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The career in Certified Planning Course has emerged as one of the most favorite career choices for youngsters. Finance as a career is actually the flavor of the season. Earlier, people used to associate finance with CA, CS, Accountants, MBA etc but considering the economic changes witnessed in last few years, CFP (Certified Financial Planner) has emerged as a viable career option. There are more than 1,00,000 CFP professionals worldwide. At many places in the world, CFP certification is relatively a new trend.
Average per capita income has increased substantially in last few decades and now people have more avenues for spending and saving their hard-earned money. But not everyone is aware of these avenues. The primary job of a CFP is to create financial plans for individuals. These plans aim at providing financial security to the people. A financial planner takes into consideration all the needs and requirements of the individual and suggests accordingly.
Career in CFP course is a combination of training, certification, experience, and personality. The course requires one to get knowledge of subjects like money management, investments, retirement, paying for college, estate planning, and insurance. Many planners also try to get expertise in tax planning concepts. Worldwide, the designation of CFP is offered in 20 countries. Interested candidates can take the exam after completing a preparatory course or self-study program prior to the test. The test paper covers a wide range of questions including on subjects like insurance policies, risk management, investment instruments etc.
Interested candidates need to fulfill certain requirements in different countries. For instance, most of the western countries demand candidates to have a post-secondary or university education, along with work experience in a related field. Financial planner is also known as the financial architect in certain parts of the world. Usually, one needs to have three years of work experience before he becomes eligible to take the exam. However, those holding another professional certification like Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or licensed attorneys are exempted from condition of three years of financial planning experience.
The work experience helps financial planners in acquiring all the relevant knowledge of the field. They can join financial institutions for required training or work with brokerage firm and gain valuable experience. A financial planner needs to interact regularly with the clients and understand his/her individual needs. Right from investment schemes and risk management to insurance policies, fixed term deposits and stock market suggestions, he needs to understand all. It is important to comprehend all the financial concepts properly. A CFP must act in the best interests of the client. He needs to possess people management skills and must be ethical.
In India, financial planning course is run by Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB) through several affiliated institutions. There are more than 25 affiliated institutions in country as of now. That really shows how this course has gained in popularity in recent years. The industry expects to have demand of 50,000 CFPs in coming years. Students can join any of the affiliated training institutions and gather all the rudimentary knowledge. Students need to clear the five exams of Risk Management & Insurance Planning, Retirement Planning & Employee Benefits, Investment Planning, Tax Planning & Estate Planning and Advanced Financial Planning. In case, candidate is a graduate, he needs to undergo three years of work experience. For professionals like ICWA, CS, CA, PhD, PG, CAIIB, Actuary, LLB, and FFSI & FLMI etc, the better option would be to go for ‘challenge status course for professional’ course. All they need to have is, three years of experience and clearing fifth paper of Advanced Financial Planning.
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