Description of Professional Designations

Certified Financial Planner™
"I am certified for financial planning services in the United States by Certified Financial Planner
Board of Standards, Inc. (“CFP Board”). Therefore, I may refer to myself as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
PLANNER® professional or a CFP® professional, and I may use these and the other certification
marks (the “CFP Board Certification Marks”) that Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards
Center for Financial Planning, Inc. has licensed to CFP Board in the United States."

The CFP® certification is voluntary. No federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold
the CFP® certification. You may find more information about the CFP® certification at www.cfp.net.
 

CFP® professionals have met CFP Board’s high standards for education, examination, experience,
and ethics. To become a CFP® professional, an individual must fulfill the following requirements:

• Education – Earn a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university
  and complete CFP Board-approved coursework at a college or university through a CFP
  Board Registered Program. The coursework covers the financial planning subject areas
  CFP Board has determined are necessary for the competent and professional delivery of
  financial planning services, as well as a comprehensive financial plan development
  capstone course. A candidate may satisfy some of the coursework requirement through
  other qualifying credentials. CFP Board implemented the bachelor’s degree or higher
  requirement in 2007 and the financial planning development capstone course requirement
  in March 2012. Therefore, a CFP® professional who first became certified before those
  dates may not have earned a bachelor’s or higher degree or completed a financial planning
  development capstone course.
• Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The examination is
  designed to assess an individual’s ability to integrate and apply a broad base of financial
  planning knowledge in the context of real-life financial planning situations.
• Experience – Complete 6,000 hours of professional experience related to the personal
  financial planning process, or 4,000 hours of apprenticeship experience that meets
  additional requirements.
• Ethics – Satisfy the Fitness Standards for Candidates for CFP® Certification and Former CFP®
  Professionals Seeking Reinstatement and agree to be bound by CFP Board’s Code of Ethics
  and Standards of Conduct (“Code and Standards”), which sets forth the ethical and
  practice standards for CFP® professionals.

Individuals who become certified must complete the following ongoing education and ethics
requirements to remain certified and maintain the right to continue to use the CFP Board
Certification Marks:

• Ethics – Commit to complying with CFP Board’s Code and Standards. This includes a
  commitment to CFP Board, as part of the certification, to act as a fiduciary, and therefore,
  act in the best interests of the client, at all times when providing financial advice and
  financial planning. CFP Board may sanction a CFP® professional who does not abide by this
  commitment, but CFP Board does not guarantee a CFP® professional's services. A client
  who seeks a similar commitment should obtain a written engagement that includes a
  fiduciary obligation to the client.
• Continuing Education – Complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years to
  maintain competence, demonstrate specified levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and
  keep up with developments in financial planning. Two of the hours must address the Code
  and Standards.