CFP Board Sanctions

CFP® Certificants in the News The authority to display the CFP® mark is a privilege, not an absolute right.  Recent CFP Board disciplinary actions underscore that point emphatically. We’ll summarize three such actions in this article, beginning with Public Censure. STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING CONCENTRATED WEALTH Clients who have their wealth concentrated in a single asset have unique…

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Millennials Financial Milestone Survey

CFP® Certificants in the News Let’s face it, millennials get a bad rap at times in the popular press over their financial discipline.  But couldn’t most of us do better at this discipline?  Is everything we read on the internet true and unbiased?  After reading this article, we encourage you to consider that, just like…

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Financial Advisor vs. Do-It-Yourself Investing

CFP® Certificants in the News There’s an old pilot’s joke about the increasing automation of the cockpit that goes something like this: The ideal flight crew is one pilot and a dog. The pilot’s role is to feed the dog. The dog’s role is to bite the pilot if they try to touch any of…

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What You Should Know About CFP Board Discipline

CFP® Certificants in the News CFP Board publishes disciplinary actions that include public censure, suspension, and even permanent revocation of the right to use the CFP® mark. We’ll identify two recent disciplinary actions taken by CFP Board and then make observations. Public Censure Paul, a CFP® certificant from New York, “entered into a Letter of…

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Will 401(k) Rollovers Equal Advisors’ Fiduciary Responsibility?

CFP® Certificants in the News The CFP Board’s recent news release opined that “The Department of Labor’s new retirement security rule standard expanding fiduciary duties will likely face legal opposition. Advocates for the rule, including CFP Board, plan to submit amicus briefs in support of the DOL in any lawsuits.” The news release cites an…

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Economic Uncertainty and Client Outlook

CFP® Certificants in the News How will geopolitical conflicts, elevated inflation, staggering Federal deficits, and high interest rates impact client expectations for 2024?  Counterintuitively, a March 19, 2024 CFP Board news release announced an “overwhelmingly positive” client outlook for 2024. Referring to the pie chart below, over 9 of every 10 clients of CFP® practitioners…

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Golden Anniversary—CFP® Certification Turns Age 50

CFP® Certificants in the News According to a recent CFP Board article, “In 1973, the College for Financial Planning minted its first class of 42 trail-blazing men and women specifically trained in the professional discipline of financial planning. Half a century later, CFP Board certifies nearly 98,000 CFP® professionals in the U.S. That number will…

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CFP® Certification—A Competitive Edge

CFP® Certificants in the News According to CFP Board, “more than 10,000 firms across the U.S. are employers of CFP® professionals, and with good reason.” The chart below testifies to the explosive growth of clients that prefer working with a CFP® Certificant in 2023, rising dramatically to over eight of every ten clients from only two…

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CFP Board Supports Expansion of Fiduciary Duty

CFP® Certificants in the News The Employee Retirement Investment Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) pioneered desperately needed reforms for employer provided retirement plans. As just one example of pre-ERISA abuses, some employers required lengthy vesting requirements and—in a flagrantly deplorable practice—terminated employees before they became vested to avoid paying pensions. Fifty years ago, ERISA rode…

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Are You Displaying Your CFP® Mark Correctly?

CFP® Certificants in the News Take this quick quiz to test your knowledge of CFP Board’s expectations of your use of the CFP® mark. For every use of the mark below, determine which is compliant. Note that question number 1 in our previous article was based on an accidental and incorrect posting by CFP Board.…

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