Passed the CFP!
Just got my letter for the Nov CFP. I passed!!!
I thought it would be one more week till I knew. What a great suprise.Congrats!
Can anyone attest to how the CFP stacks up against the CFA and CPA exams?Never mind, I tried that little search option that I've often recommended for others.
[quote=gad12]Just got my letter for the Nov CFP. I passed!!!
I thought it would be one more week till I knew. What a great suprise.[/quote]Congrats man! Welcome to the club!
You didn't find out by checking on the website?
[quote=joedabrkr] [quote=gad12]Just got my letter for the Nov CFP. I passed!!!
I thought it would be one more week till I knew. What a great suprise.[/quote]Congrats man! Welcome to the club!
You didn't find out by checking on the website?
[/quote] No, I thought we were another week out from getting the results and actually didn't think I had passed so I wasn't paying much attention.
Hey Gad - congrats - grueling exam - be proud. Now market the crap out of it.
I also found out today that i passed. What a relief! It is a grueling exam but passable if you are well prepared.
Doubleb
[quote=pratoman]Hey Gad - congrats - grueling exam - be proud. Now market the crap out of it.[/quote]
I must admit I have not done as good a job in the marketing end of things as I’d like…but I can change that…with a third hand and an 8th day of the week…
Congratulations to you both…
I am also awaiting the CFP results. I logged into the site and still no status....
I am also awaiting the CFP results. I logged into the site and still no status....
Sorry to see you're losing sleep over it...I wish you a passing grade...
First thing I did was send out a letter announcing to all of my clients that I went thru an intensive 2 year course of study, blahblahblah, and passed the 2 day exam. The letter came from and was signed by, my BOM. I got a ton of calls, congratulating me, in some cases, for the "promotion" Some understood it, obviously others didnt, but all were impressed. Whenever I talk to them, I point out that I can do a lot more for them than Stocks and Bonds. In my networking group, at our weekly meetings, when its my turn to get up and introduce myself, I say I am a Certified Fin Planner, and talk aobut, or give a story that illustrates, what I do as a CFP thats different from most other FA's. Whether or not this will all pay off will be evident over time.I must admit I have not done as good a job in the marketing end of things as I’d like…but I can change that…with a third hand and an 8th day of the week…
I found out I passed the CFP test today also. Very relieved.
Ok, I am posting this because I DID NOT KNOW…
You actually receive something in the mail. In about the next 7 days, it will also be on the CFP.net website, as well. I am in the Midwest and I am guessing the people who found out are East Coast? Anyways, I still haven't found out. I am just posting this because I called the 800 number on the CFP website and found this out, which was a little different from the Q&A that the website gives.I got mine Wed and I am in the Mountain West. They told me it won’t be on the website till the 7th.
[quote=gad12]I got mine Wed and I am in the Mountain West. They told me it won’t be on the website till the 7th.[/quote]
I bet they are sending out letters to avoid having the website crash. In the past they used to send out an email letting you know that your results were available, and understandably everyone would try to log on right away. Consequently their servers would crash numerous times during the day and people wouldn’t be able to sign on.
I was lucky…happened to see the email as soon as it came in, signed on right away and saved myself a day of frustration.
Me too! Whoo Hooo!
I have received a letter from CFP, I pass. The national pass rate is 60%.
My friends have received their letters, but they failed. I cannot be happy right now.
I failed. Just got my letter.
Well, I guess it is out drinking tonight and figure out if I check out of life for 10 weeks to take it again in March or wait until July.Sorry to hear that…better luck next time…
To all of you who passed, what did you find to be the best use of your study time? In regards to the practice exams, live review, notecards, etc? Thanks!
The answer to this has to be - do as many practice questions and practice exams as possible. Do the review, read the review books, but get that done quickly so you can have as much time to do practice questions and case studies as possible.To all of you who passed, what did you find to be the best use of your study time? In regards to the practice exams, live review, notecards, etc? Thanks!
Ditto, I skipped the actual study classes due to having a CPA and all I did was practice questions and exams from Kaplan. I didn’t read the review books or take a review course. Just question after question.
pratoman & gad, thanks for your thoughts!
What is the point of the CFP mark anyway? Is it worth it get?
Thank you.
CFP is worth. Espeically as a lawyer working for Living trust.
If you can pass Bar exam, you can pass CFP.
