How Much Does the CFP Exam Cost? My Take on The Miraculous Expense of This Exam

Ill be completely honest, getting the CFP designation has been a goal of mine for more than a year now. With this being said, I have not started yet. Why is that you ask? I am hesitant to fork over the almost $7,000.00 worth of certification courses that my firm most likely will not reimburse me for, I think I can probably make more money long term to use this time, energy and money working on my websites, and lastly, I don’t want to start paying the $31.50 per month for your entire life that it costs to maintain this designation, if you’re a finance bro reading this, that’s going to add up to How Much Does the CFP Cost?something like $13,125 over a 30 year career, or more than $30,000 in a Traditional 401K after the tax deduction and employer match, and probably about a $50,000 to $75,000 lifetime loss when you factor in compounding had you just put this money in the market in a 401K. Nuff said here. With this in mind, the designation is very prestigious and looks freakin fantastic on a resume, so here’s my thoughts on how much money the CFP costs, and why I’m delaying taking it. Read on or subscribe to our blog for additional details and information, and to learn the answer of how much does the CFP exam cost?

Why I am Purchasing the CFP Program Today!

As a slight addendum to what I said above, my firm is really pushing me to do this, and so I am pulling the trigger and starting the program TODAY. I am somewhat nervous, I won’t lie about that, about the nearly $4,000.00 that I am going to fork over in cash in order to pursue this program for the next year. I understand that this may very well be the most difficult exam that I have ever studied for as well, but hey, you are now looking at a CFP Candidate in the making, that should certainly give me some blog post ideas and a certain insight into the program as well. The seven classes that I am taking to start include the below, as I will be doing this through the American College of Financial Services:

Financial Planning

Estate Planning

Taxes

Retirement Planning

Insurance Planning

Investments

Related Posts

Personal Financial Planning

And many more, going for the CHFC or the Chartered Life Underwriter designations also entails 3 additional courses in total. I feel very blessed to be able to be potentially adding these designations to my name in what is hopefully the very near future, in that it is a really incredible resume boost, an awesome talking point in interviews, and for the fact that adding these letters after your name are quite a career boost. Here’s my new take on the CFP exam, how much it costs, and what I have learned about it so far.

How Much Does the CFP Exam Cost? How Much I Just Paid Through the American College of Financial Services

So, as my hand was shaking on the mouse while I clicked this on the screen, I just spent $3500 to start my CFP program through the American College of Financial services, not a fun amount of money to drop on anything, but I have to say that it is probably one hell of an investment on my career. Aside from looking good in the office, and giving you an upgraded resume, this designation actually qualifies you for more jobs, especially in the financial planning, wealth management, and even accounting and financial analysis space, and makes people take you more seriously instantly. While not quite as powerful as being a CPA, having John Doe CFP, CHFC, CLU next to your name looks absolutely FANTASTIC on a resume, and shows that you are extremely well educated and experienced in real world finance.

Final Thoughts on How Much Does the CFP Exam Cost, $5,000 to $7,000 All Told

So, as I am writing this I am realizing that I need to get back to going for my CFP here, and so I’ll do some quick napkin math as far as expenses for this. Expenses for the CFP program:

$3500 to $4500 in Tuition, depending on which program you use and what specials they are offering.

$1,000 for the Dalton CFP review in order to have adequate study materials .

$1,000 to sit for the CFP Exam

$200 to apply for the CFP Designation

$375 per year to maintain.

It’s a pretty penny indeed, but very well worth it. As always, read on or subscribe to our blog for additional details and information.

 

Cheers!

 

*Inflation Hedging.com

Sources:

https://www.bankrate.com/banking/cds/cd-rates/

https://money.cnn.com/data/markets/

 

Disclaimer: The opinions and documentation contained within this article and on this blog are the sole property of inflationhedging.com and are not to be copyrighted or reproduced in any manner, else legal action within the rights of the United States legal code could be use to obtain recompense. All articles and blog posts are the sole opinions of the writers of the blog, and are not necessarily in line with what exactly will work for you, you should consult a CPA, Tax Professional, or Financial Professional to determine what exact financial needs are in line with your interests. Also, from time to time, certain links on this website will be used to generate affiliate commissions, in order to support the health and growth of our website, health and business.