On May 27, 2008 the CFP Board issued the following email to all review providers:

“Effective immediately and beginning with the July 2008 examination, students will be advised that programming functions on a programmable calculator are not to be used and calculators are to be cleared of all programmed formulas prior to each section of the examination.  Calculators are subject to inspection by proctors and violation of this policy will result in removal from the examination and forfeiture of the exam registration fee.”

One of the most important factors in a candidates success on the CFP^®  Certification Examination is the amount of time they spend studying for the exam. Consider that it takes about 150-175 hours of total prep time to get “exam ready”, not including time spent attending the review. Figure 100-125 hours to work through pre-study materials and another 40-60 hours of post-review studying.

April 30th, 2015 

*IMPORTANT* CALCULATOR SETTINGS FOR UPCOMING CFP^® CERTIFICATION EXAMS

The CFP Board sets rules regarding materials allowed in the exam room, and will usually "clear" calculators. Proctors at exam testing centers are resetting all financial calculators back to original factory settings. 

As a result, any settings for compound interest and decimal settings are being deleted.

One student reported, “Prometrics reset both of [my calculators] to factory settings before I entered the exam. It was quite a shock to see my calculator wasn’t the way I set it up when I turned it back on.”

To solve this issue, we recommend you clear your calculator and practice the steps for resetting it back to the essential compound interest and decimal settings.

Below are the directions to reset your HP financial calculator to the preferred settings when taking the CFP^® exam:  

Practice and memorize these steps before exam day. The last thing you want is to go to the exam and worry about figuring this out, so make sure you know how to do it before you go to the testing center!

If you have questions about this or have important information about exam day procedures you feel other students should know about, please contact us at (877) 426-2373 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

March 19, 2014

With only two more days remaining until the March 2014 CFP exam, here are a few tips to help ease the stress and anxiety as exam day approaches.

• Take it easy Thursday night.  If you’ve studied a number of hours throughout the day on Thursday, use Thursday night to rest, relax and take your mind off of the exam.  If you don’t know the exact location of the exam site, maybe take a drive to the location to see if there are any construction delays or to make sure you know exactly where you are going.

• Friday morning can be used to study and work more questions. Do not work too many questions though, maybe a set of 30-50 questions.  Remember, you have a four hour session on Friday afternoon and you want to be fresh for that long session.

• Don’t bring lots of study material with you in the car.  Only bring a stack of flashcards that give you the most trouble.  Study those flashcards right up until the last minute.  The second you can start the exam, in your exam booklet, write down those last minute items you memorized.  That will help relieve some stress on those topics because you wrote them down and you can refer to it later, if necessary.

• Friday night, try not to look through your study materials to determine if you answered a question correctly or not.  It’s just not productive and not a good use of your time.  Instead, use some time Friday night to study topics that give you trouble and were not tested during Friday’s session.  For example, if you struggle with the ISO and NQSO rules and there weren’t any questions on Friday’s exam, then re-study that topic Friday night because you’re almost guaranteed to see questions on that topic during Saturday’s sessions.

• Don’t talk to anyone before the exam or at lunch on Saturday.  Some people will be asking questions about topics or questions they don’t know and somebody will always try explaining what they think is right.  Don’t listen, don’t participate, it only causes anxiety and they don’t know what they are talking about. Have confidence in what you know!

• Finally, and most importantly, be confident!  There will be questions and topics that you don’t know about.  If you haven’t heard about the topic, chances are nobody else has either!  In addition, there always seem to be one session on the CFP exam that is more difficult than the other sessions.  Don’t worry, you can miss approximately 90 questions and still pass the exam.  Now, be confident in what you know and go pass the exam!!! 

              Joe Gillice
              President, CPA, CFP^®

The CFP Board recently announced some changes to the CFP^® Certification Examination, that will be implemented for the November 2014 exam.  The changes include:

• The exam will now be a computerized exam given at more than 250 testing centers across the country.
• There will be a five day window when candidates may take the exam, rather than the current Friday afternoon, all day Saturday format.
• The exam will be 170 questions over six hours, rather than 285 questions over 10 hours.
• Candidates will receive preliminary results immediately after completing the exam.

