A 2011 National Foundation for Credit Counseling survey of financial literacy found that of 1,010 adults surveyed, 73 percent were concerned they would not be able to manage their finances while 76 percent said they would likely benefit by receiving financial advice.

Oakland University, like many U.S. colleges offers personal financial planning courses, training professionals to meet investment, retirement and tax planning needs.

For 17 years, OU has provided a certification program aimed to prepare potential advisers for the Certified Financial Planner exam, a mark of expertise in the financial services industry.  Certification shows employers and consumers that planners have met the CFP Board’s standards of ethics, education, experience and has taken an oath of fiduciary responsibility to their clients.

“(OU’s) program is run as a certification in personal financial planning,” Anandi P. Sahu, an economics professor and OU’s Personal Financial Planner Program Director said.

Programs like the one at OU must meet CFP Board guidelines for content and meet for at least 45 hours per class.

The program is divided into six courses — risk management, survey and investment, income tax, retirement and employee benefits, estate planning and case studies and financial plan development.

Each represents a pillar of investment, Sahu said, with the final course serving to test students’ ability to draft a financial plan through the skills they’ve accumulated. All portions of the program are taught by experienced CFP professionals.

 

“Not like Las Vegas…”

Richard Rysiewski has been an OU adjunct professor for 17 years. He teaches the Survey and Investments course, in which students learn investment strategy, indices of inflation and performance and how to build a successful portfolio.

The CFP exam doesn’t require university education, but the tutelage of a professional provides a realistic picture of what to expect in the financial planning industry, Rysiewski said.

“It’s just like being a doctor,” he said. “You can read a textbook, but until you perform surgery, the textbook doesn’t do you much.”

Rysiewski said that his 30 years of investment experience, plus his successes and mistakes, help to put the risk-reward horizon is in perspective.

Investment success “is not like Las Vegas” he said, where the odds are stacked against you.

“In investing, be it through stocks or bonds, you’re going to have winners and you’ll have losers, but you can follow principles to keep you out of harms way.”

When students finish OU’s program, they receive a certificate of completion from the university, which sends a notice to the CFP Board that students have met requirements to take board’s exam.

 

Benefits of the program

The program also provides mentoring and internship assistance from the Financial Planners Association of Michigan, the state’s chapter of the professional organization.

“Once you receive your CFP designation the opportunities are just tremendous,” Rysiewski said. “Other professionals recognize the effort you’ve put in, families are more comfortable in the hands of a certified professional.

The fiduciary oath, which places a client’s interests first, Rysiewski said, reassures families.

“They don’t feel like they’re being sold to,” he said.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which monitors employment across a spectrum of career fields, found a steady increase in employment levels and steady wages for financial advisers.

In 2008, a BLS report showed that 46,690 employed advisers earned average annual salaries of $92,970 in that year.  Statistics for 2010 showed that 155,360 financial advisers were paid an average salary of $91,220. Wages for the upper 25 percentile are estimated between $111,990 and $166,400 for each year.

“For what you put into it, six classes at about $700 each, the return is high,” Sahu said.

From buying a car and house, financing your children’s college and retirement Rysiewski said, “everyone is touched by financial planning.”

“For what you put into it, six classes at about $700 each, the return is high,” Sahu said. From buying a car and house, financing your children’s college and retirement Rysiewski said, “everyone is touched by financial planning.”

The financial planning industry came into being post-World War II, when many people sought assistance during in managing their finances.  December 1969, professionals in the industry met and formed the International Association of Financial Planners, which produced the CFP Board and its standard of performance and ethics.

With the booming 1980s stock market came an increased need for professional guidance.  In 1985, the IAFP began its CFP accreditation program.

Those with a CFP certificate are authorized by the organization’s board to use its seal and classification, showing that the bearer has completed the CFP preparation program, possess a bachelor’s degree in at least one discipline and has had two years financial planning experienceOU’s personal financial planner program is among the first universities in the world to be accredited by the CFP Board.

Students interested in a career in financial planning have until Jan. 6 to apply for OU’s program.  Additional information is available online or by phone at 248-370-3128

 

Contact senior reporter Raymond Andrea via email at [email protected].  Follow him on Twitter @RAndre_87.