Focus on Real Estate, Trust. and Textbooks in law school.I was quite relieved as well when I received my letter that I passed last week.
For those that didn't, this was time number 2 for me. Being 27 and only advising for about 2 years, I thought taking my time going through the review material the second time proved to be more helpful for me. I focused too much on questions the first time and realized I was just trying to memorize (ala Series 6,7,63,65,24) instead of understanding the questions. I think unfortunately the magic potion is different for everyone. Best advice I could pass along is take your time on the exam and trust your instincts. There is no place for doubt once you are in the test room taking it.For those that passed the CFP this time around, will the next step being earning the CFA designation?
I understand this can be a very powerful credential to have. Any thoughts?That depends upon your chosen profession. It’s probably very powerful in the investment manager/investment banker/investment analyst professions, but IMO, it’s almost worthless to an investment advisor and from what I can tell, it’s a pain in the ass to get. At least some people know what a CFP is. OTOH, Joe Public is likely to think you’re an accountant if you use CFA as a designation.
Thanks, Indy.
There seems to be some debate as to the actual difficulty of obtaining the CFP designation. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?[quote=Choochitchit]Thanks, Indy.
There seems to be some debate as to the actual difficulty of obtaining the CFP designation. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?[/quote]I have a thought. I think if you use the "search" button in the upper right hand corner of the page you will find MANY posts on this very topic.
How long did it take you to get your CFP, joe?
I think the general concensus is that from easiest to hardest, it’s series 7/66, ChFC, CFP, CPA, CFA. There are some other junk designations that you shouldn’t bother with, such as CSA. An insurance specialist should probably get a CLU (although that’s actually kind of funny, now that I think about it).
Most folks spend a couple of years getting their CFP, although due to proscrastination, I spent an eternity getting mine.[quote=Choochitchit]How long did it take you to get your CFP, joe?[/quote]
About 2 1/2 years from beginning to end. Why?
[quote=pratoman]
First thing I did was send out a letter announcing to all of my clients that I went thru an intensive 2 year course of study, blahblahblah, and passed the 2 day exam. The letter came from and was signed by, my BOM. I got a ton of calls, congratulating me, in some cases, for the "promotion" Some understood it, obviously others didnt, but all were impressed. Whenever I talk to them, I point out that I can do a lot more for them than Stocks and Bonds. In my networking group, at our weekly meetings, when its my turn to get up and introduce myself, I say I am a Certified Fin Planner, and talk aobut, or give a story that illustrates, what I do as a CFP thats different from most other FA's. Whether or not this will all pay off will be evident over time.[/quote] I'm not trying to be funny or downplay your CFP accomplishment, but what are you doing as a CFP that's different than most other FA's? I've tossed around the idea of starting the CFP, but the time it would take is stopping me. I'd like to hear from those of you who have CFP on your biz card what you are doing that is different than the avg FA.[quote=Spaceman Spiff][quote=pratoman]
First thing I did was send out a letter announcing to all of my clients that I went thru an intensive 2 year course of study, blahblahblah, and passed the 2 day exam. The letter came from and was signed by, my BOM. I got a ton of calls, congratulating me, in some cases, for the "promotion" Some understood it, obviously others didnt, but all were impressed. Whenever I talk to them, I point out that I can do a lot more for them than Stocks and Bonds. In my networking group, at our weekly meetings, when its my turn to get up and introduce myself, I say I am a Certified Fin Planner, and talk aobut, or give a story that illustrates, what I do as a CFP thats different from most other FA's. Whether or not this will all pay off will be evident over time.[/quote] I'm not trying to be funny or downplay your CFP accomplishment, but what are you doing as a CFP that's different than most other FA's? I've tossed around the idea of starting the CFP, but the time it would take is stopping me. I'd like to hear from those of you who have CFP on your biz card what you are doing that is different than the avg FA. [/quote] With all respect to you Spiff, I think you are totally missing the point. I do not have the CFP yet but have done the educational requirements. That alone has helped me in my business. It is awareness of issues that the CFP gives you that you don't have now.I would agree with the previous post. The true value from a knowledge standpoint comes from just going through the education process. Others will argue that the true value from a marketing standpoint comes from the value of the letters on your business card.
