Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. - CFP Board's Financial Planning Clinic

CFP Board's Financial Planning Clinic

On Saturday, September 13, 2008, hundreds of people from the greater Washington, DC area attended CFP Board's Financial Planning Clinic at the Grand Hyatt Washington to meet one-on-one with more than a hundred volunteer CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals to discuss their personal finance questions, concerns and interests free of charge, with no strings attached.

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The CFP® professionals at the event provided information and advice on a wide range of topics, including:

Retirement Planning

Investment Planning

Insurance Planning

General Financial Planning

Estate Planning

Employee Benefits Planning

Income Tax Planning

The Financial Planning Clinic also offered Educational Workshops on diverse and popular financial topics presented by leading experts in personal finance.

The event raised public awareness of financial planning and the benefits of working with a financial planner who holds CFP® certification, the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning.

How the Financial Planning Clinic Works

A Financial Planning Clinic is a special event that provides the public an opportunity to address specific financial questions to professional financial planners who are volunteering their time and expertise to provide unbiased financial planning information tailored to each visitor's unique situation. All financial planners at the Clinic hold the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification (CFP® certification) and are highly qualified to discuss your financial issues to help you find the answers you need.

At a Clinic, each volunteer is seated at a table designated for a specific financial planning topic. You can decide what topic you’re interested in and head over to the appropriate table. The volunteer CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals will meet with only one individual, couple or family at a time but there is no limit to the number of volunteers you can meet with.

Join CFP Board at the next Financial Planning Clinic in Miami, Florida on Saturday, November 15, 2008. Learn more.

The Financial Planning Clinics further CFP Board's mission of serving the public by upholding the CFP® certification as the recognized standard of excellence in personal financial planning. Financial Planning Clinics held in Los Angeles and Boston were resounding successes for thousands of consumers who attended, as well as for the hundreds of CFP® professionals who gave back to their communities by sharing their talents.

The events were covered by more than 90 media outlets, including ABC, CBS, NBC's Telemundo, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe, as well as numerous other TV and radio stations, newspapers and online publications. More than 95% of past attendees who were surveyed indicated that they would recommend the Clinic to someone else, while the same percentage of past volunteers said that they would participate again.

CFP® Professionals

CFP Board thanks the following CFP® professionals who helped make the Financial Planning Clinic a success:

D. Crystal Alford-Cooper, CFP®, Columbia, MD

Shon P. Anderson, CFP®, Dayton, OH

Melinda J. Applegate, CFP®, Vienna, VA

Robert S. Armstrong, CFP®, McLean, VA

Vincent Barbera, CFP®, Eagleville, PA

Allen Beckner, CFP®, Alexandria, VA

Mitchell Berlin, CFP®, Gaithersburg, MD

Brett Shane Bernstein, CFP®, Rockville, MD

John Berzellini, CFP®, Phoenix, MD

Gretchen S. Bolton, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Aaron Brachman, CFP®, Washington, DC

Alvin A. Bratton, CFP®, Largo, MD

Nancy Bryant, CFP®, Lutherville, MD

Michael Burns, CFP®, Vienna, VA

Eugene E. Burrell, CFP®, Washington, DC

Kelly Campbell, CFP®, Fairfax, VA

Hanson Cheng, CFP®, Falls Church, VA

Rita Cheng, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Andrew Clark, CFP®, McLean, VA

Elliott Collins, CFP®, Parsippany, NJ

Ann Crehan, CFP®, Washington, DC

Ian W. Davis, CFP®, Columbia, MD

LeCount Davis, Sr., CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Laurette Dearden, CFP®, Laurel, MD

Scott Deffinbaugh, CFP®, Olney, MD

Dawn Doebler, CFP®, Darnestown, MD

Daniel Eastep, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Sam Eisen, CFP®, Fairfax, VA

