About CFP® Certification

The CFP Board created the CFP® certification process more than 30 years ago to identify financial planning professionals willing to adhere to the principles of integrity, objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism, and diligence when dealing with clients. To enjoy the credibility that comes along with the CFP® mark, candidates must first meet the four initial certification requirements, also known as the four E's.

• Education
• Examination
• Experience
• Ethics

Education

To sit for the CFP® Certification Examination, you must be knowledgeable in the integrated financial planning topics set forth by the CFP Board. Students can fulfill the required education through the following three ways:

• Complete a CFP Board-Registered Program. A CFP Board-Registered program is a course of study that meets the core knowledge requirements on personal financial planning established by the CFP Board. (Learn more about Kaplan Schweser's CFP Board-Registered Programs)
   
• Apply for a Challenge Status. The CFP Board maintains that specific education and professional credentials satisfy the required core knowledge, making the candidate eligible to sit for the CFP® Exam. If you have one of the following degrees or credentials, you will automatically be eligible to apply for the CFP® Certification Examination:
  • Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®)
  • Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®)
  • Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®)
  • Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
  • Ph.D. in business or economics
  • Doctor of Business Administration
  • Licensed attorney
     
• Submission of a Transcript Review. On a case by case basis, the CFP Board may approve coursework taken with a non-CFP Board-Registered program as credit towards fulfilling the CFP Board required education.

Finally, to master the educational requirement, candidates must have a bachelor's degree (or higher), or its equivalent, in any discipline, from an accredited U.S. college or university. The bachelor's degree requirement is a condition of initial certification; it is not a requirement to be eligible to take the CFP® Certification Examination and does not have to occur before sitting for the exam.

For more information on the CFP Board's education requirements, visit www.cfp.net/become/education.asp.

Examination

After you have successfully met the education requirement, you will be eligible to apply for the CFP® Certification Examination. The CFP® Certification Examination is a 10-hour multiple-choice exam, divided into one 4-hour session on Friday afternoon and two 3-hour sessions on Saturday. The exam assesses the candidate's ability to apply financial planning knowledge based on the topic list, in an integrated format, to financial planning situations. For details related to the CFP® Certification Examination, visit: www.cfp.net/become/exam.asp.

Upcoming CFP® Certification Exam Dates:
July 18–19, 2008 (Application Deadline: 6/4/08)
November 21–22, 2008 (Application Deadline: 10/8/08)

Experience

After passing the examination requirement, you must demonstrate to the CFP Board the proper experience in the financial planning process. Three years of full-time or part-time (2,000 hours) relevant personal financial planning experience is required to fulfill the requirement. The candidate's qualifying experience must meet one or more of the six primary elements of financial planning as stated on the CFP Board website.

Ethics

The final component to CFP® Certification is the ethics requirement. This requirement demonstrates that you will provide personal financial planning in the client's best interest and will act in accordance with the highest ethical and professional standards. The CFP® Certificant must abide by the CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, which puts clients' interests first, and comply with the Financial Planning Practice Standards, which prescribe what clients should be able to expect from the financial planning engagement. For complete details regarding the CFP Board's ethics requirement, visit the CFP Board website.