Certified Financial Planner, CFP®
To earn the CFP® certification from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., a Financial Advisor has met rigorous education, examination, experience and ethics requirements.
Education
Taking a comprehensive approach to meeting clients’ financial needs, a Financial Advisor with the CFP® certification has completed training on nearly 100 integrated financial topics, including general principals of financial strategies, insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, and estate planning. In addition to finishing the course work on financial topics, the candidate is required to earn a bachelor’s degree (or higher) or its equivalent, in any discipline, from an accredited college or university.
Examination
Passing the CFP® Certification Examination is another requirement for CFP® certification. This comprehensive exam is scheduled to take 10 hours to complete and tests each candidate’s knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis and synthesis of financial topics specified by the CFP® Board.
Experience
The CFP® Board also requires that, to fulfill the CFP® certification, a candidate must have sufficient work experience within one or more of the following six elements of financial services:
- Establishing and defining the relationship with the client
- Gathering client data, including goals
- Analyzing and evaluating the client’s financial status
- Developing and presenting financial recommendations and/or alternatives
- Implementing the financial recommendations
- Monitoring the financial recommendations
Ethics
The CFP® certification requires that a candidate agrees to adhere to the CFP® Board’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and to Financial Planning Practice Standards. A CFP® professional must also acknowledge the CFP® Board’s right to enforce this code of ethics and practice standards.
Retirement Income Certified Professional, RICP®
There is urgent demand for practical ways to structure effective retirement income plans. Today the RICP® program offers relevant strategies to modern income planning scenarios ranging from the common to the complex. The RICP® curriculum is updated to reflect the changing landscape of the financial services environment. The goal of the RICP® is to enable advisors to demonstrate tremendous value by delivering suitable strategies for creating sustainable income for a client’s retirement.
The RICP® program includes courses on the retirement income process, sources of retirement income, managing the retirement income plan, and strategies and plans. It is designed for financial professionals who already have a broad-based financial planning credential such as The Chartered Financial Consultant, Certified Financial Planner, or Chartered Life Underwriter or whose businesses already emphasize retirement income planning. Applicants must have three-plus years of relevant work experience, complete three courses, and pass a 100-question exam. RICP®’s must adhere to a code of ethics and meet continuing education and reporting requirements.
Master’s Degree in Corporate Finance, MSF
A master’s degree in Corporate Finance is a very different degree than an MBA. The MSF is exclusively focused on the field of corporate finance and investments with emphasis on financial modeling, financial statements, risk management, investments, and other finance-specific topics.
Unlike the MBA, there is no coursework devoted to non-finance areas such as human resources, logistics, operations management, marketing or corporate social responsibility.
I found that the courses that were the most helpful to me were Investments, Advanced Portfolio Management, International Finance, Advanced Corporate Finance, and Financial Statements Analysis.
My two favorite courses were a self-directed study on big debt cycles, and an investment course that compared and contrasted numerous investment approaches ranging from quality growth investing, to value investing, investing in innovation, and other strategies. These courses were particularly relevant in helping me refine my investment philosophy and risk management.
Adjunct Professor: University of Massachusetts Lowell Campus
I am honored to teach the 3-credit hour undergraduate Personal Finance Class (FINA.2000) at the University of Massachusetts – Lowell campus.
This is not an adult education non-credit course. This is a rigorous undergraduate course, designed to engage university students covering the seven cornerstone areas of the CFP® financial planning curriculum.
Special emphasis is placed on career advancement, credit management, debt reduction, asset accumulation, wealth creation, and other topics particularly relevant to and tailored for the undergraduate audience.
