Work With A Client-Focused Financial Advisor (NAPSA)—An increasing num- ber of people are choosing to become financial planners and the varied reasonsfor this career move maybe informative. When Patti Houlihan, CFP”, went back to school in 1982 to pursue education in the fledgling field of financial planning, she did it mostly to stay busy and keep her mindoff the loss of one of her three youngchildren. A former high school math teacher, Houlihan also considered going to law school or becoming a For a free CFP Board Financial Planning ResourceKit with information aboutfinancial planning and how to choose a professionalplanner, call toll-free 1-888-237-6275or log on to www.CFPnet. @ “It says a lot about credibility that these professionals are saying they want to be a CFP practitioner CPA but became intrigued by financial planning: “It lets you do everything.” Most of the people in the financial planning course came from similar backgrounds. “They were people who were re-tooling from other careers,” because their clients want to know why theyre not one.” history major who just happened with a CFP practitioner were extremely or very satisfied. said Houlihan. “My best friend did it with me. She was an art to like the stock market.” In 1985, the year she received the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification, there were 12,000 CFPpractitioners in the U.S. Sixteen years later, Houlihan, who is president of a comprehen- sive financial planning firm in Oakton, Va., and chair of the Board of Governorsof the Certified Financial Planner Board of Stan- dards, Inc., is one of more than 37,000 CFP professionals in the U.S., and 63,000 internationally. “People recognize the CFP cer- tification and know who weare,” said Houlihan. CFP Professionals Today Whothey are is a far cry from who they were when Houlihan became a CFP practitioner. Today’s candidate for certification is a CPA, an attorney, a practicing planner who wants the recognizedcertification, a bank trustofficer, an insurance or financial services profes- sional, or an account manager within a mutual fund company. “The professional demand for getting the CFPcertification is tremendoustoday,” said Houlihan. A CFPBoard survey found that 55 percent of consumers were familiar with the certification, and of those who had already worked with a financial planner, 82 percent were familiar with it. More importantly, 91 percent of consumers who actually work The Distinguishing Mark According to Houlihan, results like these aren’t surprising. CFP practitioners practice client-centered, goal-oriented, holistic financial planning. While thousands of people call themselves financial planners, the CFP mark distinguishes those who have met professional and ethical standards. “Consumers have a huge range of choices and an alphabet soup of credentials from which to choose,” said Houlihan. “Some of them suggest a lot of different things but few deliver comprehensive planning.” Elaine Bedel, CFP”, agrees. Bedel, of Indianapolis, Ind., a CFP practitioner since 1981 and the chair-elect of CFP Board’s governing body, says that a CFP professional’s broad knowledge base helps create the total financial picture for a client. “It’s knowing how things like investments, insurance and em- ployee benefits all fit together,” said Bedel. “Sometimes a client won't even know to ask ‘what are my other options?’ “A CFPpractitionerlooksat all those options, even ones that he or she may not be directly involved in managing.” Guided By A Code Of Ethics Bedel points out that because a CFP practitioner is bound and guided by a code of ethics to put the client first, the planner may point out that clients should be putting a child’s tuition money into the state’s education savings plan, for example, as opposed to having the planner manage an account for the same purpose. “Our primary ethical standard is to meet the client’s needs, and not with a generic plan or set of financial products,” said Bedel. “Working with a planner with the CFPcertification who must adhere to certain ethics and practice standards gives consumersthatlevel of addedconfidence.” CFPprofessionals are found in such diverse settings as one-per- son, sole practitioner offices on Main Street and in major insurance, financial services and bro- kerage firms on Wall Street. Houlihan envisions the day that cocktail party conversations will include the question “Whois your CFP practitioner?” But, she acknowledges that the general public is still learning about the value of seeking advice from this type of professional. “Planners used to be the keepers of the information,” Houlihan said. “That was before the Inter- net and CNBC. Now, you can get any amount of information you want. But, CFP practitioners are the people who makesense ofit all, who apply knowledge, experi- ence, wisdom and management to it.” Call 1-888-CFP-MARKorvisit the Web at www.CFP.net. Founded in 1985, CFP Board is a nonprofit professional regulatory organization that benefits the public by fostering professional standards in personal financial planning.
