Why I’m Not in the Office This Week
By the time this publishes, I’m somewhere between a conference session and a Wi-Fi-dead hallway at the San Diego Convention Center. I’m at Focus, LPL’s flagship annual conference, spending four days in rooms full of financial professionals talking about what’s changing in our industry and how we can continue to develop and refine our skills to serve our clients well.
Leaving the office for a week is not simple, and it’s even harder to leave my family at home during some of the last beautiful days of summer break. Someone has to keep things running, my calendar has to get rearranged, and I’m walking away from a full week of client work to sit in sessions instead. So it’s fair to ask why I do it.
The Certification That Doesn’t Have a Finish Line
Here’s the truth: the CFP® certification I earned in 2018 didn’t come with a permanent finish line. It came with a requirement to keep learning, and if you know anything about how I got here, you know I don’t take that lightly. Not because I have to, but because your plan deserves an advisor who’s paying attention to what’s changing and is always looking for ways to refine and improve your experience.
Financial planning doesn’t hold still. Tax law shifts. Social Security guidance updates. New retirement account rules get introduced. The tools I use to build a plan today are different than the ones I used five years ago, and they’ll be different again in five more. If I stopped learning, I’d eventually be giving you outdated advice with total confidence, and that’s a worse problem than not knowing something.
What a Week at Focus Actually Looks Like
So this week, I’m at Focus to learn and grow, though I don’t technically have to attend, taking notes I’ll actually use, and asking questions between sessions that I’ll bring straight back to Fort Mill and all my client conversations in the year ahead. That might mean a session on how retirement income planning is shifting, a conversation in the hallway with another advisor who’s solved a problem I’m currently working through for a client, or an update on a rule change that hasn’t hit the headlines yet but will affect how I build plans going forward.
None of it is glamorous, okay maybe some of it is, like hearing from Jesse Cole of the Savannah Bananas and a private concert with Carrie Underwood later this week. Most of it is note-taking, comparing notes with peers, and coming home with a list of things worth changing or double-checking in my own practice.
Why This Matters More Than a Line on a Bio
I delivered a plan earlier this summer to a client who had spent years with a previous advisor who simply wasn’t paying attention. She arrived carrying a cash flow gap she couldn’t explain and a decision she’d been unable to make on her own. What she said at the end of that session has stayed with me: what changed wasn’t any single recommendation. It was finally having someone she could ask questions, instead of piecing answers together from generalized internet content.
That’s what I think about when I’m sitting in a session I technically could have skipped. Continuing education isn’t supposed to just keep a license active. It’s supposed to keep the advisor on the other side of your Zoom call actually worth talking to. A credential earned once and never revisited tells you where someone started. Ongoing education tells you where they still are.
Key Takeaways
- The CFP® certification carries ongoing continuing education requirements. It isn’t a one-time finish line.
- Financial planning changes constantly, which means the advice has to keep up.
- Conferences go beyond the required minimum, and that choice is worth paying attention to.
- You can ask your advisor directly what they’ve learned recently. A good one will have a specific answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do financial advisors actually have to keep learning after they’re certified, or is that a myth?
For CFP® professionals, yes, it’s required. I have to complete continuing education hours on an ongoing cycle to maintain the certification, covering both technical financial planning topics and ethics. It’s not optional, and it’s not a one-time box to check.
What does the CFP® certification actually require?
CFP® professionals meet education, examination, experience, and ethical standards set by the CFP Board, and commit to ongoing continuing education to maintain the certification. It’s a standard you have to keep meeting, not a credential you earn once and keep forever without upkeep.
What’s the difference between a required license renewal and something like attending a conference?
License renewal is the floor, the minimum required to keep practicing. Conferences like Focus are something I choose to do beyond that minimum, because sitting with other advisors and industry leaders surfaces things a required course doesn’t always cover, like emerging trends and real conversations about what’s actually working for clients right now.
How often should I review my financial plan?
At least once a year, and any time something significant changes in your life or your business. A plan works best when it moves with your circumstances instead of sitting untouched between annual reviews.
How can I tell if my financial advisor is staying current, versus just maintaining the minimum?
Ask directly. Ask what they’ve learned recently, what’s changed in their approach this year, or what they’re paying attention to right now. A good advisor should answer specifically, not vaguely.
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Financial Planning in Fort Mill, SC
Oak & Co. Financial serves business owners, families, and individuals throughout Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Tega Cay, and Indian Land, plus Charlotte and Ballantyne, with virtual planning available across South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, and Texas. The firm’s approach to ongoing education, staying current through required continuing education and industry conferences like LPL’s Focus, is part of how it delivers planning that reflects what’s actually happening in the industry today, not what was true five years ago.
Amanda Bateman is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and the founder of Oak & Co. Financial in Fort Mill, SC. She holds Series 7 and 66 licenses along with Life and Health insurance licensing in the Carolinas, and she treats ongoing education as part of the job, not an obligation to get through.