The benefits of the changes are obvious.  There’s less time stressing while taking a shorter exam, there’s now a five day window to take the exam so no more giving up all day Saturday to test, there is a more consistent testing experience across the country and candidates receive preliminary results immediately.

Over the past few weeks, I have heard from many advisors planning to take the CFP exam that ask “should I test now under the current format or wait until November, since the November exam will be easier because it will be shorter?”

While I agree that the six hour computerized exam won’t be as physically challenging as the current 10 hour exam, I do  think there are some considerations when deciding between the current format in July versus the computerized exam in November.  Here are some considerations:

Less Questions = Less Room for Error

The playing field for the exam is not changing.  In other words, the same material is being tested, the learning domains are weighted the same and the topical areas will still have the same average representation.  Students are still required to learn the same enormous amount of information.  In fact, it’s likely to be more challenging because instead of a topic like duration having about 4 questions on the exam, there may only be one or two.  For example, you may be comfortable with concepts surrounding duration such as the relationship between, term, yield, coupon and duration but uncomfortable with the actual calculation of duration.  With the current ten hour 285 question exam there may be 4 duration related questions, 3 on the concepts and 1 on the actual calculations.  You may answer the 3 concept questions correct, but miss the 1 calculation question.  With the new six hour 170 question format, the exam may only have room for 2 duration questions, both of which could be the concept questions and you would be in great shape, or one concept and one calculation question, which would be trouble for you or worse yet, 2 calculation questions which could mean zero points for that concept.  

Old Format

4 questions:  3 concept correct, 1 calculation incorrect = 75% of available points

New Format

2 questions:  2 concept correct = 100% of available points
2 questions:  1 concept correct, 1 calculation incorrect = 50% of available points
2 questions:  2 calculation incorrect = 0% of available points

The point is, there’s less room for error with the new format of the exam.  With the current ten hour 285 question exam, candidates could miss 90 or so questions and still pass the exam.  With the new six hour, 170 question format, candidates may only be able to miss about 54 questions.  In addition, if you are a little foggy on a topic, lets hope the few questions on that topic relate to the concepts you know!  

Same Level of Difficulty

The psychometricians (folks that analyze the exam for difficulty) attempt to statistically equate the level of difficulty for every exam.  In other words, if you pass the current exam, you should have passed any previous exams.  If you fail the current exam, you should have failed any previous exams.  The CFP Board has assured us the computerized version will be equally as challenging as the current exam.

My suggestion when deciding whether to take the July or November exam should be, can you make the time to study for the July or November exam?  Don’t let the delivery method of the exam determine when you take it, instead decide when you can devote the most time to studying.  Ultimately, your preparation and knowledge will determine your success on the exam!

Joe Gillice
President, CPA, CFP^®

Here is another great piece from Money Education .

The Senate just voted on and passed The Marketplace Fairness Act. What is the Marketplace Fairness Act?

The Marketplace Fairness Act grants states the authority to compel online and catalog retailers ("remote sellers"), no matter where they are located, to collect sales tax at the time of a transaction - exactly like local retailers are already required to do. However, there is a caveat: States are only granted this authority after they have simplified their sales tax laws.

History:

The 1967 Supreme Court case National Bellas Hess v. Illinois Department of Revenue set the stage for the debate on taxing internet sales when, in its majority (5 to 4) opinion, the court ruled that:

"the many variations in rates of tax, in allowable exemptions, and in administrative and record-keeping requirements could entangle [the company]'s interstate business in a virtual welter of complicated obligations to local jurisdictions" (emphasis added).

In 1992, the matter of sales tax on remote sales came before the high court again in Quill v. North Dakota. This time, the court reaffirmed the earlier Bellas Hess decision (8 to 1), primarily on the basis of stare decisis ("to stand by decision," a doctrine that requires the court to respect the precedent set by prior rulings). The ruling went on to state,

"[O]ur decision is made easier by the fact that the underlying issue is not only one that Congress may be better qualified to resolve, but also one that Congress has the ultimate power to resolve. No matter how we evaluate the burdens that use taxes impose on interstate commerce, Congress remains free to disagree with our conclusions" (emphasis added).

