CFP in the News

CFP® Certificants in the News You’re a CFP® Professional with an investment advisory practice and you just advised a client to purchase cryptocurrency assets (CRAs). Did you just violate the ethical standards? Should you expect a communication from the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission? Here’s the seemingly equivocal answer—maybe yes and maybe no. This article will…

CFP® Certificants in the News “Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced…that it is seeking public comment on proposed changes to CFP Board’s Procedural Rules. The proposed changes are intended to modernize CFP Board’s enforcement processes and further CFP Board’s work to uphold its Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (Code and Standards) for the…

CFP® Certificants in the News CFP Board generally considers regulations fair game on the CFP Board exam if they become effective within six months of the exam date.  Simple enough, right?  As you might suspect, that’s not always the case.  We’ll analyze the IRS’s recent re-interpretation of the stretch-IRA killing required distribution rules as a…

CFP® Certificants in the News You may be surprised by some of the conclusions drawn about our financial resilience as a nation according to an article posted in CFP Board’s FINANCIAL PLANNING REVIEW dated May 12, 2022. We’ll frame this discussion in three parts: Context, Methodology, and Findings. Context According to the article, “the economic…

CFP® Certificants in the News Rational clients seem to make irrational financial decisions to the puzzlement and frustration of financial advisors. Why? One school of thought blames our emotions for our financial miscues.  Regrettably, we are not always self-aware of the power wielded by our sub-conscious emotions in the following behaviors and more: The buy-high/sell-low…

CFP® Certificants in the News You’re completing or have just completed the coursework required to take the CFP Board exam (the exam). Now what? Here are the potential next steps for you: Respect the exam’s breadth and depth, Budget your study time, Register for the exam, Use CFP Board resources, and Take a review course.…

CFP® Certificants in the News Financial advisors, financial planners, and their employers have a vested interest in preserving, if not building upon, public trust in CFP® Certification. This article will focus on a specific interim suspension that, if anything, may initially err on the side of protecting public trust while ultimately providing a just result…

CFP® Certificants in the News This article will summarize pass rates, note consistency with prior exam results, and highlight demographics related to the July 2022 CFP Board exam. We begin with pass rates. Consistency First-time exam takers scored an average of 69%, compared to 67% (March 2022) and 62% (November 2021), and Repeat exam takers…

CFP® Certificants in the News encourages membership in the Financial Planning Association. Later in this article, we will reference a highly topical article appearing in the Journal of Financial Planning. We will feature a strategy that high-income clients can use to slash their state income tax rates in this report. But first, let’s admit that…

CFP® Certificants in the News CFP® certificants licensed to sell securities are subject to SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) if they make recommendations to retail customers. This article illustrates the reach of Reg BI into potential CFP Board discipline. Here’s the game plan: Identify key terms, Disclose SEC involvement in a Reg BI violation,…