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CFP 101 Course eBook
See if the CFP® certification is right for you by exploring the financial planning process and tackling real-life analytical problems.Getting Started in Your Career
March 23, 2026
With personal financial advising projected to be one of the top fastest growing occupations, getting your CFP® mark can help set you apart in the industry. Let’s take a look at what a CFP® professional is and what it takes to earn the financial planning certification.
To become a CFP® professional you will need to posses relevant professional experience including a bachelors degree.
You will also need to complete a CFP Board Registered Education Program and pass the CFP® exam.
After passing the exam, you'll need to agree to adhere to the CFP Board's Ethical Standards and pass a background check.
A CFP® professional works with clients to create comprehensive plans for meeting their long-term financial goals, such as retirement, college tuition, business start-up, a home, and so on. The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook predicts 15 percent job growth in the financial advising field through 2034, making it an excellent career option for young financial professionals.
Many CFP® professionals work in large financial or insurance firms, although some choose to have their own businesses. To become one, you have to meet certain requirements.
According to a recent College for Financial Planning report, 82% of CFP® professionals are more satisfied with their financial planning career after earning their CFP® mark.*
A Certified Financial Planner spends a lot of time meeting with clients to discuss their financial goals. Some of their roles and responsibilities including analyzing their clients financial situations, and crafting personalized plans for them. One key responsibility CFP® professionals have is to act as a fiduciary, meaning they are legally obligated to prioritize the client's best interests over all else.
To become a CFP® professional, you must complete these five general steps:
Step 1: Complete a CFP Board Registered Education Program
You can choose from several options for your education. CFP Board must be notified when you’ve completed it. Many of the coursework providers can do that for you.
For those who already hold prestigious financial credentials, the CFP Board offers an Accelerated Path. This path waives the standard coursework requirement (except for the Capstone course). As of 2026, this pathway includes CIMA® professionals in addition to CFA® charterholders, CPAs, and others with approved degrees or licenses.
Step 2: Sit For the CFP® Exam
You can do this once the CFP Board has been notified of your education completion. The CFP® exam is offered three times a year in March, July, and November. You must take the exam within the 8-day window at one of the approved locations provided by CFP Board. You are permitted to register for the exam before you complete your program, but CFP Board must receive verification of your education completion by the education verification deadline.
In 2026, the CFP Board’s Exam Standard clarified that while the exam is a critical milestone, 'competency to practice financial planning independently' is defined by the integration of all four pillars: Education, Examination, Experience, and Ethics. Passing the exam demonstrates your theoretical knowledge, which is then validated through your professional experience.
Step 3: Hold or Earn a Bachelor’s Degree From an Accredited University or College Within Five Years of Passing the CFP® Exam
You can sit for the exam beforehand, but you need to make sure you complete your degree in that 5-year window.
Step 4: Demonstrate Financial Planning Experience
This can be professional experience (6,000 hours) in relevant personal financial planning activities, or apprenticeship experience (4,000 hours) that meets additional requirements.
Step 5: Pass CFP Board’s Candidate Fitness Standards
To do this, you must agree to adhere to their ethical standards. You also must disclose any criminal or employment termination history and pass a background check. For more information about the ethics requirement, visit the CFP Board website.
Yes, you need a degree to earn the CFP® certification. Part of the CFP® certification requirements including obtaining a bachelor’s degree (or higher) from an accredited university. Additionally, practical financial planning experience is also required, equaling 6000 hours.
There is a standard registration fee for the CFP® exam and even an early bird rate, which is available for a few months before the standard registration deadline. There’s a late registration fee for several weeks after the standard registration deadline. You can register for the CFP® exam with CFP Board online or by phone before or after you complete the education program coursework and become eligible for the exam. If you register before you finish the coursework, you must send CFP Board proof of your completed coursework. CFP Board will notify you when your eligibility is confirmed.
The exam is given in a computer-based format and consists of 170 multiple-choice questions that test your financial planning knowledge in client situations. You are given the exam in two 3-hour sessions with a 40-minute scheduled break between the two sessions. Each session includes two subsections and you may take an optional, unscheduled break between the exam subsections.
Preparing for the CFP® exam requires a significant time commitment. While that sounds overwhelming, the time goes pretty quickly between pre-study, required education courses, question bank time, a review class, practice exams, and your own review preparations.
A great way to approach preparing for the CFP® exam is to think of it like training for a marathon. It’s not a situation where you can sprint (or cram). There’s just too much to learn, and you’ll need to be able to apply it to case studies. So, make sure you have the space in your life to dedicate the necessary hours to study.
Then, create a strategic study plan. A great way to structure your plan is to mirror the exam weighting, which CFP Board updates based on regular job task analysis. At the same time, you shouldn’t start off by studying the most heavily weighted topics in depth. Instead, learn the basics of each category first. Then, work deeper into the categories based on weight and your familiarity with them, so you can absorb more detail.
The recommended study time for the CFP® exam is typically between 150-250 hours, which translates to roughly 4-6 months of dedicated studying.
Here are few tips that can help you pass the CFP® exam.
The CFP® exam is all about applying knowledge to real situations you could encounter on the job. The exam content requires the use of critical thinking and problem-solving ability. Therefore, rather than spending all your time on memorizing, you need to work on mastering the material and applying it.
The more you practice, the more familiar you will become with how to apply your knowledge. Work with questions that have the same difficulty level as the actual exam to determine if you have truly mastered a particular domain and where you might be making mistakes. You can find practice questions at the end of prep provider chapters, in prep provider bank quizzes, and in practice exams from CFP Board and prep providers.
Feverishly going over lists or taking full practice exams can be mentally draining, so avoid them on the day before the exam. Instead, reread some of the wordier areas of the curriculum like ethics. Think about what it could be like to be advising clients in the future and practice answers to the questions they might ask. Then, stop about dinner time, just as if you were already in the office, relax, and have a good meal.
Before a big exam like this, it’s natural to panic and worry about failing. Instead try to visualize yourself answering questions competently and getting a great score. Positive affirmation can go a long way to calm your nerves and put you in the right mindset.
Once you have your CFP® certification, as a CFP® professional each year you will be required to pay an annual certification fee. In addition, every two years, you will be required renewal requirements including submitting a certification application (which includes an ethics declaration) and completing continuing education (CE). If you do your continuing education credits through College for Financial Planning—a Kaplan Company, we’ll submit your completions for you!
To view our continuing education offerings for CFP® certification, please visit our CFP® certification CE page. You can also learn more about all our CFP® certification offerings on our CFP® Education page.
Enroll with College for Financial Planning®—a Kaplan Company by visiting our website browsing our CFP® certification offerings or calling a designation specialist at 800.237.9990, Option 2.
eBook
CFP 101 Course eBook
See if the CFP® certification is right for you by exploring the financial planning process and tackling real-life analytical problems.
eBook
Creating a CFP Study Plan eBook
Making a CFP® study plan is the best way to ensure you make the most of your prep time and are ready for exam day.
*This is one of the findings of a quantitative survey conducted by the College for Financial Planning®—a Kaplan Company between June 27 and August 7, 2023. For this survey, a sample of 951 2022 and 2023 graduates of the College for Financial Planning was interviewed online in English. The sample includes 182 graduates whose most recent professional designation earned was the CFP® mark and who answered this question.
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