The first thing we should cover is what the specific role is that we are talking about here. A CFP advisor in today’s world is usually different from what brokers or financial advisors have been doing for the past 30 years or so. So we are talking about a day in the life of someone who is a fiduciary financial planner, and probably spends more time on developing and seeing through financial plans for families, rather than selling financial products. Sure, there are still many financial sales jobs out there today but most who have earned the CFP letters are in positions that are more service based. I’ve had the CFP now for a little over a year, and have worked with others who have held it for a long time, so here’s some firsthand experience of what the average day of a CFP professional looks like.
The common theme you will hear throughout this video is client service. Almost everything you do as a CFP is going to be directly, or indirectly related to servicing financial planning clients. And probably the most common form of serving clients is on the phone and via email. You are going to be answer a lot of phone calls, and writing a lot of emails. This is a pretty fun task because typically clients will reach out with a certain question. And so talking or emailing with them is an opportunity to share some information or offer some advice, which is really what the job is all about. One I dealt with just in the past couple of days was a client who was purchasing a new property and we needed to decide what investments to sell from which accounts, and then wire them funds. Another was someone asking us if their power of attorney can also act on their behalf pertaining to their role as trustee of a trust. That example we didn’t know the answer to, so another guy on our team reached out to an estate planning attorney we have a good relationship with to get the facts, then relay that answer to the person who asked it. And sometimes clients who are more friendly might just give you a call to see how things are going. Now the volume of these types calls and emails can start to cause some stress, but if you manage your time well and delegate responsibilities, this should be one of the better parts of your day.
The next most common way you will be working with client is in face to face meetings. Just sitting down with them and talking about their financial plans, their investments, and maybe more importantly their lives. You need to have an understanding of what matters to them, and what they want to accomplish. Then you structure much or your work and recommendations around those goals. Specifically you might be reviewing any changes in their finances since the last time you met like a new job or a new car payment. You could be recommending they buy more insurance, or get an estate plan done and then provide some education about why they need those certain things. Another very important type of conversation that comes up in the meetings is around any biases they may have around certain investments, or maybe fears they have regarding certain financial strategies. There are a lot of phycological factors that affect how people make financial decisions that you need to understand and be able to address with them. How many meeting you do in a week will depend on how many clients you are servicing, but it can range from 3-5 on the low end to 15-20 on the high end. And this might sound surprising, but conducting client meetings can be a really draining part of your day as a CFP. I don’t know if it’s because you are so intellectually but also socially engaged in the conversations or what exactly it is, but a few other advisors in our firm will agree with me on this. If you ever hold like 3, 4 , 5 client meetings back to back, when you walk out of your office afterwards your head can feel like you just pulled an all nighter then took the hardest test of your life. So even though you’re don’t doing manual labor, it can sometimes be tiring.
If you have an idea of something you want me to cover in depth, please let me know because I take your requests seriously. Will be back with more CFA Exam tips in a couple of weeks so please submit more questions you would like to hear answered. Love you all!
*** The information in this video is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional financial advice. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your financial or tax professional***
