The credentials to help serve you well

In life, it’s important to find a financial planner you trust to provide sound, unbiased advice and professional services. Being CFP^® certified means someone has voluntarily taken the extra steps needed to provide the highest possible standard of financial planning to those they serve. To become a Certified Financial Planner^™ one must pass the comprehensive CFP^® Certification Exam, have a minimum of three years’ professional experience in financial planning process and must be approved by the CFP Board, which involves an extensive background check – including an ethics, character and criminal check. To maintain certification, CFP^® license holders must complete 30 hours of continuing education accepted by the CFP Board every two years.

How does working with a CFP^® certified advisor benefit you? Certified Financial Planner^™ professionals are held to the utmost standards of ethics and professional responsibility, which prepares them for a career-long commitment to provide truly personalized services to help meet your needs; all while maintaining quality levels of financial planning and professionalism. CFP^® professionals maintain their professional edge through ongoing education and training in addition to the rigorous requirements to represent integrity, objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism and diligence when working with you.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP^®, Certified Financial Planner™, CFP^® (with plaque design) and CFP^® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Getting your affairs in order during a divorce is made easier with the help of a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst^®(CDFA^®). This certification emphasizes the analyst’s ability to aid you in financial decisions and work with you and your attorney toward a settlement that fully addresses your long-term needs. By utilizing proprietary software and specialized knowledge, CDFA^® professionals can help determine the short- and long-term financial impact of a settlement. They are able to create, analyze and forecast various scenarios to outline a fair settlement that will help protect your interests and potentially keep costs low and reduce the time it takes to work through a divorce.

Why should you work with a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst^®? When working with a CDFA^® professional, it means you are working with an advisor who understands the financial complexities you will experience during a divorce and will empower you to make educated decisions through the process which, in turn, can help save you time and money down the road. They can not only help you with decisions that need to be made for the short term, but also help forecast the long-term effects of the divorce settlement, including details of tax liabilities and benefits. Don’t forget, CDFA^® professionals are financial advisors too. With the training, knowledge and experience as a financial advisor, they can help you make the most of the divorce settlement by reassessing your investments and financial plan to ensure it’s aligned with your short- and long-term goals.

Certified Divorce Financial Analyst^® and CDFA^® are trademarks of the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts™ (IDFA) in the U.S. and/or other countries. The designation of Certified Divorce Financial Analyst^® is awarded by IDFA to individuals who successfully complete the training and test requirements set by IDFA.

A Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist™ is a professional financial planning designation awarded by the College for Financial Planning to those who create, implement and maintain retirement plans for businesses. Unlike most other professional financial planning and advisory professional designations, the CRPS™ focuses on wholesale and business clients. Every two years, CRPS™ professionals must complete 16 hours of continuing education.

The Wealth Management Specialist™ Certificate Program is a curriculum that includes the wealth management process, time value of money principles, measurement of risk and return, asset allocation process, investment strategies, investment taxation, insurance products in wealth management, business ownership and planning, retirement planning considerations and estate planning considerations. Certificants also sign a code of ethics declaration.