Editor’s note: Portions of the following posting by Susan Tillery, CPS/PFS, CFP, appeared in the January 2011 edition of AICPA Wealth Management Insider Newsletter.
Clearly, financial planning has not yet arrived as a profession. Its structure (asset management and/or product placement, or fee for advice) has not been decided. Perhaps another platform is available. I would propose it is a platform that only CPA’s can build. It can be built by CPA’s who will seize this moment in time; who will “adopt” financial planning and take it to the professional level by offering “true fee-only” independent, objective financial planning.
The CPA is the clients’ trusted advisor and no one is more qualified and suited to offer comprehensive, independent, objective financial planning to your clients than they are. A CPA can attain the AICPA’s PFS designation and help present financial planning as a true profession by taking it to this next level. The CPA/PFS can help keep financial planning from being given over to the regulators. The AICPA has been working very hard to keep this from happening. They even submitted a comment letter to the SEC strongly opposing the creation of a possible FINRA or other self-regulatory organization oversight for investment advisers. Why? Because this will take financial planning down a level. [Read more…]
