CFP Certificate Programs
CFP Certificate Programs
Careers in Financial Services are in the arena of the fastest growing occupations today. Many colleges and universities are offering Certified Financial Planner-CFP Board Registered Programs for professionals and practitioners who want to expand their personal knowledge of financial planning, enhance their careers, and develop the skills and expertise necessary to serve their clients. Colleges and Universities now offer CFP Board Registered Programs on various educational levels i.e. Baccalaureate, Master's or Doctorate Level.
Get a list of education institutions in your area that have CFP Board Registered Programs. You can search by three options:
- Option 1: Search Education Programs by State
- Option 2: Search Education Programs by Type
- Option 3: Search for Distance Learning Programs
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CFP Certificate Programs
The most popular offerings are the Certificate Programs. Over 200 colleges and universities offer Certificate Programs which comprise of six (6) courses with each lasting about 10 weeks.
The 6 Courses
Institutions may title the courses a little different but the content has to be registered as financial planning curriculum with CFP Board? Here’s what the courses description typically look like:
- Financial Planning: Process and Environment- HS 300 Provides an overview of the financial planning process, including communication techniques, ethics, risk tolerance, time-value-of-money concepts, financial planning applications, regulatory issues and the legal and economic environment for financial planning. Offers an understanding of the role and responsibilities of a financial planner, along with some analytical skills to aid in financial decision making.
- Fundamentals of Insurance Planning- HS 311 Focuses on the role of planning for insurance needs. Covers basic concepts in risk management and insurance, insurance industry operations, legal principles pertaining to this industry, and regulation of insurers. Examines social insurance, life insurance and annuities, medical and disability income insurance, long-term care insurance and personal property and liability insurance. Concludes with an overview of commercial property and liability insurance and a case study.
- Income Taxation - HS 321 Examines the federal income tax system with particular reference to the taxation of individuals. Covers such concepts as gross income, exclusions from gross income, deductions, tax credits, capital gains and losses, taxation of life insurance and annuities and income taxation of partners, partnerships, corporations and shareholders.
- Planning for Retirement Needs - HS 326 Focuses on selecting the right retirement plan for the business and on individual retirement planning. Covers qualified plans, SEPs, SIMPLEs and 403(b) plans and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. Emphasizes the practical knowledge needed for choosing the best retirement plan, especially for the small business, and designing a plan that will meet a client’s needs. Also covers individual retirement planning including IRAs and Roth IRAs, Social Security benefits, saving for retirement and planning for retirement plan distributions.
- Investments - HS 328 Covers various aspects of the principles of investments and their application to financial planning. Discusses risk analysis and risk and return computations. Looks at stocks, bonds, investment companies, options and futures contracts. Includes an extended discussion of tax issues in investing and issues in the practice of portfolio management, including strategic and tactical asset allocation. Provides many examples of ethical and practical issues in managing a client’s portfolio.
- Fundamentals of Estate Planning - HS 330 Covers various aspects of estate and gift tax planning, including the nature, valuation, transfer, administration and taxation of property. Provides a basic understanding of the estate and gift tax system, including strategies of estate planning. Discusses gratuitous transfers of property outright or with trusts, wills and powers of appointment; use of the marital deduction; valuation of assets; and buy-sell agreements. Covers the client interview, fact finding, ethical standards and development of personal estate plans.
Preparation for the CFP® Certification Examination
The six courses are followed by a much focused review or course that is designed to prepare participants for the rigorous CFP® Certification Examination. The review is a comprehensive preparation plan for individuals planning to take the Certified Financial Planner Certification Exam. Generally it consists of a Pre-Study Program, Live Review Classes and Post-Study Program. Time wise…it takes about 40 hours to get thru it. Yes..it is worth every minute of it!
The CFP® Certification Examination will test your ability to integrate knowledge from all of CFP Board's specified topic areas. Get samples of retired exam questions. The sample multiple-choice questions provide you with an understanding of question format, but should not be used as a practice exam or indicator of exam preparedness.
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Questions may focus on discrete topics or may require knowledge of several topics. Each exam attempts to achieve a distribution of the topics based on the target percentages shown for each category.
Get Current Topic List for CFP® Certification Examination
The CFP® Certification Examination is scheduled to last 10 hours over a day and a half and is held three times a year, generally on the third Friday and Saturday of March, July and November. Exam locations are available in more than 50 locations around the U.S.
Good Luck...and we wish you much success as you study and successfully pass the CFP exams.
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Jim Robinson posted on Monday, June 13, 2011
Tags: CFP® Certification Examination, Financial Planning Certificate
Posted in: Exams-Certifications - USA
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