Everyone knows they need to save for the future and that there are opportunities to invest their savings to maximize growth. It is a complex world when seeking someone to help safeguard and grow savings. The \u201cfinancial advisor title\u201d is a very common one among financial planning and investment professionals. It is important to look beyond this title to understand the person\u2019s experience and knowledge. Anyone can have access to many investment products that sound great. However, it is important to make sure your financial advisor is dedicated to walking with you throughout your life and not just selling the next hot investment product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiplinger Financial Magazine<\/em> outlines five key standards they believe a financial adviser should meet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ndesignations of CFA, CFP and CPA are also recommended as the top three\nfinancial advisor credentials by Investopedia.com, a leading investment\neducation web-site. Many advisors can have quality experience and may be able\nto provide good financial advice without these credentials. Having these\ncredentials, however, proves that the individual has a thorough education in\ntheir area of expertise. Qualifications and expertise are defined below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst).<\/strong> A CFA has\nobtained expertise in investment research and portfolio management. A CFA\ncharter holder must have 48 months of related professional work experience in an\ninvestment-related field and pass three required examinations. Each exam is six\nhours long and takes several years to pass. The average pass rate over the past\n10 years is 38% for Level I, 43% for Level II and 54% for Level III. To maintain the CFA charter, an individual\nmust commit to acting as a fiduciary and putting clients\u2019 interests first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CFP (Certified\nFinancial Planner).<\/strong> A CFP has expertise in the area of financial\nplanning, taxes, insurance, estate planning and retirement. Obtaining this\ncredential requires a minimum education level of a bachelor\u2019s degree and\ncoursework in financial planning, followed by a one-day six hour examination. The CFP Board of Standards requires its members\nto follow the Rules of Conduct, which put the clients\u2019 interests first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPA\/PFS (A Certified Public Accountant with\nadditional expertise as a Personal Financial Specialist).<\/strong> A PFS\nstudies estate planning, retirement planning, investing, insurance and\nadditional areas of personal financial planning. Three years of work experience\nis also required. A PFS must also pass an examination. High ethical standards\nare also adhered to with this designation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are\nmany other financial designations an advisor may pursue, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n CFS (Certified Fund Specialist). <\/strong>Demonstrated\nexpertise in mutual funds, including portfolio theory, dollar-cost averaging\nand annuities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant).<\/strong> Focus on\nfinancial planning, including income tax, insurance, investment and estate\nplanning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter). <\/strong>Typically,\ninsurance agents focus on the fundamentals of life and health insurance,\npension planning, insurance law, income taxation, investments, financial and\nestate planning, and group benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When\ntrusting someone to walk with you in your financial future, it is important to\nunderstand your advisor\u2019s expertise and experience regarding financial planning\nand investments. I hope this information summarizes the alphabet soup that\ncomes with finding the right financial advisor for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everyone knows they need to save for the future and that there are opportunities to invest their savings to maximize growth. It is a complex world when seeking someone to help safeguard and grow savings. The \u201cfinancial advisor title\u201d is a very common one among financial planning and investment professionals. It is important to look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-financial-planning"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7kXxe-1DM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6593,"url":"https:\/\/schenkelberg.investments\/?p=6593","url_meta":{"origin":6310,"position":0},"title":"Are You Saving Too Much In Your 401k?","author":"J.J. 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