Mayor Gray Declares This Saturday Metro Washington Financial Planning Day

Free Event Features Professional Advice on Budgeting, Retirement Planning, Income Taxes, Investment Strategies, and More

DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray has proclaimed Saturday, October 27, 2012 as the Metro Washington Financial Planning Day, urging residents to attend the free event to improve their knowledge of personal financial planning and work toward a secure financial future.   

At the event, attendees will have an opportunity to address their financial questions, concerns and curiosities with dozens of professional financial planners, including highly qualified CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals and experts from the Financial Planning Association®, who will volunteer their time through individual meetings and classroom-style workshops. 

Financial planners will be set up at tables and will meet one-on-one with attendees to offer personalized information on budgeting, debt management, retirement planning, investment strategies, income taxes, insurance and estate planning, among many other topics.  The advice will be offered at no cost and on a “no strings attached” basis, meaning that planners will not give out business cards or sell financial products or services.

The event will also feature a series of workshop presentations addressing key personal finance topics, including: Budgeting 101: Life’s Balancing Act, Real World Retirement Planning, Financial Planning for Women: Changing the Money Conversation, Investing Basics: Be a Smart Investor, and Financial Planning for Young Professionals. 

Metro Washington Financial Planning Day is organized by the Government of the District of Columbia and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, in partnership with the Financial Planning Association, Foundation for Financial Planning, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  The event is part of Financial Planning Days – a groundbreaking initiative involving city governments and thousands of financial planners nationwide united in an effort to provide free financial education and programming to communities throughout the U.S.

“At the heart of everything we do in my agency is working in the best interest of District residents so that they can live, work, and play in a City where they can have their needs serviced and where they can thrive,” said Victor L. Hoskins, District of Columbia Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.  “Planning ahead is not always easy when it comes to managing one’s finances, particularly in a major urban city, but with the help of the many partners and volunteers in place today we are hopeful that we can effect change in how many of our residents interact with their dollars and cents so that they and the City can continue to prosper.”

TO PARTICIPATE:  Metro Washington Financial Planning Day is free and open to the public.  Members of the news media are invited to attend the event and interview the organizers.  The event will be held on Saturday, October 27th at the Columbia Heights Educational Campus (Bell Multicultural High School), located at 3101 16th Street, NW in Washington, DC.  Events will begin at 11:00 am and will run until 4:00 pm.  The venue is conveniently located just one block from the Columbia Heights Metro Station. 
 
A copy of the proclamation and the event agenda are available at www.FinancialPlanningDays.org/DC. Free registration is available online, or by calling toll free at 877-861-7826. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Media Contacts for the National Financial Planning Days Initiative:
CFP Board: Daniel F. Drummond – 202.379.2252 or ddrummond@CFPBoard.org 
FPA: Lynn Brackpool – 303.867.7173 or Lynn.Brackpool@FPAnet.org  
Foundation for Financial Planning: Jim Peniston - 770.938.1110 or Jim.Peniston@foundation-finplan.org
U.S. Conference of Mayors: Elena Temple – 202.861.6719 or etemple@usmayors.org

About CFP Board
The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards® (CFP Board) is to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board’s mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP® certificants and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes more than 66,000 individuals to use these marks in the United States. For more about CFP Board, visit www.CFP.net or call 800-487-1497.

About FPA
The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) is the leadership and advocacy organization connecting those who need, support and deliver professional financial planning. FPA is the largest membership organization for personal financial planning experts in the U.S. and includes professionals from all backgrounds and business models. FPA members adhere to the highest standards of professional competence, ethical conduct and clear, complete disclosure to those they serve. Based in Denver, Colo., FPA works in alliance with academic leaders, legislative and regulatory bodies, financial services firms and consumer interest organizations. For more information about FPA, visit www.FPAnet.org or call 800.322.4237.

About Foundation for Financial Planning
The mission of the Foundation for Financial Planning is to help people take control of their financial lives by connecting the financial planning community with people in need.  The Foundation funds programs that provide pro bono financial planning, and connect volunteers through the involvement of the financial planning and services community.  The Foundation strives to help people who are underserved by the market, in need of financial guidance, or in a financial crisis. The Foundation aims to improve the lives of all Americans through access to pro bono financial planning and financial life skills education to provide those at all socio-economic levels with the knowledge to control their financial lives and opportunities to obtain unbiased financial advice in time of crisis and disaster. For more information about the Foundation for Financial Planning, visit www.foundation-finplan.org.

About The U.S. Conference of Mayors
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,204 such cities in the country today. Each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. More information about the Conference is available at www.usmayors.org.

About Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (DISB)
The Government of the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) regulates financial-services businesses in the District of Columbia. DISB has two overall missions: to provide fair, efficient and fast regulatory supervision of financial-service activities for the protection of the people of the District of Columbia; and to create conditions that will attract and retain national and international insurance, securities, banking and other financial-services businesses to the District. For more information, visit DISB on the Web at www.disb.dc.gov