CFP® Exam Breakdown

Financial Planning Areas

Category Low Mid High
Fundamental Financial Planning Practices 8% 13% 18%
Financial Management 9% 14% 19%
Investment Planning 9% 14% 19%
Insurance and Risk Management 8% 13% 18%
Tax Planning 9% 14% 19%
Retirement Planning 9% 14% 19%
Estate Planning and Legal Aspects 12% 17% 22%
Total 100%

Question Type Breakdown


Multiple Choice Questions – 20 to 30%
Constructed Response Questions – 70% to 80%

Financial Planning Functions

  • Collection: gathering the client’s information
    • Gathering both quantitative and qualitative information
    • Identifying relevant facts and documentation
    • Preparing and organizing information in a way that allows for appropriate analysis
  • Analysis: assesses the client’s situation and identifies and evaluates appropriate strategies
    • Identifying issues and opportunities
    • Performing required calculations
    • Developing projections
    • Preparing and assessing the resulting information to identify and evaluate appropriate strategies

Recommendation: develops recommendations to help optimize the client’s situation

    • Developing recommendations, in order of priority, that help meet the client’s personal goals, needs and priorities

Category Low Mid High
Collection
Fundamental financial planning practices collection 1% 4% 7%
Gathers and prepares quantitative information 7% 12% 17%
Gathers qualitative information 6% 11% 16%
Analysis
Fundamental financial planning practices analysis 3% 6% 9%
Assesses the client’s situation 13% 18% 23%
Considers and evaluates strategies 21% 26% 31%
Recommendations
Fundamental financial planning practices recommendations 2% 4% 6%
Develops recommendations to help optimize the client’s situation 14% 19% 24%
Total 100%

Level of Complexity

Increases as the difficulty of the situation and information to process increases and the number of variables to consider and the need to integrate variables increases

Basic

  • Application of knowledge to various facets of financial planning to simple financial planning situations
  • May require basic calculations
  • Evaluation across single or small number of topics
  • Making simple recommendations

Moderate

  • Application of knowledge in avg financial planning situations with multiple variables
  • Requires processing of a number of elements to identify a solution or formulate a recommendation
  • May require multi-step calculations and the assessment and integration of multiple variables and interrelated factors

High

  • Application of advanced knowledge of complex financial planning situations
  • Involves multiple variables and considerable integration to analyze situations and form recommendations

Category Low Mid High
Basic 4% 9% 14%
Moderate 35% 40% 45%
High 46% 50% 56%
Total 100%