November 2025 Question-Palooza

00:00:08 Jerry Mee 

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another awesome episode of the BIF Bites Podcast. I’m your host, Jerry Mee, joined by two awesome co-hosts today. We’ve got our usual suspect, Mr. Adam Scherer. How’s it going, Adam? 

00:00:25 Adam Scherer 

It is wonderful, Jerry. My favorite podcast to record. 

00:00:31 Jerry Mee 

Is that like a parent with only one child calling their child their favorite child? 

00:00:35 Adam Scherer 

It totally is, yes. 

00:00:39 Jerry Mee 

It’s the thought that counts. 

00:00:41 Adam Scherer 

Yeah, it’s genuine. I can assure you of that. 

00:00:44 Jerry Mee 

Excellent. 

00:00:45 Adam Scherer 

From the heart. 

00:00:46 Jerry Mee 

Perfect. And also joining us for her second-ever BIF Bites appearance, we have our newest member of the BIF crew, Kaylee Benting. Welcome, Kaylee. How’s it going? 

00:00:59 Kaylee Benting 

Hello. Happy to be here. Second episode, and it’s the big one, Questionpalooza. So I’m very excited to join and leave my mark on this series. 

00:01:11 Jerry Mee 

Excellent. Kaylee’s going to be joining us today as our MC for the event. She’s going to be throwing Adam and me some round-robin questions spanning the entire breadth of the CFP content.  

And we actually have two new topics for this Questionpalooza, so extra special. We’re bringing in a behavioral finance and an ethics question for this edition, the first appearance of these two very important CFP topics. So before we get too far off topic, should we just dive in and start with our first question? 

00:01:53 Adam Scherer 

I’m ready. You ready, Jerry? 

00:01:54 Jerry Mee 

I’m ready. 

00:01:55 Adam Scherer 

You ready, Kaylee? 

00:01:56 Kaylee Benting 

Awesome. Let’s go. All right, we’ll start with our first question, our behavioral finance question. A financial planner notices that his client, Diego, refuses to sell shares of his former employer’s stock, which now represents 45 percent of his portfolio.  

When asked about diversification, Diego states, “I know this company inside and out. I worked there for 20 years. I’m much more comfortable holding it than other investments I don’t understand as well.” Which bias is Diego demonstrating? 

1. A) Confirmation bias
2. B) Familiarity bias
3. C) Anchoring bias
4. D) Availability bias

00:02:46 Jerry Mee 

All right, so we’ve got the biases. These can be a little frustrating because it’s really one of those topics where you just have to flashcard it out or use whatever memorization skill works best. I like the vocab word approach too. If you have a large vocabulary, you can get a lot of these questions right just from understanding the English language.

Some biases are named after psychologists, like the Dunning-Kruger effect. Those are frustrating because if you’ve never heard of them, you have no idea what they mean. You can’t even try to suss it out. So for these, the best approach is to drill them until you know what each one means. Let’s go through the options.  

00:03:52 Jerry Mee  

Availability bias is the human tendency to overweight information that’s immediately available. Think of it like the “first page of Google” bias. People put more emphasis on those top results, assuming their authoritative, even if they might be AI-generated slop. With Google’s new AI overviews, we’ll probably see more availability bias in humanity’s future.

But that’s not relevant to Diego. He’s not overweighting certain information; he’s relying on personal experience. So that one’s out. 

Anchoring bias is when someone fixates on a certain value or price point, like “milk used to cost a nickel.” Diego isn’t anchoring to a price. If he said, “I won’t sell until it’s back to $100,” that would be anchoring. Not happening here either. 

Confirmation bias is when we seek out information that reinforces our existing beliefs. Diego’s not comparing data or ignoring contradictory information. So not that one. 

That leaves familiarity bias, which is the correct answer. Diego is emphasizing something he’s familiar with. He worked at this company for 20 years, knows it inside and out, and feels safe with it. That sense of comfort drives his decision, regardless of the company’s financial health. So I’m going with familiarity bias—final answer. 

00:07:36 Kaylee Benting 

Ding, ding, ding, Jerry! Great analysis. 

00:07:42 Jerry Mee 

Can we get the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire trumpets to play? 

00:07:47 Kaylee Benting 

Oh, that’ll have to be done in post. I’ll do it manually for now. 

00:07:56 Jerry Mee 

I think your manual sound effects are better. Let’s go with those. 

