Should Life Insurance Agents Become Financial Planners?

[Golfnut2112]

Professional designations do not impress me and I do not think they impress most people. I am an excellent test taker and I have held professional designations in nonfinancial fields. Because someone holds a CFP doesn't mean they know what they are doing.

The difference in a CPA designation and other designations is that in the accounting field CPA is pretty clear cut. In the financial field as you have pointed out there are a confusing number of designations: CFP, ChFC, CIMA, RFP, CFA, CWM, CAM, and MFP to name a few. There is nothing wrong with the education that goes into any of these. There is something wrong with the organization that overseees the CFP in my opinion.

Is FPA Membership Declining Because Of Its Fiduciary Views, Or In Spite Of Them? - kitces.com | Nerd's Eye View[/QUOTE

You and VolAgent are right!! The CPA is clear cut, and we do have way to many desinations. Last night I had a wholesaler take me to dinner and he said all the wholesalers had to get a CFS, and I thought what the hell is that.
Either way hope business is going great for you.

 

[VolAgent]

Professional designations do not impress me and I do not think they impress most people. I am an excellent test taker and I have held professional designations in nonfinancial fields. Because someone holds a CFP doesn't mean they know what they are doing.

The difference in a CPA designation and other designations is that in the accounting field CPA is pretty clear cut. In the financial field as you have pointed out there are a confusing number of designations: CFP, ChFC, CIMA, RFP, CFA, CWM, CAM, and MFP to name a few. There is nothing wrong with the education that goes into any of these. There is something wrong with the organization that overseees the CFP in my opinion.

Is FPA Membership Declining Because Of Its Fiduciary Views, Or In Spite Of Them? - kitces.com | Nerd's Eye View[/QUOTE

You and VolAgent are right!! The CPA is clear cut, and we do have way to many desinations. Last night I had a wholesaler take me to dinner and he said all the wholesalers had to get a CFS, and I thought what the hell is that.
Either way hope business is going great for you.

I think CFS stands for Certified Full of S***. A very appropriate designation for wholesalers.

 

[xrac]

I think CFS stands for Certified Full of S***. A very appropriate designation for wholesalers.

I totally agree with that.

 

[scottstreet]

Letters don't sell **** , that being said unless your talking about auditing publicly traded companies the CPA dosen't mean **** either. It is arguably easier than the CFP in that the 4 sections can be taken individually. Also, nothing wrong with a fiduciary standard, the issue is who the arbiter is....I still promote perm over term. They can take it away if they want and I'll save the 600 bucks, otherwise I'm content to use the 36 mil marketing campaign to my advantage.

 

[Kenno]

I work with a couple of agents with a whole alphabet-soup group of letters following their names, and they all struggle to maintain minimum standard productions levels. Great students and test-takers yes, great salespersons not so much.

With that said, agents who have a Series 6 (within my company) produce 76% more manufactured-product NFYC annually than non RRs. That figure does not include investment dollars, just life and health product.

 

[sman]

that being said unless your talking about auditing publicly traded companies the CPA dosen't mean **** either. It is arguably easier than the CFP in that the 4 sections can be taken individually.

Am I misinterpreting this statement? Are you saying becoming a CPA is easier than a CFP? If so, I think you need to do some research.

 

[VolAgent]

That is some serious BS about the CPA being easier or less important than the CFP. As I recall, you can not hold yourself out as an accountant to the public or work with the general public unless you are a CPA or under the supervision of one.

 

[sman]

That is some serious BS about the CPA being easier or less important than the CFP. As I recall, you can not hold yourself out as an accountant to the public or work with the general public unless you are a CPA or under the supervision of one.

Not to mention the college education requirement, the on the job experience requirement and last, but definitely not least, the BRUTAL exam to be a Certified Public Accountant.

I'll also point out that up until a few years ago, a college degree was not required to get a CFP. Now they require a college degree (in anything) along with the same requirements as prior.

Just a side note, sans the college degree, the ChFC requires more classes than the CFP. The only difference is the exam to get the CFP. As has been pointed out, the CFP has done a great job of marketing. I was in a meeting of a bunch of advisers one day and a person fairly new to the business (less than 5 years) who was captive with a 403b company asked the following question:

"How do you determine an appropriate portfolio for a person and also decide which investments to use?"

I nearly shat myself when someone told me the guy was a CFP and had already been making recommendations to people in their 403b accounts for the previous few years.

 

[DHK]

sman - I'll give the young advisor the benefit of the doubt.

He was probably asking "How do you determine an appropriate portfolio for a person and also decide which investments to use?"

Looking for the perspective of other advisors is not necessarily a bad thing.

Of course, you were there and can probably tell what the intentions were behind the words.

 

[sman]

sman - I'll give the young advisor the benefit of the doubt.

He was probably asking "How do you determine an appropriate portfolio for a person and also decide which investments to use?"

Looking for the perspective of other advisors is not necessarily a bad thing.

Of course, you were there and can probably tell what the intentions were behind the words.

I was in the meeting. He DEFINITELY wasn't asking how that person did it. He elaborated on his question and stated quite clearly he didn't know how to do it.

FWIW, he's no longer in the business.