And from a more practical perspective, it is worth noting it's also just the less expensive route to go the CFP first because once you've done the CFP educational courses, it is cheaper to pay the CFP exam and go sit for the exam than it is to take a few more courses for the ChFC. Now, if you do a CFP live review exam prep class, the total costs may come out similar. But I know for some advisors, when you're still early on, right, the dollars are still a little more limited, and so moving into your education more gradually by doing CFP first and then going back to finish ChFC just stretches out the cost a little more and makes it more manageable as well.
And so for those who don't already have a bachelor's degree, the path to CFP certification frankly is longer and more expensive. You'll have to go back to finish or even start your undergraduate degree before you can get CFP certification.
And I recognize what a monumental task that is, especially when you're already with the workforce as an advisor, you may already have kids and family and a lot else going on in your life. Now, ultimately, all the advisors I've talked to who did decide to go back to school on a part-time basis to complete their bachelor's and get their CFP certification were happy with their decision, not really just for the career I think but just the sense of accomplishment and confidence that comes from going back to college and completing it.
And with a growing number of CFP programs in undergraduate degrees, you actually have the potential to kill two birds in one stone. You finish your bachelor's degree and make your bachelor's degree include the coursework for the CFP certification and you come out having knocked out both.
You just have to go sit for the exam. So I do think it's worthwhile in your investment in yourself and your career in the long run, but it is more expensive and it does take more time. And so if you don't have a bachelor's degree and that's the crossroads that you're at, you know, you do have to take the time about whether you want to really make that level of investment in yourself.
But the key point to understand is simply that as a financial planning professional, you shouldn't look at the ChFC as an appealing alternative to the CFP marks simply because you want to get a destination without sitting for the admittedly challenging CFP exam. You shouldn't want to sit for the CFP exam. It is your final gut check to make sure that you know your stuff, because otherwise, you risk starting to give advice to people and hurting them by making mistake because you didn't know what you were doing.
And at the end of the day, taking the time to study for the CFP exam is a lot cheaper than getting sued for giving bad advice. And then if you want to keep going with your education from there, pursue post-CFP designations , which you should because I think in the future you'll have to differentiate, and then programs like ChFC are an absolutely reasonable option to consider, along with CLU certification, master's in financial planning, RICP, RMA and a whole lot of other programs that we've written about on the site over the years.
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Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Students are given four months after registering in which to schedule their final exam. This designation is also available through the American College. This designation has the same core curriculum as the CFP designation, plus two or three additional elective courses that focus on various areas of personal financial planning. But the biggest difference is that it does not require candidates to pass a comprehensive board exam, as with the CFP.
Due to the number of courses that overlap both the ChFC and CFP, the ChFC and CLU marks are often taken by individuals seeking in-depth knowledge of both financial planning and insurance, but who wish to avoid a lengthy board exam.
Some of the areas the program outlines are:. There really is no right answer to this question. The answer lies in your preferred area of focus. If you want to focus more exclusively on life insurance, then the CLU designation provides the most complete curriculum for you.
If you prefer to focus on comprehensive financial planning , then one of the other two credentials are a better fit. It should be noted that none of these designations are considered to be inherently superior to the others. The CFP designation requires less coursework but forces its students to learn the material in a way that allows them to proactively apply it in the board exam. The following chart can help you understand the differences and similarities between the three designations.
Agents and brokers who decide to earn one of these designations will soon discover that some of the same coursework is required regardless of which designation is chosen. Those who want to obtain only one of these credentials will need to personally evaluate the courses that are required for each and their relevance to their specific areas of practice.
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I Accept Show Purposes. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. According to Indeed. Can you get a CFP without a college degree? How many ChFC are there? Is a ChFC a fiduciary? The ChFC designation covers the same core curriculum covered by the CFP designation plus additional electives that focus on areas of personal finance. What is the CFS designation? A certified fund specialist CFS has received a certification from the Institute of Business and Finance IBF for their expertise in mutual funds and the mutual fund industry.
The certified fund specialist exam is one of the oldest certification designations in the mutual fund industry. What is the most difficult financial certification? Chartered Financial Analyst. How do you get ChFC certified?
There are four requirements to receive the designation: education, a comprehensive exam, work experience and ethics. What comes after CFP?
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