How to Become a CFP®: Career Development, Requirements and Timeline

If you’d like to enhance your credibility and marketability to help attract new clients, you might be interested in becoming a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®). The CFP® Board, which is responsible for issuing CFP® credentials, counts more than 107,000 Certified Financial Planners™ in the U.S., as of January 2026.¹ Understanding the CFP® certification process and job outlook can help you decide if this professional designation is worth pursuing.

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Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) Overview

A Certified Financial Planner™ is a financial professional who meets educational, professional, and ethical standards established by the CFP® Board. While any advisor may call themselves a financial planner, only someone who has earned their CFP® marks can be identified as a Certified Financial Planner™.

Certified Financial Planners™ work with clients to create comprehensive financial plans that address their needs, goals, and concerns. The certification process ensures that advisors who earn a CFP® credential are well-versed across the financial planning spectrum. Continuing education is required to maintain your Certified Financial Planner™ status.

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CFP® Average Salary

The average financial advisor earned a median salary of $102,140 in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). ² Salaries were highest for advisors working in securities and commodities. The lowest 10% of earners had a median wage of less than $49,990, while the highest 10% of earners reported a median wage above $239,200.

The CFP® Board’s 2025 Compensation Study put the total median CFP® compensation for 2024 at $185,000. ³ According to the study, Certified Financial Planners™ earn 13% more than other financial planners. The typical CFP’s® salary is composed of annual variable pay, annual base pay, company profits, and profit-sharing. CFPs® with 20-plus years of experience earned the most, with a median total compensation of $359,000.

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CFP® Certification: Education, Experience and Skill Requirements

The CFP® Board sets the standards for education and experience required to become a Certified Financial Planner™. Here are the current guidelines for those seeking a CFP® designation:

• Education: Advisors must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and complete required coursework through a CFP® Board-approved program.
• Experience: Either before or after you complete the CFP® exam, you’ll need to complete 6,000 hours of professional experience in financial planning or 4,000 hours of apprenticeship experience that meets additional requirements.

You don’t need a bachelor’s degree in any specific field, though you may find it helpful to earn a finance-related degree. For example, an accounting degree may prove beneficial.

The CFP® Board doesn’t note any specific skills you must have to become a Certified Financial Planner™. However, it’s typical for someone interested in obtaining a CFP® mark to possess or be in the process of developing financial planning and analysis skills. Knowledge of the markets, investment strategies, and key tech tools used by advisors is also important.

Advisors who seek a CFP® mark can benefit from building out their soft skills, as well. Soft skills an advisor may include problem-solving, critical thinking ability, and communication skills, which can result in better relationships with their clients and team members.

CFP® Certification and Job Expectations

A typical CFP® candidate can earn their credentials within 18 to 24 months, which includes completing the required coursework, passing the exam, and earning the required number of experience hours. However, it may take longer if you haven’t finished (or started) your bachelor’s degree program or can only earn experience hours on a part-time basis.

Here’s more on what you can expect from the certification process.

• Examination: The CFP® exam is a 170-question, multiple-choice exam that’s completed in one day, broken into two 3-hour sessions. Exam material includes stand-alone and scenario-based questions, as well as questions about case studies.
• Ethics: All CFP® candidates must agree to meet the ethical standards established by the CFP® Board to obtain their certification. Specifically, you must agree to act as a fiduciary and in the best interest of your clients at all times. The CFP® Board also requires a background check as part of the ethics requirement.

