User:Markg67

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UNDER CONSTRUCTION Choosing a Certified Financial Planner by Mark R. Gagnon ,CFP®

There are 10 questions you will want to ask when selecting someone to help you navigate the maze called Financial Planning.

Personal financial planning is the process of meeting your life goals through the proper management of your finances. Life goals can include buying a home, saving for your child’s education or planning for retirement.

The personal financial planning process consists of six steps that help you take a holistic approach to assessing where you are financially. Using these steps, you can work out where you are now, what you may need in the future and what you must do to reach your goals.

The process involves gathering relevant financial information, setting life goals, examining your current financial status and coming up with a strategy or plan for how you can meet your goals given your current situation and future plans.

Personal financial planning provides direction and meaning to your financial decisions. It allows you to understand how each financial decision you make affects other areas of your finances. For example, buying a particular investment product might help you pay off your mortgage faster or it might delay your retirement significantly. By viewing each financial decision as part of a whole, you can consider its short and long-term effects on your life goals. You can also adapt more easily to life changes and feel more secure that your goals are on track.

You may be considering help from a personal financial planner for a number of reasons, whether it’s deciding to buy a new home, planning for retirement or your children’s education, or simply not having the time or expertise to get your finances in order. Whatever your needs, working with a personal financial planner can be a helpful step in securing your financial future.

Choosing a personal financial planner may be one of the most important decisions you make for yourself and your loved ones. Personal financial planners can provide you and your family with guidance over your lifetime, or work with you to address specific concerns as needed.

A planner can play a central role in helping you meet your life goals and achieve financial wellbeing. Consequently, take the time to select a personal financial planner who is competent and trustworthy, on whom you can depend for professional advice and services, and whose business style suits your needs.


Contents

[edit] 10 Questions to ask when choosing a Certified Financial Planner™.

1. What experience do you have? Find out how long the planner has been in practice and the number and types of companies with which she has been associated. Ask the planner to briefly describe her work experience and how it relates to her current practice. Choose a financial planner who has experience counseling individuals on their financial needs.

2. What are your qualifications? The term "financial planner" is used by many financial professionals. Ask the planner what qualifies him to offer financial planning advice and whether he is recognized as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional or CFP® practitioner, a Certified Public Accountant/ Personal Financial Specialist (CPA/PFS), or a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC). Look for a planner who has proven experience in financial planning topics such as insurance, tax planning, investments, estate planning or retirement planning. Determine what steps the planner takes to stay current with changes and developments in the financial planning field. If the planner holds a financial planning designation or certification, check on his background with CFP Board or other relevant professional organizations.

3. What services do you offer? The services a financial planner offers depend on a number of factors including credentials, licenses and areas of expertise. Generally, financial planners cannot sell insurance or securities products such as mutual funds or stocks without the proper licenses, or give investment advice unless registered with state or Federal authorities. Some planners offer financial planning advice on a range of topics but do not sell financial products. Others may provide advice only in specific areas such as estate planning or on tax matters.

4. What is your approach to financial planning? Ask the financial planner about the type of clients and financial situations she typically likes to work with. Some planners prefer to develop one plan by bringing together allof your financial goals. Others provide advice on specific areas, as needed. Make sure the planner's viewpoint on investing is not too cautious or overly aggressive for you. Some planners require you to have a certain net worth before offering services. Find out if the planner will carry out the financial recommendations developed for you or refer you to others who will do so.

5. Will you be the only person working with me? The financial planner may work with you himself or have others in the office assist him. You may want to meet everyone who will be working with you. If the planner works with professionals outside his own practice (such as attorneys, insurance agents or tax specialists) to develop or carry out financial planning recommendations, get a list of their names to check on their backgrounds.

6. How will I pay for your services? As part of your financial planning agreement, the financial planner should clearly tell you in writing how she will be paid for the services to be provided.

Planners can be paid in several ways:

A salary paid by the company for which the planner works. The planner's employer receives payment from you or others, either in fees or commissions, in order to pay the planner's salary.

Fees based on an hourly rate, a flat rate, or on a percentage of your assets and/or income.

Commissions paid by a third party from the products sold to you to carry out the financial planning recommendations. Commissions are usually a percentage of the amount you invest in a product.

A combination of fees and commissions whereby fees are charged for the amount of work done to develop financial planning recommendations and commissions are received from any products sold. In addition, some planners may offset some portion of the fees you pay if they receive commissions for carrying out their recommendations.

7. How much do you typically charge? While the amount you pay the planner will depend on your particular needs, the financial planner should be able to provide you with an estimate of possible costs based on the work to be performed. Such costs should include the planner's hourly rates or flat fees or the percentage he would receive as commission on products you may purchase as part of the financial planning recommendations.

8. Could anyone besides me benefit from your recommendations? Some business relationships or partnerships that a planner has could affect her professional judgment while working with you, inhibiting the planner from acting in your best interest. Ask the planner to provide you with a description of her conflicts of interest in writing. For example, financial planners who sell insurance policies, securities or mutual funds have a business relationship with the companies that provide these financial products. The planner may also have relationships or partnerships that should be disclosed to you, such as business she receives for referring you to an insurance agent, accountant or attorney for implementation of planning suggestions.