Stephen Ellisor, CFP®, McLean, VA

Mia I. Enquist, CFP®, Washington, DC

Russell Eriksen, CFP®, Chapel Hill, NC

Gail A. Fialkow, CFP®, Chantilly, VA

Edward R. Frome, CFP®, Timonium, MD

John E. Girouard, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Dennis Gogarty, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Felicia Gopaul, CFP®, Bloomfield, NJ

Karen F. Greenberg, CFP®, Delray Beach, FL

Pedro Guerrero, CFP®, Fairfax, VA

John Gunner, CFP®, Clarksville, MD

Richard Gurz, CFP®, Vienna, VA

Joshua Halpern, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Edwin Handley, CFP®, McLean, VA

Paula A. Heichel, CFP®, Washington, DC

L. Mike Heuple, CFP®, Washington, DC

Thomas Huszcza, CFP®, Lake Ridge, VA

Dan Ialeggio, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Matthew Illian, CFP®, Richmond, VA

Freeman Jelks, CFP®, Alexandria, VA

Mark E. Johannessen, CFP®, McLean, VA

Anne Johns, CFP®, Alexandria, VA

Bryan Johnson, CFP®, Germantown, MD

Ivory Johnson, CFP®, Annapolis, MD

Victor Jones, CFP®, Torrance, CA

Jim Joseph, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Jocelyn Kaplan, CFP®, Falls Church, VA

Clark Kendall, CFP®, Sandy Spring, MD

Ted Kirkpatrick, CFP®, Manassas, VA

Michael Klitsch, CFP®, Kensington, MD

Anthony Kochanek, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Kathryn Kurre, CFP®, Washington, DC

Kurt Langenwalter, CFP®, Alexandria, VA

Lloyd T. Layton, CFP®, Washington, DC

Fred Leamnson, CFP®, Washington, DC

Rovy Liu, CFP®, Potomac Falls, VA

Donald P. Lord, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

James Ludwick, CFP®, Washington, DC

David Magayna, CFP®, Odenton, MD

James Magno, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Alex Mann, CFP®, Washington, DC

David Markley, CFP®, Fairfax, VA

David Matthews, CFP®, Towson, MD

Scott A. McCaskill, CFP®, Frederick, MD

John McMonigle, CFP®, Herndon, VA

John C. McNerney, CFP®, McLean, VA

Jennifer Meyer, CFP®, North Potomac, MD

Jerry D. Murphy, CFP®, Mitchellville, MD

Eric A. Norberg, CFP®, Millersville, MD

Attahjundwe Obiajulu, CFP®, Syosset, NY

Brian Oettinger, CFP®, Olney, MD

Karen Ossman, CFP®, Boyertown, PA

Jennifer Owen, CFP®, McLean, VA

Matthew Palmer, CFP®, Washington, DC

Terry Peters, CFP®, Fort Mill, SC

Dave Petersen, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Stephen Philleo, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Lily Poy, CFP®, Reston, VA

Kenneth Rapp, CFP®, Mechanicsburg, PA

Robert Redpath, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Christopher Rhim, CFP®, Norwich, VT

Maarten Rietveld, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Michael Riley, CFP®, Rockville, MD

William Robbins, CFP®, Bel Air, MD

Lysa Rothenberg, CFP®, Springfield, VA

Ken Rubio, CFP®, Vienna, VA

Frank Ruffing, CFP®, Arlington, VA

Debra Sawyer, CFP®, Midlothian, VA

Marc Schliefer, CFP®, Bethesda, MD

Laura H. Selby, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Miriam Settles, CFP®, Alexandria, VA

Amit Shashidharan, CFP®, Washington, DC

David Surgent, CFP®, Woodbridge, VA

Steven Taylor, CFP®, Washington, DC

John Vyge, CFP®, Dulles, VA

Jeffrey Weaver, CFP®, Silver Spring, MD

Dave Williams, CFP®, Potomac, MD

Evan Winik, CFP®, Rockville, MD

Donna Wood, CFP®, Haymarket, VA

Mark T. Youngs, CFP®, Annapolis, MD

Free Educational Workshops

At the Financial Planning Clinic in Washington, DC, attendees had the opportunity to select from a series of 50-minute Educational Workshops and benefit from expert information on financial topics of interest.

