What is a Financial Planner Anyways?

Over the last few months I have talked with a few new clients.  In almost every meeting I had a couple things kept surfacing.  The first one revolves around the CFP designation and how anyone in the financial advising community in British Columbia can call themselves a financial planner.

There are a few things you need to know:

1) In BC there is no rule on who can call themselves a Financial Planner.  That means that your next door neighbor who becomes a financial advisor for a day can call themselves a financial planner.  As you can  imagine this is a bit scary as there is no security for the public on who is qualified to be a financial planner and who isn’t.

Every time I sit down with a new client my suggestions are always the same.  By this point in my career it may be slightly pre-programmed (and I apologize for that) but it is the truth.  Every time I state something like, “I may or may not be the advisor for you, but do me a favour and use a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).  Someone who has obtained their CFP has undergone a tonne of studying and exams and must adhere to a stringent code of ethics to be able to display their CFP.”

By utilizing someone with their CFP you are ensuring that the person who is giving you advice has extremely in-depth knowledge about Financial Planning.  Another added benefit is they have been in the financial advising community over 3 years.

2) Another question that kept coming up was whether to pay off your mortgage or put money into your RRSP/TFSA…

Lucky for you, that will be our next blog topic!

If you think this could benefit you or someone you know (friend, relative) please forward this email to them, or contact Travis Strain at 604-308-6030, or mail@travisstrain.ca