Frankly, I did it for my own knowledge and to gain the experience. I'm not necessarily looking to work with people who just look at the letters you have on a business card and judge you from that and that alone.[quote=Spaceman Spiff]
I'm not trying to be funny or downplay your CFP accomplishment, but what are you doing as a CFP that's different than most other FA's? I've tossed around the idea of starting the CFP, but the time it would take is stopping me. I'd like to hear from those of you who have CFP on your biz card what you are doing that is different than the avg FA. [/quote]Honestly I've been so busy that not much has changed so far. But it has changed the way some clients treat me, and some of them have come to me with issues(and assets) that they had not discussed with me in the past.
I have one client in particular who is an executive at a publicly traded firm in Silicon Valley. He recently mentioned to me that as part of his benefit package he is allowed an annual reimbursement for financial planning and legal services...that perhaps now that I was "official" he would like to spend some of that allowance to explore some of the issues we'd touched upon in a more in-depth manner.
Also-I have recently applied for a program with my firm that will allow me to charge clients an hourly fee for consulting/advisory work that does not involve the sale or management of investments. Having a professional certification(such as CFP) was one of the requirements to apply for that program.
And honestly I feel like I've only scratched the surface. The certification is not magic, but it does open new doors.
I earned my CFP in 06’ through the AG Edwards 6 month spoon feeding process. I simply added it to my card and corespondence. Can’t say it changed anything much. However, I will point out how wide open you are to litigation if you have one. You are now expected to analyze A-Z instead of uncovering the clients need and selling a solution. I like pulling the CFP card in a competative situation. Other than that I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite me.
I think like anything else you get out of it what you put into it. If you get the designation just to put it on your card, I would argue that you aren’t going to see much out of it. If you get the designation because you want to expand your knowledge and be able to further assist different clients in different situations, then the knowledge itself opens more doors.
It certainly doesn't mean I'm going full-on estate planning, but I do feel comfortable asking the questions I need to point them in the right direction. That is certainly something I can't say I felt comfortable with prior to going through the test and education requirement.Sounds like CFP certificants can advise prospects to never deal with an advisor who is without the designation.
Is this accruate?Not sure about that, maybe someone else can comment. I know plenty of good advisors that I would recommend if I had a conflict of interest that aren’t CFPs.
Personally, I'm not one to ever speak badly or bash someone else in the business whether its deserved or not. If anything, I think you run the risk of making the prospect / client feel belittled for their choice in previous advisor and thats not in anyone's best interest.I agree with Noggin and wickedriley, in that I find I am having different conversations with clients. I also am doing a better job of planning for clients retirement. I am finding that clients, at least the ones I work with and want to work with, appreciate that I can sit down with them with a yellow legal pad and an HP=12C, and in a short time tell them exactly what they need to do (in broad terms) to get the money they need to retire, in todays dollars, based on when they want to retire, what lifespan they want to use and other assumptions.
Now before everyone starts getting their balls in an uproar, let me acknowledge that you dont have to be a CFP to know how to do that. But the reality is that most of the FA's I know, dont know how to do this, accounting for inflation, etc, without using their firms planning tools and using a boilerplate presentation with pie charts, lots of numbers, etc., which everyone uses. So I find the CFP is helping me differntiate myself when sitting with a prospect. I can also talk about estate planning issues, and as someone else said, point them in the right direction,. Another issue; My wirehouse is floating the idea of setting up a new platform, where we can charge a fee for financial plans. But it cant be a plan that any FA can run like the crap I referred to above. It would have to be more extensive, etc, the fee would be credited toward gross, and you would need to be a CFP to participate in the program. My guess is that this is in response to the CFP boards new code of ethics, that goes into effect in July. It would require all CFP's who do any type of planning to have a written agreement that defines the scope of services provided, among other things. If this gets done, it wont be long before all wirehouses offer it, and it will change the face of our business. So there is a way the designation may help me.Congrats to everyone who Passed. I passed the Nov. exam as well. I am very very relieved.
Good luck to those who are taking it again.
For those of you who have passed or failed the most recent CFP exam, how did you prepare for the exam?
Did you take a review course or take the classes necessary to sit for the exam? What is the best way to review?I advise all to take the web based Kaplan Live Review Course. You can listen to the courses over and over and over which helps for the exam.
I would say being Indy has landed more accounts then my CFP designation.
Going through the CFP courses helped me learn in a unbiased way other then learning the hard way at the clients expense.Source URL:https://www.wealthmanagement.com/forums/general/passed-cfp