Workshop Schedule:

12:00 p.m. Sessions:

Planning for Your Financial Goals
This presentation by Dave Strege, CFP® explains how people’s lives have been turned around through the financial planning process and the guidance of a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, focusing on the first step of the financial planning process - Establishing Goals. Your personal goals come from what you value in life. From understanding your values, you can establish goals that are in line with who you are and start down the path of getting “More of What You Value.”

> Download presentation

Financial Planning for Special Needs
This presentation by Karen Greenberg, CFP® provides an overview of the people, documents and resources required to provide a safe and secure future for a person with special needs. Topics include Special Needs Trusts, Guardians and Trustees, the 'Letter of Intent," and tax planning for special needs families.

> Download handout

Estate Planning Basics and How to Implement Them
Estate Planning is about looking ahead to the inevitable transitions in life: Death and Incapacity. The workshop presented by attorney Phillip J. Kenny, JD, CFP® identifes some of the problems that might occur during those transitions, and some basic steps on how to make things go as smoothly as possible for your family and loved-ones.

1:00 p.m. Sessions:

Managing Debt: From Credit Cards to Foreclosures
This session by Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP® addresses issues of mortgage and credit card debt, how to figure out where you are and what you can do to improve your position and lower your stress.

      > Download presentation
      > Download Creating Financial Statements handout
      > Consider Goals in Planning for Major Purchase
      > Bankrate.com Credit Card Payment Calculator

Investment Planning for Retirement Assets
This presentation by Phil Fish, CFP® reviews seven steps to help you plan for your retirement and discuss four common investing mistakes. Key areas of discussion include establishing a positive cash flow to allow you to save for retirement, using the appropriate asset classes for the right time horizon, strategies on selecting and monitoring the best investment options and why rebalancing is the simplest yet most overlooked investment strategy. Attendees received a complimentary copy of the 28 Days to Financial Health workbook.

College Funding and Planning
This presentation by Felicia Gopaul, CFP® is for parents and students concerned about college tuition costs continuing to soar more quickly than cost of living and wage increases in this country…leaving a huge financial gap between what families are expected to pay and what they feel they can afford to pay for college. Some of the topics covered are how the college funding process works, identifying colleges that are good financial partners, and the importance of knowing your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) right now, not later.

2:00 p.m. Sessions:

What to Know When Choosing a Financial Planner
This may be one of the most important decisions you make. Rather than simply choosing a name you like, there are important questions to ask the financial planner about their background; how the process works; their conflicts of interest; and other topics you should know and understand – before moving past that initial interview. This presentation by Nancy Johnson Jones, CFP® provides you with ten questions to ask to help you find a planner you respect and trust. Remember this decision is the beginning of building a better future for you and your family, so it’s not one to take lightly!

      > Download presentation

Planning for Your Financial Goals
This presentation by Stuart Ritter, CFP® provides a structured approach that you can apply to achieving any financial goal, as well as techniques to handle competing priorities. It covers key aspects of how much to save, what account to use, and developing an investment strategy – through the use of exercises, quizzes, and pyrotechnics (yes, we will set something on fire) – to help you feel confident about defining, prioritizing, and achieving your financial goals.

      > Download presentation
      > Download Financial Goals handout
      > Download Prioritization Exercise handout
      > Download Planning for Retirement handout

Living Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck
This presentation by Scott McCaskill, CFP® covers introductory concepts of financial planning along with strategies and ideas for “Living Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck.” Areas covered include determining your current financial situation, getting started with financial planning, simple and easy saving techniques and a variety of other topics for those who are just embarking on the road to financial success.

      > Download presentation

3:00 p.m. Sessions:

Young Professionals: Launching Your Financial Plan
Young professionals often confront many financial challenges while at the same time having a number of significant events occur in their life. Whether it is beginning a career, buying a home, or starting a family, each occasion requires appropriate planning. This workshop by Aaron Brachman, CFP® shows you how to develop and maintain a sound financial plan while mitigating against the risks that young professionals face.