Exemption and requirements:

There is an exemption for retailers with less than $1 million in sales and states are obligated to simplify their sales tax laws.  

Money Education Comment:

On the face of it, the proposal appears to strive for "fairness," as implied in the law's name. However, we are skeptical that Congress and the states will simplify the process such that small businesses are not further burdened with compliance. While the $1 million limit might appear to be high, it is unlikely that retailers of that size have margins significantly high so as to be able to hire an additional person for state sales tax compliance.  As with all proposals, time will tell. Fortunately for small businesses, the bill faces opposition in the House.

Has a nice ring to it doesn’t it? So, how does one become a Certified Financial Planner?  Well, the CFP^® Board has a path to that designation and it's called the “Four E’s”.  Each E stands for a step that must be taken before the candidate can become a CFP. (Education, Examination, Experience, Ethics)

I am often asked about flashcards for the CFP exam and if they are helpful in preparing for the CFP exam.

The short answer is ABSOLUTELY!  Regardless of your learning style, flashcards are very helpful in building your foundation of knowledge.  Flashcards help you to memorize/learn key terms, concepts, facts, figures and mnemonics.  Whether you’re making your own or purchasing pre-made CFP exam flashcards, they are a must for any successful study plan. 

Most of us are visual learners, which means we learn best by reading or seeing.   Studies show that about 65 percent of us are visual learners; 30 percent are auditory and 5 percent are tactile learners.  While we can be a combination of the three, we all have a predominant learning style.  Flashcards appeal to both visual and tactile learners.  Visual learners are reading/seeing the terms and concepts, while tactile learners should be making their own flashcards. 

When considering whether to make your own CFP exam flashcards or purchase pre-made CFP exam flashcards, here are some important considerations.

Making Your Own CFP Exam Flashcards

• Writing out your own flashcards is great if you’re a tactile learner.  The process of creating, “doing” and writing out the terms and concepts is very helpful for tactile learners.
• Writing out your own flashcards is time consuming.  Consider that you’ll need at least 500 flashcards to prepare for the CFP exam, at 2 minutes per flashcard, it will take 16+ hours just to make the cards and that doesn’t consider spending time studying the cards.

Pre-Made CFP Exam Flashcards

• Pre-made CFP flashcards are useful because they tend to be more comprehensive and detailed than you might make on your own.  If a concept has five key bullet points, flashcards you make on your own may only have the top 1 or 2 bullet points, whereas the pre-made flashcards will have all five bullet points.
• Pre-made CFP flashcards also save you time and let you start immediately memorizing/learning the terms and concepts.
• Pre-made CFP flashcards are best for anyone who is short on time and is looking for that extra “something” to help their studies.
• With pre-made CFP flashcards, you don’t have to guess as to what’s important and what flashcards to make.  The most important terms and concepts are already included with pre-made CFP flashcards.

Regardless if you decide to make your own flashcards or purchase pre-made, please be sure to utilize flashcards as part of your studies for the CFP exam.  Consider all the time and money you have to invest topass the CFP exam.  Anything extra you can do to put yourself in a position to pass the exam on your first attempt is well worth it!

As for The Dalton Review^® CFP exam flashcards, there are 490+ flashcardscovering the most important terms and concepts.  If you are not going to make your own cards, then give these a try CFP Flashcards-Study Products for the CFP Review Exam. You’ll also notice that when going through The Dalton Review^® pre-studymaterials for the CFP exam, there are lots of exam tips.  The exam tipswill instruct you to make a flashcard of a mnemonic or concept.  With The Dalton Review^® CFP exam flashcards, we have already created the flashcards for you.  The flashcards are very comprehensive and a huge time saver.

I hope this was helpful.

Regards,

Joseph M. Gillice, CPA, CFP^®