All Advice-Only financial advisors listed in the Advice-Only Directory must have a CFP®, equivalent credential, or qualifying experience. The vast majority have the CFP® credential. Only very few don’t have it but I include them in the directory based on their experience.
CFP® certification is based on Four E’s: education, examination, experience, and ethics. Candidates must complete an approved set of courses, pass an exam, have three years of experience in financial planning, and agree to the code of ethics. After they are certified, they must take continued education every year to maintain the certification.
Advice-Only financial advisors as a group are more experienced in giving advice because giving advice is their raison d’être. They are typically solo practitioners as the principal of their own firms. Some have co-owners or employees. They don’t have a big brand name behind them but it doesn’t make them any less qualified.
Just to give you a feel of the advisors in the Advisor-Only Directory, I used a random number generator to pick out 3 random advisors. I give their profiles here without their names. Remember these are randomly picked, not cherry-picked the most experienced or the most qualified.
Advisor A
Female, age 62. Master of Science degree. CFP® certified. She has been a financial advisor for 10 years, including the most recent 3 years as the principal of her own firm. Her firm provided financial planning services to 11 – 25 clients last year.
Advisor B
Female, age 60. Master of Science degree. CFP® certified for 10 years. CPA for over 20 years. She has been a financial advisor for 13 years, including the most recent 9 years as the principal of her own firm. Her firm provided financial planning services to 26 – 50 clients last year.
Advisor C
Male, age 56. JD degree. CFP® certified for 14 years. He has been a financial advisor as the principal of his own firm for 17 years. His firm provided financial planning services to 51 – 100 clients last year.
If someone in my family is looking for an advisor, I would be comfortable with having them contact any one of these three random Advice-Only financial advisors.