The other day I was on a call with a friend of mine who happens to be sales coach and he said to me, what makes being a CFP® so special. Honestly, I just figured everyone knew what a CFP® is and that it was self-explanatory. But he wasn’t the only person to mention it to me… in fact, my own wife said to me…you have to stop saying CFP® and start saying Certified Financial Planner™, no one knows what CFP® means.

My name is Derrick Glencer and I am a Certified Financial Planner™ Practitioner with Raymond James, and I Define, Plan and Make “It” happen, financial speaking for Gen X Execs and Soon To Be Retirees or in general families/individuals looking for a more meaningful relationship with their financial advisor.

This is Ready…Set…Retirement and today I am going to tell you about the 4 E’s and 3 C’s and at the end you will know what CFP® is, what makes us special, and why you should consider working with one?

All CFP®’s can be Financial Advisors, but not all Financial Advisors are CFP®’s. Being a successful financial advisor is already pretty tough. According to David J. Mullen Jr. Author of the Million Dollar Financial Advisor, only 1 in 5 people who start out as financial advisors actually stay with it as a career. From there it’s less than 20% who become CFP®’s. Here in Michigan we have just under 2,400 CFP®’s.

So what are The 4 E’s

#1) Education-In order to be a CFP® you must have at least a bachelors degree, in addition you need to complete course work which takes between 12-18 months to sit for the exam. This course work contains 8 Principal Knowledge topics, and 72 topic areas like investment Planning, estate planning, insurance planning. Just to name a few. In addition, once you have earned your CFP® designation you must do 30 hours of CE every 2 years to maintain your accreditation.

#2) Exam-For me it was a 2 day 4 sessions 3 hours each session in person exam with case studies covering all the 72 topic areas. The pass rate on the exam now is around 67% and goes down from there if you don’t get it on your first try.

#3) Experience-This can occur either before or after the exam but typically you need to complete 6,000 hours of qualifying experience like the delivery of financial planning services to individual clients. So if you pass the exam right out of college you can’t use the designation until you have obtained the hours of experience.

#4) Ethics-As a CFP® we have to sign a Ethics Declaration and Agreement where we commit to being and acting as a fiduciary which is to always act in the best interest of our clients, in addition we commit to act with Honesty, Integrity, Competence, diligence and have the duty of confidentiality and professionalism. In addition, we have to pass the fitness and standards of our governing board and submit to a back ground check.

Once those criteria are met, then you can use the designation.

So what does the client get for all that, the 3 C’s. Competence, Credibility and Confidence.

My name is Derrick Glencer I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Practitioner if you enjoyed this content you can book a no obligation consultation via Calendly at:

https://calendly.com/djgcfp

Or directly through email at:

derrick.glencer@raymondjames.com

I can also be found on social media at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-j-glencer-cfp%C2%AE-026b125/

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/DerrickGlencerRJFS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/djgcfp

Thank you very much and go make it a great day!

Any opinions are those of Derrick Glencer and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Expressions of opinion are as of this date and are subject to change without notice Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. Every investor's situation is unique and you should consider your investment goals, risk tolerance and time horizon before making any investment. Prior to making an investment decision, please consult with your financial advisor about your individual situation.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP®(Plaque design) and CFP®(with flame design) in the U.S., which awards to individuals who successfully complete the CFP Board’s Initial and ongoing certification requirements.