After months of coursework and exam prep you did it—you are now an official CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®! Now, you can kick back and never study or learn anything ever again. Right?
Not quite.
One, you need to keep your skills sharp for your clients’ sake. You still need to know what’s going on in the wonderful world of tax or keep up with investment trends. Two, CFP Board requires practitioners to complete continuing education courses to maintain their marks. After all the work you put in to earn your certification, the last thing you want to do is lose it.
So, learn what you need to know about the CFP® CE requirements and get some tips on how to make it easier to meet them.
The Nuts and Bolts of CFP CE Requirements
You need to earn 30 credit hours of approved continuing education during every two-year renewal cycle. Of those 30 hours, you’ll need to earn two hours of CFP Board Ethics credit.
The remaining 28 hours need to be in courses covering CFP Board Principal Topics and must be current, accurate, and taught by certified pros (you deserve nothing less). Make sure you check with CFP Board for approved programs.
Meet these CFP® CE requirements, and you’re golden.
One thing to note: those 30 hours stay in that two-year cycle. No rolling over extra credits like you’re stockpiling vacation days.
CFP Board Principal Topics
The CFP Board has defined a list of eight knowledge—you probably remember them from your coursework and exam prep days:
- Professional Conduct and Regulation
- General Principles of Financial Planning
- Risk Management and Insurance Planning
- Investment Planning
- Tax Planning
- Retirement Savings and Income Planning
- Estate Planning
- Psychology of Financial Planning
Taking courses in these topics helps you stay up to date on changes, build new skills, and broaden your expertise so you can confidently handle any client scenario that comes your way.
Reporting Your CFP® CE
Part of meeting your CFP® CE requirements is ensuring your completed coursework is delivered to CPF Board. Board registered CE providers must report completion of coursework directly to CFP Board after you complete the course and earn a passing grade on the course exam. In certain instances, you will need to report your CE credits directly. Here’s how to do it:
- Complete 30 hours of CE credits before your two-year cycle ends.
- Log in to your CFP Board account and report your completed courses. (Bonus tip: Do it as you go, so it’s not a mad dash at the end.)
- Renew your certification online, which includes updating your contact details and making peace with the annual fees.
- Celebrate your success! You’ve maintained your CFP elite status for another year.
Pro tip: Please don’t procrastinate. If you miss the renewal deadline, you’ll be hit with a reinstatement fee. And if you don’t renew for five full years? Yep, it’s back to square one with the CFP exam.
Bonus pro tip: Keep your documentation for at least three years following program completion.
Tips to Breeze Through Meeting Your CFP® CE Requirements
- Focus on your niche: Use this as a chance to hone your specialty (retirement planning, anyone?) or explore new ones. Your clients will thank you.
- Double dip your continuing education: If you hold other credentials, like a CPA license that also requires continuing education, you may be able to take courses that will satisfy the requirements of each.
- Consider a subscription: Subscribe to a continuing education service. With bundles of courses covering all your CFP CE needs, it’s like a streaming service—but for your brain.
- Make a plan: Spread out your credit hours over the two years. Four or five hours per quarter keeps it manageable and stress-free. Plus, no frantic late-night CPE cramming sessions? Yes, please.
Tools and Resources for Success
CFP Board’s website makes it easy to find the right courses. Their website features more than 14,000 pre-approved programs that you can filter by topic, complexity, or credit hours. Need to fulfill your ethics requirement? Just apply the “ethics” filter and voilà, you’re one step closer to completion.
Don’t Just Maintain. Grow.
Your CFP continuing education isn’t just something you have to do, it’s an opportunity to get better at your job, build your skills, and deliver better services to your clients. Instead of a box you have to check, view it as your chance to level up and set yourself apart in a crowded field.
If you’re ready, head to CFP Board’s CE website to browse courses or start mapping out your game plan. Soon enough, earning continuing education credits will feel like second nature, and your clients will feel the difference.
Choose a BIF partner to meet your CFP® CE requirements
BIF partners with both STC and Becker Professional Education, and both organizations offer CFP Board approved continuing education. STC’s Investment Adviser Representative trainings are ideal for securities-focused training and coursework while Becker’s tax, retirement, and estate planning CPE courses sharpen your skills these areas.
