Financial Planner question

Kinda not really.

Anyone may call himself a "financial planner" -- including brokers and insurance salesmen. To be a broker or insurance salesman, one must be *licensed* (ie. series 7, etc), but that doesn't mean that he or she knows anything about financial planning.

One may also be a registered investment advisor (RIA) and not be a salesperson - and provide financial planning advice. To do that, one must basically just pass a series 65 and register with the state or SEC.

In all these cases, the person's activities may subject to the regulation of the state securities regulator and/or the SEC and/or the state insurance commisioner. But there is no required licensing specifically for "financial planning".

There are a few professional designations which require substantial study and professional experience - things like "CFP" and "ChFC", but they are neither licenses nor are they regulatory agencies. All the power that the CFP board has, really, is to make someone stop using the designation "CFP" - they cannot shut someone down like the government can.

Here's a recent (Dec) short article in the NYT about finding a financial planner:

To elaborate on what BWS said..."financial planning" is a descriptive term and someone doing anything meaty would need to hold one or more of the following licenses, depending on what they really do (license and some example tasks): Investment adviser - advice about securities, where a fee is charged; managing money Registered representative - (stockbroker) selling securities for a commission, such as a load mutual fund. Billing may be through a fee-like arrangement but a RR works for a financial product distributor (broker-dealer, in licensing parlance) Insurance agent/broker - selling health, life, auto, disability insurance. Some states have licenses for insurance advice as well. Attorney - estate planning, tax advice, private placement evaluation Accountant (CPA) - tax advice, business planning Enrolled agent (EA) - tax advice, representation before the IRS [the last three can also do tax preparation in states that license that

- not all do]

Note that none of these is called "Financial Planner" - again, that's more of a descriptive term and is not a license ("CFP" is a trademark administered by a trade association). Many states require that you register as an investment adviser if you use the term "financial planning" in marketing materials, but there just isn't a defined and regulated profession of financial planning.

It's possible to do some very limited things that people might regard as financial planning, while avoiding licenses of any type. More in the "life growth", motivational speaker, budgeting kinds of realms. And journalists and newsletter writers don't need licenses if that's all they do. It's hard to do anything meaty/specific without some kind of license though. Before hiring a planner, figure out what tasks you want done - that will navigate you to the right type of licensed professional.

-Tad (attorney & registered investment adviser)

Perhaps the main danger faced by someone like yourself is a so-called "financial planner" who is in reality is a commissioned sales person for a particular financial product or products. For your best protection, focus on the type of products that are recommended and how the planner gets paid, rather than being concerned with titles and designations and matters of regulation. Learn about loads and commissions. Bear in mind that someone who charges you a fee for his or her services may be acting in your best interests more than someone who charges you nothing at all but collects a commission from the products in which you invest.