Out of all the steps required to become a CFP®, taking the CFP® exam may be the most daunting. As of November 2025, the exam pass rate was 64%, according to the CFP® Board. ⁴

Investing in CFP® exam prep can help you study so that you’re fully prepared to pass on test day. Your exam prep routine may include live or on-demand classes, online study guides, textbooks, practice exams, live reviews, and sample questions. In terms of how long you’ll need to study, a typical range is 200 to 250 hours. According to the CFP® Board, 80% of exam passers spent at least 11 hours per week studying. ⁵

Certified Financial Planner™ Client Opportunities and Services

Certified Financial Planners™ can work with a wide range of clients, including:

• Young professionals
• Married couples
• Single women
• Mid-career individuals
• Retirees and pre-retirees
• Small business owners
• Individuals in specialized professions, like physicians
• High-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth investors

If you’re interested in how to become a certified financial planner, it may be helpful to research advisor niches to determine which types of clients you’re best equipped to serve. You can then tailor your services to meet the needs of your ideal client base.

Those services may include:

• Comprehensive financial planning
• Retirement planning
• Investment planning
• Tax planning
• Estate planning
• College planning
• Charitable giving
• Insurance planning
• Debt management and budgeting

Certified Financial Planners™ may work as part of a larger advisory firm or establish themselves as independent advisors. Banks and credit unions may offer additional job opportunities for CFPs®.

CFP® Job Outlook

The job outlook for financial advisors is largely positive, with the BLS projecting a 10% increase in job openings through 2034. Around 24,100 openings for financial advisors are expected each year. For perspective, job growth for all other occupations combined is just 3%.

The CFP® Professionals Sentiment Indices (CPSI), which measures the financial and economic outlook of financial professionals and their clients, provides further insight. ⁶ The fall 2025 report found that:

• About half of all CFP® professionals hold a positive personal outlook
• 37% believe economic conditions will stay about the same 12 months from now
• One-quarter of professionals expect an upturn over the next 12 months
• 64% reported that their client base expanded over the previous year
• 72% expect to take on more clients over the next year

A few significant factors weigh in CFPs’® favor. The population is aging, and more Americans are headed toward retirement, marking the need for a professional financial advisor. At the same time, a significant number of retirees are poised to pass on trillions in wealth to the next generation, who may also need a guiding hand in managing that wealth. ⁷ Finally, while AI and robo-advisors are gaining ground, investors still overwhelmingly prefer to work with a human advisor. ⁸

Transferable Skills and Experience

Certified Financial Planners™ can acquire skills and experience that can be transferred to other roles. Your skillset may include:

• Oral and written communication skills
• Active listening skills
• Empathy skills
• Risk management and analysis skills
• Analytical skills
• Tech skills, including familiarity with CRM platforms, financial planning software, tax software, and AI tools
• Leadership skills

Your experience as a CFP® may expose you to a diverse range of people within your team, your client base, or in your community. For example, volunteering as a pro bono advisor is an opportunity to help people locally who need financial services while also potentially connecting with wealthy donors to the organization you serve.

Related Jobs and Certifications

Becoming a Certified Financial Planner™ can benefit you in other professional settings should you decide to switch to a different career path. For example, a CFP® certification could prove valuable if you’re interested in working as a:

• Investment analyst or financial analyst
• Portfolio manager
• Wealth manager
• Investment advisor
• Financial educator
• Corporate financial planner/analyst
• Compliance officer
• Non-profit financial manager

Some of these roles may require additional training or certification, but your CFP® credential could help you to get your foot in the door. For instance, if you’d like to become an investment analyst or portfolio manager, you may need to obtain a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. One or more FINRA licenses may also be required for roles that involve securities trading and management.

Bottom Line

Navigating how to become a Certified Financial Planner™ requires a structured approach, since there’s a fairly decent amount of ground you’ll need to cover. Reviewing education, exam, experience, and ethics requirements can help you understand where you’re starting from. You can then move on to choosing a CFP® Board-approved coursework program, prepping for the CFP® exam, and getting your experience hours in, so you’re ready to hit the ground running once you achieve certification.

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• Certified Financial Planners™ are required to complete continuing education requirements, including credit hours in ethics. Any courses you take must be CFP® Board-approved, but otherwise, you have flexibility in deciding when and where to earn your CE credits. If you’re looking for a low cost option, it’s possible to find free continuing education classes for advisors offered online, including ethics credits.

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