CFP certification has been in Taiwan for around 10 years, but the financial planning profession is still developing. There is one statistic that really sticks out here in Taiwan: a very low percentage of individuals who receive their CFP certification actually become financial planners. What happened to those people who spent lots of time and money studying for and passing the exam? Why didn’t they use their certification? Part of the reason might be the huge gap between theory and practice. These people found it was hard to take the first step to be a financial planner. We may be able to solve this problem with the fundamental of education.

Theory vs.

Continue reading How to Run a Successful Financial Planning Firm and Why So Many Others Fail

]]> http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/how-to-run-a-successful-financial-planning-firm/feed/ 0 http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/well-rounded-education-financial-planning/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=well-rounded-education-financial-planning http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/well-rounded-education-financial-planning/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 17:38:24 +0000 kbarstow http://www.financialplanet.org/?p=1770 by Jaeyoung Yang, CFP

The work of financial planning requires a financial planner to have professional knowledge in varied fields. It is, of course, not an easy matter for one individual to acquire all of the professional knowledge necessary for financial planning. In addition, financial planning is not so much a theoretical science but a practical one, with shorter history than such sciences as economics, business management, and psychology.

Therefore, it has less research findings and theories.

Education and Experience are both Needed

Some financial planners say that the financial planning taught in universities is too theoretical and not useful for work practice. This is a narrow-minded perspective,

Continue reading A Well-Rounded Education is the Key to Financial Planning

]]> http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/well-rounded-education-financial-planning/feed/ 0 http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/behavioral-finance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=behavioral-finance http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/behavioral-finance/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 18:40:04 +0000 kbarstow http://www.financialplanet.org/?p=1729 By Patrick Canion, CFP

“Call ten people, make three appointments. One of them will cancel, one won’t be interested, and the third will make you a sale.”

That golden rule, along with some explanation of how to calculate premiums from the company rate book, was the essence of my first training course as an insurance agent in 1987 – the background of many of Australia’s financial advisers.

How far we have come!  For some time, financial planning representatives have worked with the Government and institutions to establish educational qualifications at Diploma, Advance Diploma and post-graduate levels to bring the necessary academic rigor to financial planning.  Of course, all of these integrate with the educational requirements of being a CERTIFIED

Continue reading Behavioral Finance Or Bust!

]]> http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/behavioral-finance/feed/ 0 http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/rich-life-experience-financial-planners/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rich-life-experience-financial-planners http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/rich-life-experience-financial-planners/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 17:35:22 +0000 kbarstow http://www.financialplanet.org/?p=1713 by Daehong Kwon, CFP

If we look at colleagues and financial planners around us, we find that they are all very distinct people. They are different from each other in terms of age, profession, school they attended, hometown, and the environments in which they grew up. While schools, big business companies and some special professional communities are made up of relatively similar people, the financial planner community is characterized by many unique members. On top of that, we work for a diverse clientele.

As such, it would be no exaggeration to say that we are living in “a plaza of diversity.” Our varying backgrounds may oftentimes cause a disagreement among colleagues

Continue reading Rich Life Experience is what Differentiates Financial Planners

]]> http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/rich-life-experience-financial-planners/feed/ 0 http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/education-is-not-the-filling-of-a-pail/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=education-is-not-the-filling-of-a-pail http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/education-is-not-the-filling-of-a-pail/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 17:49:05 +0000 kbarstow http://www.financialplanet.org/?p=1704 by Mark DiGiovanni, CFP

My first career was in teaching.  It was rewarding, but also frustrating.  The rewarding part was opening doors for young people to become more than they thought they could be.  The frustrating part was dealing with the politics and bureaucracy that seems to be a part of any education system.

In the U.S. today, there is an obsession with accountability in education.  To that end, standardized testing has become rampant.  The average student spends approximately 7% of the school year preparing for and taking standardized tests.  This amount is equivalent to nearly a full school year by the time they graduate from high school.  The purpose of the testing is not to

Continue reading “Education is not the Filling of a Pail, but the Lighting of a Fire” -William Butler Yeats

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By Junesoo Chang, CFP

Everyone agrees that personal financial stability is a necessary condition for happiness in life. Unfortunately, no one can learn how to attain financial stability in school, because formal education pays little attention to the topic. Even after graduation there is little chance to learn it readily. One of the reasons may be that achieving one’s financial goals is an on-going process that can last for an entire lifetime. It cannot be taught in one sitting.

In the introduction meeting with prospective clients, I often find that they don’t understand what financial planning is. People often think financial planning is simply “making more money.”

Continue reading Financial Education = Happier People

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By Martin Casals Iglesias, CFP

I understand the way financial planners are paid is one of the main issues to consider when we think of how we want to be seen by our clients and society in general. In the end, it is appropriate that our form of remuneration is perfectly aligned with our value proposition.

I think financial planning is a journey that begins where we are today, and ends with the achievement of our objectives, our dreams and desires for ourselves and our families. A financial planner is a professional that helps to reduce the risks of not achieving our objectives. He guides the client in this

Continue reading Financial Services Compensation and the Value Proposition of the Financial Planner

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By Michael Snowdon, CFP

Imagine with me for a moment. Jade, a client, walks into your office holding an account statement. The statement identifies 10,000 shares of a stock – (DGE) – trading on the London exchange. You immediately recognize the stock as Diageo, a global spirits company. You’re a little puzzled, however, because Jade has clearly expressed great distaste for investments related to alcohol. Several family members have alcohol-based problems, and her father died from an alcohol-related disease. Yet, here she is in your office, with a statement showing ownership of Diageo stock. Not only that, she has just asked you to liquidate 25% of her portfolio so that she can purchase additional shares of DGE. You

Continue reading Behavioral Finance and the Financial Planning Professional

]]> http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/behavioral-finance-financial-planning-professional/feed/ 0 http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/economic-benefits-financial-planning/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=economic-benefits-financial-planning http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/economic-benefits-financial-planning/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 22:16:47 +0000 kbarstow http://www.financialplanet.org/?p=1652 By Joel Redmond, CFP®

A recent article in Investment News highlighted financial planning as one of the five most desirable professions, citing high pay, low stress, and job security as three of the top reasons. The article can be found here. What the article didn’t stress is the most important aspect of financial planning: the satisfaction planners have in helping their clients.

Countless reports in the financial and even in the popular press have discussed this satisfaction, whether quantitatively or qualitatively: emotional relief at helping a client navigate a job loss, a situation in which a family member needed nursing home care, or a need to retire from a 40-year career without having to worry about the

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]]> http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/economic-benefits-financial-planning/feed/ 3 http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/remuneration-model-best/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remuneration-model-best http://www.financialplanet.org/2012/remuneration-model-best/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 16:51:26 +0000 kbarstow http://www.financialplanet.org/?p=1641  By Suresh Sadagopan, CFP

The perception most planners have is that clients will not pay for advice. This somehow has been so ingrained into the psyche of players in the financial services space that it is taken for gospel. However, as with any kind of generalization, this is just a myth.

There may always be people who are not willing to pay for services rendered. It is possible that the kind of people whom they have dealt with in the past, have not provided much value, and as a consequence, they will never pay for advice again. Financial planners who deal with clients like this are facing resistance, which can be discouraging.

I would say the onus

Continue reading Remuneration Model: Which One is Best?

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