Certified Financial Planner® CFP®
The CFP® designation is considered the "Gold Standard" for professionals in financial planning. Those obtaining the CFP(TM) designation have demonstrated competency in all areas of finance related to financial planning. Candidates complete studies on over 100 topics, including stocks, bonds, taxes, insurance, retirement planning and estate planning. Candidates must pass a 10-hour CFP® certification exam, which is preceded by strenuous education requirements. Candidates must also complete qualifying work experience and agree to adhere to the CFP® Boards code of ethics and professional responsibility and financial planning standards. The program is administered by the Certified Financial Planner® Board of Standards Inc. which requires all practitioners to maintain 30 hours of continuous education every two years and uphold a clean regulatory record.
http://www.cfp.net/
Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC)
Individuals with the ChFC designation have demonstrated their vast and thorough knowledge of financial planning. The ChFC program is administered by The American College. In addition to successful completion of an exam on areas of financial planning, including income tax, insurance, investment and estate planning, candidates are required to have a minimum of three years experience in a financial industry position. Like those with the CFP(TM) designation, professionals who hold the ChFC charter help individuals analyze their financial situations and goals. http://www.theamericancollege.edu/subpage.php?pageId=254
Registered Financial Consultant (RFC)
The International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC) grants the Registered Financial Consultant (RFC) designation to a limited number of individuals each year. To qualify for the designation applicants must have a minimum of five years in the industry, posses a degree and one other designation (such as CFP(TM)), as well as a clean regulatory record. Ongoing continuing education of at least 30 hours every two years is required.
http://www.iarfc.org/content.asp?n=1
Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®)
The Chartered Life Underwriter is widely recognized as the highest level of studies in the life insurance profession. Since 1927, more than 94,000 individuals have earned this distinction, enabling them to present a wider range of solutions for the life insurance needs of individuals, business owners and professionals, including income replacement, estate planning, and wealth transfer. In addition to increasing their clients' financial well being, CLUs average 34 percent higher income than their peers without a designation. http://www.cluinstitute.ca/
Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)
The Society of Certified Senior Advisors (SCSA) grants the Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) designation. The SCSA is an educational organization that provides an in-depth certification program on senior issues to professionals who work with seniors. A Certified Senior Advisor is an exclusive professional who has completed an extensive study program focusing on issues seniors face, and passed the corresponding SCSA examination. SCSA members are educated by experts to become highly valued community resources that are qualified to analyze seniors' worries, unravel their problems, suggest real-life alternatives, find new and more effective alternatives to the many challenges faced by seniors, help seniors with their financial, health and social needs and take action. http://www.society-csa.com/
Certified Estate Planner (CEP)
The National Institute of Certified Estate Planners (NICEP) is the supporting organization for the purpose of educating financial and legal professionals in matters of Estate Planning. The NICEP provides comprehensive educational courses and multiple examinations to certify those professionals that successfully complete the course with the designation of Certified Estate Planner(TM) or CEP(TM). Certified Estate Planners understand the needs of estate planning, and can work in collaboration with other professionals to bring clients a plan to preserve, protect and pass on wealth in the most efficient way available under the law. CEP's must pass two separate exams in order to attain certification and become eligible to use the designation. In addition Certified Estate Planners must maintain ongoing continuing education course work and uphold the NICEP tenants of professional, moral and ethical standards.
Certified Estate Planner (CEP)
Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA)
The Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts™ (IDFA™) is the premier national organization dedicated to the certification, education and promotion of the use of financial professionals in the divorce arena. Founded in 1993, IDFA™ provides specialized training to accounting, financial, and legal professionals in the field of pre-divorce financial planning. The Institute provides comprehensive training using a variety of knowledge and skill-building techniques. CDFA™ candidates learn how to help their clients with financial issues that will affect the rest of their lives.
http://www.institutedfa.com/
Security Exchange Commission (SEC)
The laws and rules that govern the securities industry in the United States derive from a simple and straightforward concept: all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, should have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it, and so long as they hold it. To achieve this, the SEC requires public companies to disclose meaningful financial and other information to the public. This provides a common pool of knowledge for all investors to use to judge for themselves whether to buy, sell, or hold a particular security. Only through the steady flow of timely, comprehensive, and accurate information can people make sound investment decisions.
http://www.sec.gov/