00:08:03 Kaylee Benting 

All right, moving on to general principles. Aisha Rahman and Carlos Vega have two young children and are aggressively saving for college and retirement. Their fixed monthly expenses are $3,800, and their variable expenses have averaged $2,200.

Aisha is a full-time nurse, and Carlos is currently out of the workforce caring for the children. They keep $19,000 in savings and average $4,000 in checking. All other assets are invested for long-term goals. Do they have an appropriate level of emergency fund reserves? 

1. A) Yes, they have enough to cover six months of fixed expenses
2. B) No, they do not have enough to cover six months of fixed and variable expenses
3. C) No, they do not have enough to cover three months of fixed expenses
4. D) Yes, they have enough to cover three months of fixed and variable expenses

00:09:25 Jerry Mee 

Yeah, these can get confusing, but the answers give us a little insight. Hopefully most people know the three- and six-month rule, but if not, the answer choices hint at it. The general practice, according to the CFP Board, is if you have a dual-income household, you need three months of expenses.

If there’s only one source of income, you need six months. That single source might be because one spouse is stay-at-home, recently laid off, or both spouses work at the same company, which adds risk if layoffs happen. Here, one spouse is working, and one is out of the workforce, so they need six months of expenses.

Right off the bat, I can eliminate C and D. Now, let’s check their savings. Fixed plus variable expenses total $6,000 a month. Six months equals $36,000 needed. They have $23,000 combined in savings and checking—less than four months. So no, they don’t have enough. They’d need about $13,000 more. The correct answer is B. 

00:12:09 Kaylee Benting 

Awesome, Jerry. Thank you for that analysis. The question also mixes fixed and variable expenses, which can confuse test-takers. 

00:12:30 Jerry Mee 

Definitely. That’s intentional to trip people up. Generally, I’d include variable expenses when calculating. That’s why A, which only covers fixed expenses, wouldn’t be correct here. Some variable expenses go away if someone’s out of work, like eating lunch out, but without more specifics, I’d still include both. 

00:13:42 Kaylee Benting 

The more buzzwords, the merrier, right? 

00:13:45 Jerry Mee 

Load up those buzzwords. 

00:13:49 Kaylee Benting 

All right, we’re moving into insurance. KLP Design Studio has a wait-and-see buy-sell agreement. The owners—Lynn Tran, Marco Alvarez, and Priya Desai—funded the plan with cross-purchase life insurance policies.

This year, Priya passed away, and her shares moved to her estate. The company declined its initial option to redeem the shares, and the surviving owners also declined to purchase. Under the wait-and-see agreement, what happens next? 

1. A) The surviving owners have the option to purchase
2. B) The surviving owners must purchase
3. C) The business is required to purchase
4. D) The business has the option to purchase

00:14:58 Jerry Mee 

Good question. This one can make me pull my hair out. Experience can be a double-edged sword—it helps, but it can mislead you. Wait-and-see agreements can vary by contract, but the CFP Board tests on the standard structure: 

First, the company has the option to purchase the deceased’s shares. If it passes, the surviving owners then have the option. If they also pass, it reverts back to the business, which must purchase the shares. So the correct answer is C—the business is required to purchase. 

00:17:20 Kaylee Benting 

Correct, Jerry. Thank you for that. Now for your last question in the hot seat—investments. 

00:17:38 Jerry Mee 

My favorite! 

00:17:40 Kaylee Benting 

Best for last. Over the last five years, Solstice Wearables’ P/E ratio fell from 30 to 15. Revenue growth slowed from 18% to 4%. CapEx as a percent of sales declined, the dividend payout rose from 10% to 45%, and leverage and margins stayed stable. What best explains the falling P/E? 

1. A) The company is maturing with slower growth, so a lower P/E makes sense
2. B) The company took on much more debt, making it riskier
3. C) A one-time accounting item temporarily lowered the P/E
4. D) The business is at the start of a big upswing, which lowers P/E

00:18:34 Jerry Mee 

Ah, the P/E ratio. I could teach an entire class on it. It’s surprising how often people know how to calculate it but not what it means. P/E stands for price divided by earnings. The price represents the company’s total market cap. So, essentially, it tells you how many years it would take for a company to pay for itself based on its earnings. 

For example, if a $100 million company has $10 million in earnings, that’s a P/E of 10—meaning it would take 10 years to “earn back” its value. High-growth companies like Amazon or Netflix often have huge P/Es (600, 700, 800) because investors believe future growth will justify today’s high price. In contrast, mature, stable companies like Johnson & Johnson or GE have low P/Es. 

So, Solstice Wearables’ P/E dropped from 30 to 15. That suggests it’s maturing, not growing as rapidly. Revenue growth slowed from 18% to 4%, dividends rose from 10% to 45%, and CapEx declined. All of that points to a shift from high-growth to stable, income-focused. So, A is the correct answer: the company is maturing with slower growth, so a lower P/E makes sense. 

00:20:11 Kaylee Benting 

Ding, ding, ding, Jerry. Also correct. Thank you for that holistic explanation and background. 

I have a question. If someone were to see this on the exam—say they’re two hours in and their brain is fried—and they see these numbers and vocabulary words, how would you recommend they break it down to make it digestible? 

00:25:41 Jerry Mee 

Yeah, I think this really emphasizes the difference between the CFP exam and the Series 7 exam. The Series 7 might ask you to calculate the P/E ratio—price divided by earnings—and that’s it. People can memorize the formula without knowing what it means. But with the CFP, you need to understand why the P/E matters. 

If you hit a question like this mid-exam, you may not have time for deep reasoning. So ideally, you’ve already internalized the concept during prep. That said, you can still use test-taking strategies—eliminate the clearly wrong answers. 

Option B says the company took on more debt, making it riskier. That’s false since leverage stayed stable. Option C mentions a one-time accounting item lowering the P/E—nonsense. Option D says a big upswing lowers P/E, which is the opposite of reality. So by elimination, you’d still land on A. 

 If you hit something completely unfamiliar on exam day—and you will, everyone does—don’t panic. Use logic, rule out bad answers, make your best educated guess, and move on. Stay calm, trust your preparation, and keep momentum. 

00:28:54 Kaylee Benting 

Absolutely. Thank you, Jerry. You can take a back seat and enjoy yourself for a bit. 

00:29:00 Jerry Mee 

I’m going to get the coffee and donuts while Adam takes the hot seat. 

00:29:07 Kaylee Benting 

All right, we are passing the baton to Adam. Adam, how are you feeling after hearing Jerry’s answers? 

00:29:14 Adam Scherer 

Well, I feel more knowledgeable because that was great, Jerry. But with a little trepidation as we go into the back four—tax, retirement, estate, and ethics—it’s a lot. But I’m ready, Kaylee. Let’s get started. 

00:29:40 Kaylee Benting 

Great. We’re starting with a tax question. 

Priya Johnson, age 75, is charitably inclined and currently takes her required minimum distribution each year from her traditional IRA, which she reports as taxable income. She then writes a check to her favorite qualified charity and claims an itemized deduction. Her CFP professional suggests she use a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) strategy instead. 

What is the primary tax advantage of using a QCD instead of Priya’s current approach? 

1. A) The QCD allows Priya to receive a charitable deduction even if she takes the standard deduction
2. B) The QCD distribution bypasses adjusted gross income (AGI), which can provide downstream tax benefits
3. C) The QCD allows larger charitable contributions than the AGI deduction limits
4. D) The QCD provides a deduction while also satisfying the RMD requirement

00:30:59 Adam Scherer 

Here’s how I’d start: focus on the key question: what’s the primary tax advantage? 

 QCD stands for Qualified Charitable Distribution. The “D” is for distribution, not deduction - that’s a common mix-up. Priya’s 75, so she’s eligible, since QCDs are allowed at 70½ or older. She’s taking RMDs from her traditional IRA, which means the IRS is taxing those withdrawals as income. 

The current setup has her take an RMD, report it as income, and then claim a charitable deduction. A QCD lets her send that RMD directly to the charity. Because it never hits her AGI, it isn’t taxable income at all. That’s the advantage, it bypasses AGI entirely, which can have positive downstream effects like lowering Medicare premiums or avoiding phaseouts. 

So the correct answer is B: the QCD bypasses AGI, which can provide downstream tax benefits. 

00:34:31 Kaylee Benting 

Final answer is correct...option B. 

00:34:40 Jerry Mee 

Says the person who doesn’t have to do post-production work! 

00:34:45 Kaylee Benting 

Someone in post can figure it out, I’m sure. 

00:34:48 Adam Scherer 

Jerry, I want a Star Wars timpani sound. 

00:34:55 Jerry Mee 

Best I can do is me playing a kazoo. 

00:34:59 Adam Scherer 

I’ll take a slide whistle next time. 

00:35:04 Kaylee Benting 

We’ll see what gets included. I’m excited. All right, Adam, thank you for that. That was correct—B. Let’s move right into our retirement question. 

Maya Chen, age 42, operates a successful graphic design business as a sole proprietor with no employees. She has $180,000 in net self-employment earnings this year and wants to maximize her retirement contributions while maintaining simplicity.

Which retirement plan option would allow Maya to make the highest total contribution for 2025? 

1. A) SEP IRA
2. B) SIMPLE IRA
3. C) Solo 401(k)
4. D) Traditional IRA

00:36:04 Adam Scherer 

All right, let’s look at this. Maya’s a sole proprietor with no employees. We need the plan that allows the highest total contribution while keeping things simple. 

SIMPLE IRAs sound, well, simple, but don’t let that distract you. They actually have relatively low contribution limits—$16,000 plus a small employer contribution in 2025. So that’s out. 

SEP IRAs are popular for small business owners because they’re easy to set up and can allow contributions up to 25% of compensation, capped at the annual additions limit—$70,000 in 2025. But since she’s self-employed, that 25% is actually closer to 20% after accounting for the self-employment tax adjustment. So still solid, but not the max. 

Traditional IRAs have very low limits—$7,000 for someone under 50—so those are off the table. 

That leaves the Solo 401(k), which lets her contribute both as the employee and the employer. That dual role gives her the highest possible total contribution amount. It’s also relatively simple to maintain for someone with no employees. So, the correct answer is C: Solo 401(k). 

00:39:58 Kaylee Benting 

Correct. C, Solo 401(k). This is a great example of multiple viable options, but only one best answer. 

00:40:14 Adam Scherer 

Exactly. Suitability questions like this are tricky because several plans could work, but the CFP mindset focuses on what works best—the plan that satisfies the client’s goals most completely. Understanding each plan’s features and contribution limits helps you identify that. 

00:41:00 Kaylee Benting 

All right, Adam, are you ready for estate planning? 

00:41:02 Adam Scherer 

I’m always ready for estate planning, Kaylee. 

00:41:07 Kaylee Benting 

Great to hear. Jennifer recently died, and her estate included various assets with different ownership structures and beneficiary designations. Her CFP professional is helping the family understand which assets will be subject to probate and which will be included in her gross estate for federal estate tax purposes. 

Which of the following statements accurately describes the relationship between the gross estate and the probate estate? 

1. A) Assets in a revocable living trust are excluded from both the gross estate and the probate estate
2. B) Life insurance proceeds with a named beneficiary are included in the gross estate but excluded from the probate estate
3. C) Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship passes through probate but is excluded from the gross estate
4. D) Any asset included in the probate estate must also be included in the gross estate, but not vice versa

00:42:21 Adam Scherer 

Thank you, Kaylee. All right, let’s look at these carefully. 

I’m going to start with D because it’s wordy and confusing: “Any asset included in the probate estate must also be included in the gross estate, but not vice versa.” It sounds dense, and on the CFP exam, overly complicated statements like that are often distractors. I’d skip it for now. 

Option A says assets in a revocable living trust are excluded from both estates. That’s false. Revocable trusts avoid probate because they’re separate entities at death, but they are included in the gross estate since the grantor maintained control during life. 

Option B says life insurance proceeds with a named beneficiary are included in the gross estate but excluded from probate. That’s true. The face value of the policy typically gets included in the decedent’s estate, but it passes directly to the beneficiary, avoiding probate. 

Option C says property held in joint tenancy passes through probate but is excluded from the gross estate. That’s also incorrect. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship avoids probate through operation of law and is still partially included in the gross estate. 

So, the correct answer is B. 

00:47:05 Kaylee Benting 

Final answer is correct—option B. And I’m sorry to pull you away from estate planning, Adam, but we have to move on to ethics. 

00:47:21 Jerry Mee 

How will we survive? 

00:47:25 Adam Scherer 

What if I told you that just made my day? I’m an ethics man, Kaylee. I scoured the CFP Board’s ethics materials just for this. What dilemma do we have today? 

00:47:41 Kaylee Benting 

All right, our final question. 

Amara Johnson, a CFP professional, manages comprehensive financial planning for the Mitchell family. During a review meeting, she learns that the clients’ 19-year-old daughter,

Nicole, needs investment advice for a $50,000 inheritance. Nicole is legally an adult. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell ask Amara to help their daughter but request that Amara keep them informed about all investment decisions since, quote, “She’s still young and makes impulsive choices.” 

What should Amara do to comply with CFP Board standards? 

1. A) Provide advice to Nicole and regularly update her parents as requested, since they’re paying clients
2. B) Decline to advise Nicole to avoid complications with the existing client relationship
3. C) Establish Nicole as a separate client with her own engagement, explaining that confidentiality prevents sharing her information with her parents without consent
4. D) Advise Nicole informally without a formal engagement to maintain the parents’ trust

00:49:01 Adam Scherer 

All right, quite a common situation. So, Nicole is 19—an adult. Even though she’s their daughter, she’s legally independent, which means Amara must treat her as a separate client. 

If the parents were worried about her impulsivity, they could have structured her inheritance differently, like using a trust to delay or stage the transfers. But since they didn’t, Nicole fully owns those assets and has her own rights to confidentiality. 

The CFP Code and Standards are clear: client confidentiality and privacy are paramount. Information can only be shared if the client gives consent, if it’s necessary for collaboration with another professional (like an estate attorney), or if compelled by law through a subpoena. Parents asking for updates doesn’t qualify. 

So, Amara must establish a separate client engagement with Nicole and explain that she cannot share details without Nicole’s explicit permission. The correct answer is C. 

00:55:03 Kaylee Benting 

Correct again, Adam. That was our final question! 

00:55:15 Jerry Mee 

So soon? Let’s do ten more! 

00:55:27 Kaylee Benting 

It’ll come back around soon enough. 

00:55:36 Adam Scherer 

Jerry, compared to our last Questionpalooza tour, how are you feeling about this one? Do we take the show on tour again or keep it as a one-time special? 

00:55:57 Jerry Mee 

I think we should let the fans decide. Write to us and tell us what you think. Did you like the six single episodes where we covered one question at a time, or do you prefer this all-in-one marathon style? I like both.

Detailed deep dives are fun, but I know students prepping for the November exam want to cram as many questions as possible. So I could go either way. What about you two? 

00:56:35 Adam Scherer 

I’m with you. The voice of the student rules. Whatever helps them most—share your thoughts with us. We always love your feedback and want to create content that supports your success on the exam. 

00:56:55 Adam Scherer 

Kaylee, your first Questionpalooza! Excellent job. Do you have a preference yet—multiple short episodes or one long one? 

00:57:07 Kaylee Benting 

Since I’m new, I’ve only experienced the last Questionpalooza series, so I’ll have to check out the older ones. But yes, for our premium students in Slack, you can share your feedback there—we’ll see it. Let us know whether you prefer the multi-episode format or the full-length version. 

00:57:33 Jerry Mee 

That’s true. Kaylee does a lot of work in the Slack channel, so if you’re a BIF student, hit her up directly. She just posted some great margin questions the other day. 

00:57:46 Kaylee Benting 

Yep, highly requested. We give the students what they want. 

00:57:54 Jerry Mee 

It’s true. I’m even getting requests now that say, “Hey, Jerry, can you ask Kaylee to do this?” I’m like, oh, so you don’t want me—you just want Kaylee! 

00:58:05 Kaylee Benting 

Slack is my territory, Jerry. 

00:58:09 Adam Scherer 

Wasn’t your nickname once Jerry Margin Call Mee? 

00:58:15 Jerry Mee 

Yes. Mike Long gave me that—Jerry Margin Call Mee. 

00:58:22 Adam Scherer 

And Mike “Mecklong,” as in Modified Endowment Contract Long. 

00:58:27 Jerry Mee 

Exactly—Mecklong. 

00:58:30 Adam Scherer 

Those are great nicknames. 

00:58:32 Jerry Mee 

They really are. 

00:58:34 Jerry Mee 

Well, that does it for this episode of Questionpalooza. Good luck to all our students sitting for the exam in the coming days. We can’t wait to hear those pass results rolling in. 

00:58:49 Adam Scherer 

That’s right. Thanks again to both Kaylee and Jerry. Always great fun delivering these. Best of luck to everyone—and keep us posted on how you do. 

00:58:59 Jerry Mee 

Definitely. We’ll see you all later.