Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc.

The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning. Learn more about CFP Board >

SAVE THE DATE: CFP® CERTIFICANT CONNECTIONS IN SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND AND SEATTLE, SEPTEMBER 23-24, 2010:

Plan to join CFP Board's leadership and your CFP® certificant colleagues for these receptions and town hall meetings.

San Francisco, CA, Thursday, September 23, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Portland, OR, Thursday, September 23, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Seattle, WA, Friday, September 24, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.

Registration and additional details will be available soon.

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE: July 17, 2010 marks the 25th anniversary of CFP Board, and we invite you to help CFP Board celebrate the past and future of the financial planning profession and the CFP® certificant community. Listen to the news conference, view the ad, and spread the word > You can also share your memories of CFP Board. Learn more and share your comments >

Helping Consumers Understand Who They Can Turn to for Trusted Advice "In a world where most people who call themselves financial planners or advisors have an 'alphabet soup' of designations following their name, it is critical to have organizations such as the CFP Board that provide credibility and strive to educate the public on the meaning of CFP® certification." – Clarissa Hobson, CFP®, Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 11, 2010.
Read more comments in celebration of our 25th anniversary >

CFP BOARD PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY FINDS AMERICANS ANXIOUS ABOUT PERSONAL FINANCES: Americans are keeping their optimism in check and preparing for a long and slow return to growth, according to a major new national opinion poll conducted for Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards by Penn, Schoen Berland to mark the 25^th anniversary of CFP Board. Read more >

CFP® EXAM UPDATE: (Updated July 28, 2010) All testing for the July 2010 CFP® Certification Examination is complete. Answer sheets are being reconciled and scanned by Prometric this week. Please submit any medical/emergency withdrawal requests to examinations@CFPBoard.org no later than Friday July 30, 2010 to be considered. Read more >

UPDATES TO CFP^® CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION BLUEPRINT: CFP Board's extensive 2009 Job Analysis Study have resulted in a new exam blueprint which is targeted to be tested on the March 2012 and later administrations of the exam. Eight Job Task Domains will serve as the exam blueprint, with each exam question linked to one of the domains. A list of Principal Topics resulting from the 2009 Job Analysis Study has also been developed to serve as a curricular framework.
Download the list of Job Task Domains >
Download the list of Principal Topics >

CFP BOARD'S POLICY CENTER: CFP Board’s Policy Center allows you to keep-up-to date on CFP Board’s involvement in legislative and regulatory issues affecting the financial planning profession. Read more >

FINANCIAL PLANNING COALITION UPDATE:

The Coalition has called for the establishment of a professional standards-setting oversight board for financial planners that would be subject to SEC authority. Read the Case Statement >

CFP BOARD AND OTHER PRO-CONSUMER ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT EXTENSION OF FIDUCIARY STANDARD: On June 14, 2010, CFP Board joined with consumer advocates, regulators and industry organizations, as well as U.S. Senators Daniel Akaka and Robert Menendez, to call on the U.S. Congress to require broker-dealers to meet the same fiduciary standard as investment advisers. This would provide critical protections to Main Street investors. In a letter to the conferees, the group urged the House and Senate conferees to adopt the House-passed legislation that extends the fiduciary standard of care to all financial professionals who give investment advice. Read more >

Washington, DC, July 28, 2010 — Financial planning education best practices and research will be on the agenda during CFP Board’s Program Directors’ Conference on August 12-13 in Washington, D.C., as educators from across the country come together to share ideas and resources, all in an effort to prepare future personal financial planners. Full Article >

SURVEY: TWO YEARS AFTER THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN, MOST AMERICANS REMAIN ANXIOUS ABOUT PERSONAL FINANCES, SETTLE IN FOR A SLOW RECOVERY

Washington, DC, July 13, 2010 — Financial planners certainly have their work cut out for them nearly two years after the start of the current financial crisis in the fall of 2008: Americans are keeping their optimism in check and preparing for a long and slow return to growth, according to a major new national opinion poll conducted for CFP Board by Penn, Schoen Berland. Full Article >

CFP BOARD BUSINESS UPDATE WEBINAR, JULY 16, 2010: CFP Board's leadership held an interactive Webinar with updates on CFP Board's recent and upcoming activities. This Webinar featured details of recent work on a feasibility study to determine the merit of a branding and advertising campaign that increases consumer awareness, preference and use of CFP® professionals. CFP Board will be seeking input from CFP® professionals on this initiative during coming weeks, through a survey and in-person meetings. Learn more and view the recorded Webinar >

WEBINAR: RESULTS OF 2009 JOB ANALYSIS & CRITERIA FOR FINANCIAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT COURSE, JULY 13, 2010: This Webinar for CFP Board-Registered Programs addressed details of the updated CFP® Certification Examination blueprint and the upcoming implementation of the Financial Plan Development Course and their impact on CFP Board-Registered Programs. View the Webinar and related resources >