6 New Findings on CFPs' Earnings and Careers

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Certified financial planners earn 12% more than other financial planners and are overwhelmingly satisfied with their careers, according to survey results released Thursday by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

In the CFP Board 2023 Compensation Study, 84% of CFP professionals reported a high level of personal fulfillment, with 80% rating their work-life balance as good or excellent. Seventy-one percent said the same of their compensation, while 65% said they were happy with their career advancement.

As the demand for holistic financial planning services rises, many big firms are encouraging their advisors to become CFPs. Carson Group, for its part, requires all of its W-2 advisors to hold the designation or an equivalent, or to earn it within five years of joining the firm.

What CFPs Think

Crystal McKeon, chief compliance officer of TSA Wealth Management in Houston, said she earned her CFP mark after noticing a shift in the industry.

“It’s moving away from simply taking an order and is evolving into know your whole client and have a long-term plan for them,” she wrote to ThinkAdvisor. “Forming those kinds of bonds makes it very satisfying when you can help someone who has been struggling. It really does feel like you have a purpose in your career and are making a difference.”

But there’s no magic bullet for career success, cautions David Flores Wilson, a CFP who holds several other certifications and is managing partner at Sincerus Advisory in New York: “Prospects generally don’t decide to work with you because all of a sudden you have some letters behind your name.

“The certifications along with the industry experience along the way have incrementally given me greater confidence that I have the tools, strategies and wisdom to solve these problems,” he wrote. “In so many ways, the CFP is table stakes or just a starting point, and it’s all about how effectively you can take this body of knowledge and apply it to prospects and clients that really matters.”

The Survey

The CFP Board commissioned Industry Insights to collect compensation data from financial advisors across the United States with and without the CFP designation. The survey generated 980 responses.

More than half of the CFP respondents, 56%, worked for a company, while the remaining 44% were self-employed, business owners or equity partners.

See the accompanying gallery for highlights from the board’s findings on how CFPs were paid, and their income sources, in 2022.