9. Have you ever been publicly disciplined for any unlawful or unethical actions in your professional career? Several government and professional regulatory organizations, such as the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), your state insurance and securities departments, and CFP Board keep records on the disciplinary history of financial planners and advisers. Ask what organizations the planner is regulated by and contact these groups to conduct a background check. (See listing at right.) All financial planners who have registered as investment advisers with the Securities and Exchange Commission or state securities agencies, or who are associated with a company that is registered as an investment adviser, must be able to provide you with a disclosure form called Form ADV Part II or the state equivalent of that form.

10. Can I have it in writing? Ask the planner to provide you with a written agreement that details the services that will be provided. Keep this document in your files for future reference.

Visit - http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/financial-planner/10questions.html

       http://www.cfp.net


[edit] Earning the Certified Financial Planner™ Designation

Let's start with a basic decription of a Certified Financial Planner and how the "marks" are earned. Below I have listed the criteria from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards

The Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP) designation is a certification mark for financial planners conferred by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. To receive authorization to use the designation, the candidate must meet education, examination, experience and ethics requirements, and pay an ongoing certification fee.[1]


[edit] Education requirements

To earn a CFP designation, candidates must meet several requirements -- the first of which is the "educational requirement." After March 2007, at minimum, a college education and bachelor's degree is required from an accredited U.S. college or university. [1] As a first step to the present CFP certification criteria, students must master[1] a list of 89 topics on integrated financial planning.[2] The topics cover major planning areas such as:



To master "The Education Requirement," students are now required to have at least a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university plus additional course training in the above listed topic areas in order to meet the first requirement to sit for the 10 hour examination.[3] A few exceptions to the education requirement exist for a limited number of professionals, including licensed attorneys (i.e., juris doctorate holders who are duly licensed with their state bar association(s)), certified public accountants (CPAs), chartered financial analysts (CFA charterholders), and persons holding doctoral degrees in business, finance, accounting, or economics.

International degrees may be substituted for a U.S. degree if they receive equivalency from a third-party organization.

[edit] Work experience

After passing the examination, the candidate must demonstrate to have exempt and extensive experience in the financial planning field. The CFP Board defines work experience as "the supervision, direct support, teaching or personal delivery of all or part of the personal financial planning process to a client"[4] and such experience must fall within one or more of the following six primary elements of financial planning:

  • Establishing and Defining the Client Relationship
  • Gathering Client Data and Goals
  • Analyzing and Evaluating the Client's Financial Status
  • Developing and Presenting Financial Planning Recommendations and Alternatives
  • Implementing the Financial Planning Recommendations
  • Monitoring the Financial Planning Recommendations

Even after the student passes the exam and meets one or more of the six primary elements of financial planning, he or she must also have completed the following:

  • Three years full-time or equivalent (2,000 hours per year) part-time experience in the financial planning field
  • Be approved by the CFP Board during initial certification, which also involves an extensive background check -- including an ethics, character and criminal check.

[edit] Ethics and Continuing Education

The final components are the ethics and continuing education requirements.[5] Students and certificants are required to adhere to the CFP Board Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and to the Financial Planning Practice Standards. The CFP Board has the right to enforce them through its Disciplinary Rules and Procedures.

To maintain certification, license holders are also required to complete certain continuing education requirements on an on-going basis in addition to paying a biannual licensing fee.


[edit] What to expect when meeting with a Certified Financial Planner™

Financial Planning Process

The Financial Planning Process consists of the following six steps:

1. Establishing and defining the client-planner relationship.

The financial planner should clearly explain or document the services to be provided to you and define both his and your responsibilities. The planner should explain fully how he will be paid and by whom. You and the planner should agree on how long the professional relationship should last and on how decisions will be made. This is also where the Fiduciary Capacity should be discussed.

2. Gathering client data, including goals.

The financial planner should ask for information about your financial situation. You and the planner should mutually define your personal and financial goals, understand your time frame for results and discuss, if relevant, how you feel about risk. The financial planner should gather all the necessary documents before giving you the advice you need.

This process is usually conducted over the course of two or more meetings.

3. Analyzing and evaluating your financial status.

The financial planner should analyze your information to assess your current situation and determine what you must do to meet your goals. Depending on what services you have asked for, this could include analyzing your assets, liabilities and cash flow, current insurance coverage, investments or tax strategies.

4. Developing and presenting financial planning recommendations and/or alternatives.

The financial planner should offer financial planning recommendations that address your goals, based on the information you provide. The planner should go over the recommendations with you to help you understand them so that you can make informed decisions. The planner should also listen to your concerns and revise the recommendations as appropriate.

5. Implementing the financial planning recommendations.

You and the planner should agree on how the recommendations will be carried out. The planner may carry out the recommendations or serve as your "coach," coordinating the whole process with you and other professionals such as attorneys or stockbrokers.

6. Monitoring the financial planning recommendations.

You and the planner should agree on who will monitor your progress towards your goals. If the planner is in charge of the process, she should report to you periodically to review your situation and adjust the recommendations, if needed, as your life changes.