That’s the question The Wall Street Journal posed to a group of experts this month including Eleanor Blayney, [CFP®,] the Consumer Advocate for the CFP Board, the group that awards the [CFP® certification] to qualified financial advisers.

Blayney is a member of a diverse panel for the Journal’s “Answers from the Experts” online feature. She also has been quoted in Money Magazine, SmartMoney, the Ladies’ Home Journal, Forbes and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, among others. She says she hears from reporters about twice a week.

That kind of media exposure is exactly what CFP Board was seeking when CEO Kevin Keller created her consumer advocate position in 2009.

Blayney, a financial planner in Northern Virginia for more than 20 years, met Keller in 2008 during the financial crisis and the idea germinated. “We started talking about this concept of giving the CFP Board a face and a presence that was accessible to consumers,” Blayney said. “Never was it needed more.”

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ [professionals] wanted to get the word out that they operate by a code of ethics and standards of practice, Blayney said.

So, time to take the plunge?

Blayney’s answer: Don’t “dive” and don’t react with fear and greed to the market’s ups and downs, but rather work with a qualified financial planner to set the right plan for you, and invest accordingly.

She added—and the truth may hurt here—“A lot of consumers have been waiting since 2008 or 2009 to ‘get back in,’ when in reality they should have never been out.”

CEO Update
William Ehart
February 13, 2013