Preamble:

Financial Planning is not a legal term, and is often misused by many in the more generalized field of finance who have not acquired the necessary prerequisites to obtain accredited designations that would publicly & clearly identify them as Qualified Financial Planners. The public has heretofore been left with a confusing "alphabet soup" of designations, the majority of which have nothing at all to do with the rather specific, and specialized field of Financial Planning.

IAQFP continues to conduct ongoing research to sort out for the benefit of the public only those qualified in Financial Planning by having met established standards of education, examination, experience, and ethics, bringing the best of them together under Financial Planning's only unifying QFP - Qualified Financial Planner designation.

Therefore, if you are looking for a simple way of finding one who is qualified to help you with your personal Financial Planning needs then choose a QFP - Qualified Financial Planner.  When doing so it is imperative that you verify that the planner is in fact a QFP, and to do so please check whether or not the QFP is listed within our QFP Verification Registry of Qualified Financial Planners.

The QFP Designation Accomplishes Two Primary Goals:

• QFP distinguishes the profession of Financial Planning from the general field of financial services.
• QFP simplifies the identification process for the public by reducing from hundreds of designations down to one easily identifiable universal designation of Financial Planning.

IAQFP, believing in ONE PROFESSION - ONE DESIGNATION, introduced the QFP designation as a practical solution to unify the many equally qualifying designations specific to the field of Financial Planning [i.e. CFP^®, ChFC, & PFS, The American College's MSFS & the College for Financial Planning's MS, (both with a Financial Planning concentration), with still others under ongoing consideration] all under one single, easily identifiable, designation.

IAQFP has taken the extra step of raising the bar of the Financial Planning profession by requiring of QFP the following added requirements:

• A QFP will abide by all IAQFP - QFP Designation Usage Requirements & Advertising Guidelines.
• Continuing education that is diversified over the entire spectrum of Financial Planning subject matter (30 hours each 2 years, or 15 annually).
• Adherence to the professions highest IAQFP - Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct.
• Oversight and regulation by the IAQFP Ethics Committee & Board of Directors, through the IAQFP Disciplinary Procedure & Complaint Process.
• Adherence to follow the added standards contained in the IAQFP Membership Agreement (applies to Member QFP only who are generally distinguished in the QFP Verification Registry as showing with their full contact information - see "View" links therein).

IAQFP Member QFP have a choice between a verification only listing, or a full contact listing that includes not only complete contact information but also a customized "Services Description" to help them best express & and communicate their areas of specialization and expertise for the benefit of the general public.

QFP who have accepted these higher standards are the only one's granted inclusion in the IAQFP - QFP Verification Registry of Qualified Financial Planners from where the public can both verify and locate them.

The QFP Designation is listed on the FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) website database of financial, professional designations. For more information, see the FINRA webpage:

Understanding Professional Designations