      > Download presentation

Financial Planning for Women
Are you confused about where to start? Are you concerned about your financial future? This presentation by Shak Hill, CFP® focuses on three financial issues facing all women and why you need to be aware of them. Learn how to avoid the common financial mistakes women make and how you can get to the path to financial freedom.

      > Download handout

Managing Debt: From Credit Cards to Foreclosures
This presentation by Debra Sawyer, CFP® addresses how to manage your debts including credit cards and mortgages by following an 8 step process. The presentation starts with step one on how to create a cash flow statement and then moves on to developing a spending plan that will not only help to manage debt, but also work towards improving credit ratings, establishing an emergency fund and saving for retirement. To help illustrate all 8 steps, the course integrates a hypothetical family situation throughout the entire presentation.

      > Download presentation

Workshop Speakers

			Aaron I. Brachman, CFP® is a founding member of the Capitol Group of Ferris, Baker Watts, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBC Wealth Management. Aaron has been with the same firm for all 9 years of his professional career and is responsible for the group’s comprehensive financial planning practice. He allocates a portion of his practice specifically to educating young professionals about their finances, and teaches a weekly course on the basics of finance to students from several local universities. Aaron holds an undergraduate degree in finance from The George Washington University, is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and holds FINRA Series 31, 7 and 66 registrations as well as life and health insurance licenses.

			Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®, President of Capelli Financial Services, Inc. in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan specializes in personal financial planning. She holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mathematics. A longtime leader in the financial planning profession, she currently serves as chair-elect of the Board of Directors of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. Worth, Money, Bloomberg and Financial Advisor have recognized Mrs. Dimitroff as one of the nation's top financial advisors.

			Philip Fish, CFP® has been living and breathing the financial industry for over eighteen years. With experience in banking, debt counseling, investments, estate planning, taxes and insurance he wrote and published the 28 Days to Financial Health™ workbook in 2005, hoping his knowledge would make a difference in preparing individuals for retirement. Phil graduated with honors from St. Mary’s College of Southern Maryland with a B.A. in Economics and currently works as a Senior Financial Advisor for Sandy Spring Investment Services based in Olney, Maryland.

			Felicia Gopaul, CFP®, CCPS is a parent and committed advocate to families wanting to afford the colleges that admit their children. Through her experience, Felicia has found the difference between getting into college and graduating from college is often having the money necessary to complete a student’s education. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner and a Certified College Planning Specialist. During her 15 years in financial services, she has been quoted in newspapers and magazines, as well as been interviewed on both television and radio. Felicia is the creator of the CollegeExpertsTalk product and system which consists of a team of college planning and funding experts sharing their expertise on the many aspects of navigating the college experience.

			Karen Greenberg, CFP® is the mother of a child with Autism, and has been a public speaker on special needs planning since 1993. She is Director of Prosperity Life Planning, a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to teaching families of disabled children and adults ways to provide for a financially comfortable quality of life, while preserving eligibility for governmental entitlements, such as Medicaid and SSI. She has an MBA in taxation and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. Karen also works as an independent accountant for a number of small businesses and does tax preparation for individuals and businesses alike.

			Shak Hill, CFP® CLU®, ChFC® has a Masters Degree in Finance and has been in the financial planning field for over eleven years. Before financial planning, Hill graduated from the Air Force Academy and was a pilot in the Air Force. His last military assignment was as a flight commander in the presidential wing at Andrews AF Base, MD. Hill’s practice has gravitated to the woman’s market, particularly the widowed woman. He is a frequent lecturer and has authored his first book, A Woman’s Guide To Financial Planning: The Seven Essential Financial Ingredients, which is due out in November 2008.

			Nancy Johnson Jones, CFP® is the Chief Compliance Officer for HighTower Advisors in Chicago. Before joining HighTower, Nancy served as CCO for a large CPA/wealth management firm and as President and Founder of her own firm providing compliance coaching services to investment advisers, financial planners and independent broker/dealers around the country. Nancy is currently serving on CFP Board's Board of Directors. Prior to that, she served on the Financial Planning Association’s National Board of Directors. She is recognized nationally for her compliance expertise.

