Snapshot of Today’s CFP® Professional: High Career Satisfaction, Recommends CFP® Certification to Colleagues

Bi-annual survey of CFP® professionals shows support for certification, organization’s initiatives, including building the CFP® certification brand and enforcing its standards

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TM professionals are overwhelmingly satisfied with their career choice as a financial planner, saying that the CFP® certification has a positive impact on their career, according to research released today by CFP Board.

The Survey of CFP® Professionals is conducted every two years to ascertain the views of CFP® professionals about their careers, CFP Board and the financial planning profession. The 2019 survey conducted by Fondulas Strategic Research found that:

• Satisfaction with financial planning careers remains high as 93 percent are satisfied with their career choice;
• The CFP® certification is valued as 92 percent of those surveyed are satisfied with their decision to pursue the certification;
• Nearly 9 in 10 CFP® professionals recommend the certification to colleagues; and
• 78 percent of CFP® professionals say the certification has directly contributed to their success as a personal financial planner, with 66 percent saying it has also had a positive impact on their income.

“The career of a financial planner has the ability to make a positive impact on people’s lives,” said Kevin R. Keller, CEO of CFP Board. “This survey confirms that the CFP® certification itself is what contributes to a great and highly satisfying career, which is why so many CFP® professionals recommend the certification to their colleagues.”

The survey also found the vast majority of CFP® professionals support CFP Board activities and priorities:

• 91 percent rate as highly important CFP Board’s work to build and promote the CFP® certification brand;
• 90 percent rate as highly important CFP Board’s work to enforce the standards for use of the certification;
• Additionally, more than 9 out of 10 CFP® professionals said they were confident that they had or will have taken steps to be compliant with the new Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, which took effect October 1;
• In a new question asked for this survey, nearly 7 out of 10 CFP® professionals also said that it is important for CFP® professionals to provide pro bono, no-strings-attached financial planning services to people in need.

Survey Methodology

Conducted by Fondulas Research, this survey uses the repeated methodology from surveys in 2017, 2015 and 2013. A random sample of CFP® professionals were selected and surveyed by phone between July and August 2019, which produced 800 completed surveys. The sampling error is +/- 3.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.