner for at least 3 years before attaining your CFP certification.

Prove your ethical standards
To fulfill the ethics requirements of the CFP certification you will need to pass a background check and agree to stand by the CFP board's ethics policy, Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

Maintain your certification
Each two years you will need to complete a recertification process. This will include a minimum of 30 hours continuing education (2 hours of this must include CFP ethics policy review), and report any criminal or disciplinary actions that may have happened in the past two years.