			Phillip J. Kenny, JD, CFP® has served over ten thousand clients for The Collins Firm and is one of the most experienced estate planners in the metropolitan area. Mr. Kenny earned a B.S. in Biology from Marquette University, a M.A. in Economics from Fordham University, and his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. Mr. Kenny is a member of the Trusts and Estates Sections of the Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia Bars, and of the American Bar Association Section on Real Property, Probate and Trust Law. He has been with The Collins Firm since 1994, and is a frequent guest host of Mr. Collins’ radio program on WMAL, “Legally Speaking.” Mr. Kenny is admitted to the Bars of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Mr. Kenny is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional focusing exclusively on the estate-planning and tax aspects of the financial planning process.

			Scott A. McCaskill, CFP®, RFC® is financial planner and Director of Investments at Voso Financial Advisers. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a Registered Financial Consultant (RFC®) and his primary focus is on Assets Under Management (AUM) and Retirement Income programs. Named to Worth Magazine’s Top 250 Financial Advisors, Bloomberg’s Top 100 Wealth Managers, Reuter’s Top Advisers for 2008 and listed as a Mid-Atlantic Top 10 Most Dependable Wealth Managers in Forbes Magazine. Scott is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC).

			Stuart Ritter, CFP® is an assistant vice president of T. Rowe Price Investment Services and a financial planner in T. Rowe Price’s Financial Planning Services group – designing, building, and implementing guidance and advice services to assist customers in achieving their financial goals. He is a frequent contributor to T. Rowe Price publications; has appeared on CNBC; and has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Money magazine, and other national news organizations. Stuart received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and his master of arts degree in political science from The American University. He is a Series 6, 66, and 7 registered representative and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. In addition, he is currently a Lecturer in Personal Finance at Johns Hopkins University’s Entrepreneurship and Management Program.

			Debra Sawyer, CPA, CFP® works for Keir Educational Resources as the lead editor and instructor for books and courses related to the CFP® Certification Examination. In addition to teaching courses across the United States, Debra works with students on a daily basis to help them understand the financial planning curriculum. Over the past 9 years, Debra has helped thousands of students to pass the CFP® Certification Examination. Prior to joining Keir, Debra spent 10 years serving high net worth clients with one of Big 4 public accounting firms. Debra also served as an annual online tax chat leader for the USA Today for over 5 years. She has also been quoted numerous times by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

			David Strege, CFA®, CFP® has more than 25 years’ experience as a CFP® practitioner and is a senior wealth coach at Syverson Strege & Company in West Des Moines, Iowa and 2008 Chair of CFP Board’s Board of Directors. Worth and Money magazines have named Strege one of the nation’s top financial planners, and he has been quoted in financial publications and appeared on television and radio. Strege frequently writes about financial planning topics and is a contributing author on pre-retirement planning to CCH’s online Financial Planning Resource Book. He has taught personal financial planning courses in Drake University’s Adult Education program and coached teachers on teaching financial planning to high school students. Strege’s B.S.B.A. degree in finance with a concentration in personal financial planning is from Drake University. He earned his CFP® certification in 1982.

Important Information Concerning CFP Board's Free Financial Planning Clinic

The independent professionals at this Financial Planning Clinic have volunteered to provide free general financial planning information. By accepting this information without paying any costs or fees, you expressly agree that you will hold all individuals and parties associated with this Clinic harmless regarding any action you may ultimately decide to take in connection with information, conversations, advice or recommendations you may receive at the Clinic.

Any facts, recommendations or advice you may receive at the Clinic are for informational purposes only, and reliance on it is solely at your own risk. No client, representative or agent relationship may be formed at the Clinic.

CFP Board does not recommend or endorse individual professionals or professional services. CFP Board's Mission focuses on benefiting the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning.