Tackling Case Studies on the CFP® Exam

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, and joined for the second week in a row, we got Mr. Adam Scheer. We’re on a hot streak, Adam, for dual hosts on the podcast. 

00:00:24 Adam Scheer 

That’s right. We got to keep the streak alive. This is a good one, Jerry. We’ve been talking about this for a while. 

 00:00:31 Jerry Mee 

Yeah, this is probably one of those topics that especially this time of year, or I guess this time of the test cycle, I should say, really starts getting asked a lot. Students really start panicking about case studies. What’s your experience with how people interact with them? 

00:00:51 Adam Scheer 

I think they create more stress than they should. But I understand why they do create stress, because when you look at what a case study is, you tend to look at, oh my goodness, there are 12 questions that are all going to be based on the same thing. And there’s a lot of mystery around what the case is going to be about. Is it going to be about a specific topic area? Is it going to be comprehensive? Is it going to be easy? Is it going to be tough? And the answer is yes. It’s going to be all those things. But it’s doable, and you’re going to get at least one on your exam, right? 

00:01:31 Jerry Mee 

Yeah. I mean, it’s tough, but I also would say it’s no tougher than the exam itself, really. I often get students asking, “How do I do these case studies? How do I process it? How do I organize it?” I just want to say to a lot of them, just like—you just do it. Just sit down and do it. That’s the easiest way to tackle them, one foot in front of the other. I think people really do hype these up in their mind and make case studies a lot scarier than they actually are. As long as you tackle them head-on, put one foot in front of the other, the case studies are very manageable once you get the hang of them. 

00:02:10 Adam Scheer 

Yeah, absolutely. One of the tricky parts about it is actually the case facts. Whereas before, with your standalone questions, you have three or four sentences and a question mark and then some answer options. Now you could have up to five to seven pages of information, and it just gives the board and the question writers more space to add detail—and more space to add distractors. So part of the art of navigating these case studies is figuring out what matters, what is going to help you get the details you need, and then trying to figure it out. But before we dive into case studies, Jerry, should we just cover kind of high-level what’s on the exam question-wise—what formats are there? 

00:03:01 Jerry Mee 

Yeah, definitely. As most of our listeners are probably aware, the exam itself is 170 questions. Those are broken into three categories. The biggest category, the one you’ll see most, are your basic standalone questions—a couple of sentences or a short paragraph with four multiple choice options. Then there are short scenarios and case studies. Short scenarios are like mini case studies—just a couple of paragraphs, sometimes even one.  

The difference is that you’ll get multiple follow-up questions on that same information. It’s not a full-fledged case study—you might get two or three questions that all tie back to that short scenario. Then, finally, there are the full case studies. Those can be a page or even two or three pages of information, with tables or graphs. They’ll have anywhere from five to ten, sometimes up to fifteen questions. Those are what cause people the most stress. What about the breakdown, Adam—how often do you see case studies and short scenarios on the exam? 

00:04:53 Adam Scheer 

From what we know and have experienced, you’re going to get at least one large case study. When that happens is a mystery. We’ve heard of people having one in the first half and another in the second half of the exam, and others having just one but more short scenarios. Short scenarios are way more common—probably six to eight on your exam. You’ll see them coming up because the prompt on screen will say, “The next three questions are tied to the following fact set.”  

They’re easy—usually just a paragraph or two—and it’s something we replicate in BIF Review jam sessions. We take a fact set and explore different angles so students get used to viewing information broadly, not just narrowly. So yes, more short scenarios, a couple of case studies—and you need strategies for both. Wouldn’t you agree, Jerry? 

00:06:46 Jerry Mee 

Yeah, for sure. Thinking back to my exam, I think I had two large case studies—one in the front half and one in the back half—and about five or six short scenarios. As far as strategy, I’m a big fan of just tackling them as they come. Some people recommend flagging and saving them for later, but I’m not a huge fan of that. Why save the most mentally intensive section for the end, when you’re already drained? I’d rather tackle them right away, get them done, and not have them looming over my shoulder. 

00:07:34 Adam Scheer 

That’s a great point—the emotional angle. Why go into your break knowing you have 15 questions ahead that require heavy reading and focus? I wouldn’t want to go into a break like that. When that case study pops up, I know it’s time to switch into case-study mode and start working. 

00:08:08 Jerry Mee 

Yeah. And just to clarify, when you take a break now, you can’t save anything beyond that break. It used to be that you could save the front half and come back after lunch, but now the exam is divided into quarters. Once you move on to the next quarter, you can’t go back. So if you plan to save a case study, don’t—because you won’t be able to revisit it. Always tackle them before your break. 

00:08:48 Adam Scheer 

So that means roughly 42–43 questions per quarter. Once you approve those, that section locks. We’ve had a few students not realize that and think they had more flexibility than they did. So know not just the content, but the structure. The more you understand about the format, the easier your test day will be. 

00:09:30 Jerry Mee 

Yeah, I tell students: treat it like you’re doing four back-to-back exams. Each quarter is its own mini test, and once you submit it, you can’t go back. 

00:09:46 Adam Scheer 

So if we go back in time and Jerry’s sitting for the CFP exam, and the screen says “Next 12 questions are tied to these case facts,” how do you approach it? 

00:10:06 Jerry Mee 

Well, I know this is controversial—some instructors told me not to do it—but I’m a big fan of skimming. I skim both the case study and the questions first because the case studies almost always have a theme. It might be income tax, retirement planning, whatever. Skimming the questions helps me identify the theme so that when I read the case, I know what to look for. On my first pass, I ignore the numbers—especially big tables with cash flows or income data. Most of those numbers are filler. Maybe one or two matter; the rest are window dressing. So I don’t waste time crunching numbers I might not even need. I skim the background paragraphs, highlight key red flags, and pay close attention to footnotes. Those are gold—many answers live right in the footnotes because most people skip them. Read them carefully, then go back to the questions and start tackling them one by one. You’ll go back and forth between the facts and questions, but just keep moving forward—one step at a time. 

00:13:34 Adam Scheer 

Great points. For anyone sitting for the exam, re-listen to that section. Skimming the questions first is crucial—you’ll often find some that don’t even need the case facts. Maybe it references homeowners insurance but asks a general question about coverage types. You can answer it without deep reading.  

So skimming helps you filter what matters and even grab a few quick wins before digging in. I also agree—don’t overread. You’ve practiced thousands of questions by now. Trust your instincts. Focus on areas with an unusual amount of detail—like mortgage terms, rates, balances, or refinancing data—since those probably tie to math questions. Highlight those or note them mentally, then move on. 

00:16:43 Jerry Mee 

Yeah, or anything oddly specific—like if it says someone gave $1,019,000. That’s suspiciously close to a $1 million gift plus the $19,000 annual gift tax exclusion. When you see weirdly precise numbers like that, pay attention—they often hide the key calculation point. 

00:17:29 Adam Scheer 

Exactly. That’s a trick question writer move. And by the way, I’m the kind of person who rounds my gas pump total to the exact cent—those are the same people writing test questions! 

00:18:19 Adam Scheer 

Anyway, don’t go in with preconceived notions. Skim, get oriented, maybe jot down section headers or structure on your whiteboard—so if a question is about insurance, you know where to jump. Excellent advice, Jerry. 

00:19:05 Adam Scheer 

Let’s say a student listens to this episode four times, gets to their exam, and the first case question takes five minutes—say a mortgage amortization and refinance question. What do they do next? 

00:19:51 Jerry Mee 

I’m a big fan of banking time. The average is two minutes per question. Some case study questions will take longer, and that’s okay. You just have to make up that time on easy ones. There will be plenty of softballs—questions like, “What’s the IRA contribution limit this year?” Ten seconds, done. Now you’ve banked extra time for the harder ones. You might even start in a deficit if a case study comes early. Don’t panic—you’ll make it up later. 

00:22:08 Adam Scheer 

Exactly. Stay calm. More facts don’t mean more difficulty—it’s just a different structure. Accept that case studies are part of the exam, and get your reps in. For BIF Review students, practice with the mock exams and short scenarios. Jerry, if you were writing a case for the CFP Board, what top three themes would you choose? 

00:23:10 Jerry Mee 

Taxes—specifically tax flow from gross income to AGI to taxable income—because case studies give enough info to do full calculations. Then balance sheet questions—cash flows, deficits, mortgages—since they require data tables. And third, a grab bag scenario, like a client owning a small company and needing a retirement plan, insurance, maybe education planning. It’s like a mini real-life financial planning meeting. 

