To be calling yourself a lawyer, you must go through years of school, an extremely difficult exam, and keep up with hours of continuing education each year. Surprisingly, a title that one could argue is equally as important (taking care of people’s money) is completely unregulated. The reality is the terms “financial advisor,” “financial planner,” “wealth manager,” and “financial consultant” are simply marketing titles, not actual credentials.
That is why the Certified Financial Planner® certification matters: it differentiates between a skilled professional with expertise in financial planning and a salesperson trained to sell products. It is the recognized standard for comprehensive financial planning, held by more than 109,000 professionals in the United States1. Earning it takes years of college-level education, a notoriously difficult exam, thousands of hours of real experience, and a binding ethics commitment. I hold the CFP® mark because I believe your financial future deserves such high standards. Here is what stands behind those three letters, and why it matters for your financial plan.
What It Takes to Earn the CFP®
Education
Candidates complete college-level coursework across the full range of financial planning practice areas, including tax planning, retirement and income planning, estate planning, investments, insurance and risk management, and the financial planning process itself. They also have to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Examination
The exam is 170 questions (delivered across two three-hour sessions) built around case studies that test whether you can apply the material to a real client’s situation rather than just recall it. It is not a formality, as historically, only about two-thirds of the people who sit for it pass.
Experience
Before certification, a candidate must log at least 6,000 hours of real financial planning work, which is roughly three years of full-time experience. There is a 4,000-hour apprenticeship path with tighter requirements, but either way, the standard is built on doing the work, not just studying it.
Ethics
Every CFP® professional makes a binding commitment to the CFP Board to act as a fiduciary, which means putting the client’s best interest first at all times when giving financial advice. The Board runs a background check and applies its fitness standards before granting the mark, and it can take the mark away from anyone who violates the standard.
Why This Matters When You Are a Big Law Attorney
Your financial life touches every one of those practice areas at once. A Big Law income brings tax complexity, especially in the move from a W-2 associate to a K-1 partner. It brings uneven compensation, large quarterly tax payments, and estate planning questions that arrive earlier than they do for most people. Solving any one of those in isolation is hard enough, but solving them together, in a way where an investment move does not wreck the tax strategy or a cash flow issue doesn’t ruin the retirement plan, is the entire point of comprehensive planning.
That is what a CFP® professional is trained to do. A salesperson with a product to move is trained to do something else. When the plan behind your money carries this much complexity, it should be built by someone who knows what they’re doing and is bound by the highest standards.
CFP® Mark Versus the Alphabet Soup
There are real credentials in this field. The Chartered Financial Analyst®, for example, is extremely difficult to get, but it is built for investment analysis and portfolio management, not for the full scope of personal financial planning. Most of the other letters you will see on a business card are shorter courses that focus on one specific area of financial planning, not your comprehensive plan. The CFP® mark is the one that consumer advocates, regulators, and the financial planning profession itself point to as the gold standard for planning advice.
Work With a CFP® Professional
If you want your financial plan built by someone trained and tested to build it, that is what we do at SharpEdge Financial. Schedule a call below to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a CFP® professional?
A Certified Financial Planner® (or CFP® professional) is someone who has met the CFP Board’s requirements for education, examination, experience, and ethics, and who has committed to act as a fiduciary when giving financial advice. It is the gold standard for comprehensive financial planning.
Is a CFP® professional the same as a financial advisor?
No. The term “financial advisor” is an unregulated title that anyone can use with no required training. The CFP® certification is an earned credential with strict requirements. Many people calling themselves financial advisors are not CFP® professionals.
What is the difference between a CFP® and a CFA?
A CFP® professional is trained across the full scope of personal financial planning, including tax, retirement, estate, insurance, and investments. A Chartered Financial Analyst® specializes in investment analysis and portfolio management. They are different credentials built for different work. For comprehensive financial planning, the CFP® is the relevant standard.
Does my financial advisor need to be a CFP® professional?
No rule requires it, which is exactly why it matters. Because anyone can use the advisor title without training, the CFP® mark is one of the clearest signals that the person handling your money knows what they’re doing and is held to the highest standards.
Is Joel Chouinard a CFP® professional?
Yes. Joel holds the CFP® certification, which means your plan is built by someone who has met the education, exam, experience, and ethics requirements behind the mark.
1. CFP® Board, as of July 2026