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In today's uncertain economy, financial planning has become increasingly important. With several options for saving and investing, managing your finances can be difficult. In such a condition a certified financial planner can help you to choose the right financial plan that suits you. Most people think all financial planners are "certified," but this isn't true. Anyone can call himself a financial planner, but only those who have fulfilled the certification and renewal requirements of CFP Board can display the CFP® certification marks, which represent a high level of competency, ethics and professionalism.
When choosing a Certified Financial Planner professional, it's important to find someone you feel comfortable with and who understands your needs. CFP professionals offer different services depending on a number of factors, including credentials, licenses and areas of expertise. Some prefer to carry out all of their recommendations for you themselves and some work with other people in their offices to meet your needs. In other cases, a CFP professional will advise you, and then you'll carry out his recommendations yourself.
A Certified Financial Planner professional can take you through the financial planning process, and they are: establishing and defining the client-CFP professional relationship, gathering client data, analyzing and evaluating your financial status, developing recommendations, implementing recommendations and monitoring recommendations. A CFP professional can help with calculating your net worth, avoiding financial setbacks, dealing with major life changes, avoiding debt and credit problems and deciding where to put your money. There are an overwhelming number of choices for saving and investing your money and a planner can help you navigate those options.
Creating a robust, realistic plan will help you stay on track to have the retirement you want.
Financial planners who hold CFP certification have met education, examination, experience and ethics requirements. Several types of financial advisers are accountant, attorney, estate planner, insurance agent, investment adviser and stockbroker. These advisers should refer you to a planner if they cannot meet your financial planning needs. Let’s go through the roles of these advisors in their clients’ financial planning. Accountants provide the client with advice on tax matters and help to prepare and submit the tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A relatively small percentage of attorneys provide financial planning services, usually specializing in estate and tax planning. Estate planners provide the client with advice on estate taxes or other estate planning issues and put together a strategy to manage the assets at the time of client’s death. Insurance agents are individuals licensed by a state or states to sell life and health and/or property and casualty insurance products. Many financial planners are licensed to sell or give advice on insurance products. Investment advisers are individuals or firms that provide securities advice for compensation as part of a regular business. They must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or appropriate state securities agencies, unless specifically exempted. Stockbrokers are licensed by the state(s) in which they practice to buy and sell securities products such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. They generally earn commissions on all of their transactions.
