An unexpected benefit of the Master's in Personal Financial Planning program
About 10 years ago, when I was both established in my financial planning practice, but new to the College, I started the Master's program in Personal Financial Planning. Although I had earned the CFP® certification in 2003, I knew I was going to take a deeper dive into portfolio construction, retirement planning, client psychology and other financial planning topics. In 2016, I became one of the few practicing CFP® professionals with a Master's degree in financial planning.
What was a wonderful, unexpected benefit was that almost every assignment I had made me think of specific clients I was working with who would benefit from what I had just learned! Throughout the time I was taking Master's classes, I would note the clients I needed to follow up with and then call them that evening and share what I'd learned as it applied to them.
Having the opportunity to consistently demonstrate a higher degree of knowledge and application of that knowledge to clients' financial situations allowed me to showcase my advancing skills as a financial planner and further cementing out relationship. as a result, I have a very loyal group of financial planning clients who count on me to know how to help them navigate through their personal and financial journey. Needless to say, the Master's degree has proven to be one of the most valuable things I have done to build my practice.
Last week at the Financial Planning Association's national conference I was able to again share my personal story with several attendees. I would love to have a conversation with any CFP® professional who is interested in pursuing a Master's degree with the College for Financial Planning. I hope to hear from you soon!