00:25:32 Adam Scheer 

Totally. You could build a whole case from one dataset—say, assets and liabilities—and spin dozens of questions from it. I’d pull in the CFP Board’s published demographic variables and build cases around those—middle-income couple, special-needs child, etc. That leads to planning around trusts, cash flow, insurance, education (like 529 or ABLE accounts), and more. It’s a great study exercise to think like a question writer—it helps you anticipate what’s coming. 

00:29:19 Jerry Mee 

Exactly. And that’s what being a planner is all about. Sure, we’re all trying to pass the exam, but this mindset—thinking through complex client needs—is the real skill you’ll use as a financial planner. 

00:29:52 Adam Scheer 

So we’re about four weeks out from the next exam cycle. If we were to give listeners an assignment to brush up on case study strategies, what would it be? 

00:30:33 Jerry Mee 

Work on your reading comprehension—that’s key. Pay attention to double negatives and qualifiers like except, always, never, unless—they can flip a question’s meaning. Then build your endurance. Try tackling a practice case study after a few hours of studying to simulate fatigue, since you might face one mid-exam. It’s a different challenge reading dense material when you’re already tired. 

00:31:53 Adam Scheer 

Completely agree. Add pacing awareness—not obsessing over time, but noticing when you’re slipping behind. Know that some questions take more, some less, but keep yourself from spiraling when time feels tight. Keep improving weak areas daily. The progress compounds, your baseline rises, and by exam day you’ll feel confident. Remember—case studies are just the same CFP content, presented in a longer form. 

00:33:40 Jerry Mee 

Exactly. Don’t get freaked out. They’re just questions that share a theme. 

00:33:58 Adam Scheer 

One more thought: small business cases. They’re common and can pull in tons of angles—retirement plans, employee benefits, key employees, taxes, inventory valuation, business property rules—everything. If I were writing a case, I’d probably build one like that. 

00:35:00 Jerry Mee 

Yep, small business owners make up a huge part of the client base, especially high-net-worth clients. Great area to study. 

00:35:15 Adam Scheer 

Any final wisdom before we send everyone off? 

00:35:21 Jerry Mee 

Yeah—don’t be afraid to “C for cat” and move on from a brutal question. Don’t waste 20 minutes on one question that could sink your whole exam. Make your best guess, move on, and earn points elsewhere. 

00:36:07 Adam Scheer 

Exactly. I go with “B for bye-bye.” If a question is spiking your stress, let it go—you have 170 to get through. 

00:36:40 Jerry Mee 

I tell my tutoring students the same thing. If it takes both of us 15 minutes to solve in calm conditions, it’s not worth agonizing over on exam day. Move on. 

00:37:08 Adam Scheer 

Agreed. Great session today—glad we finally recorded this one. Perfect timing with exams approaching. 

00:37:33 Jerry Mee 

Same here. I’m saving this episode—it’s my go-to whenever students ask about case studies. 

00:37:46 Adam Scheer 

#CasePod. 

00:37:51 Jerry Mee 

Absolutely. Well, that does it for this week. 

00:37:55 Jerry Mee 

Up next, Adam, we’re back in the studio for another Questionpalooza. 

00:38:02 Adam Scheer 

Oh yeah. I’ve got my CFP Board-branded writer’s pen for inspiration. We’ve got new questions coming your way. 

00:38:28 Jerry Mee 

And yes, all our previous Questionpalooza episodes are still valuable—most are evergreen. We design them that way so you can always go back for practice. 

00:39:12 Adam Scheer 

There’s a lot of great material there—probably 50+ questions across all the episodes. So stay tuned; the next one will drop right before the exam window. 

00:39:49 Adam Scheer 

By the way, I listened to the Beatles on my way to the Prometric Center. I can’t imagine people listening to us before their exam! 

00:39:58 Jerry Mee 

Oh, they do! Students tell me all the time they listen during lunch breaks or on the way to the test center. We even have a pep talk episode they play before going in. 

00:40:19 Adam Scheer 

That’s an honor—riding shotgun to the Prometric! 

 00:40:41 Jerry Mee 

Exactly. So, we’ll see you all next time. Until then, have a great study session and stay confident! 

00:40:48 Adam Scheer 

See you next time.