National Retirement Planning Month: How To Find A Financial Planner

Anyone can call themselves a financial planner or financial advisor; at this point there is no minimum experience or education required by law. To protect yourself, I suggest you only work with a person who has attained the CFP or Certified Financial Planner designation, and has a minimum of 5-10 years experience counseling individuals. This credential demonstrates a base level of knowledge, a degree of integrity, adherence to a strict code of ethics, and a continuing education requirement. While there are millions of “financial planners” nationwide only 55,000-60,000 of those individuals have completed the coursework to become a CFP professional. This should be a starting point for you.