Message From the CEO of CFP Board

A client conversation can reveal a lot.

I’ve spent a good part of this year listening to CFP® professionals, and I’m always struck by how much you hear. People tell you what’s worrying them, what they’re putting off and where rising costs are starting to shape their decisions. Sometimes it’s something they haven’t said to anyone else.

Those conversations happen one household at a time, in practices across the country. So how do you know whether what you’re seeing is part of something bigger?

That’s why CFP Board does research.

Maybe you’ve noticed a few clients cutting back on retirement contributions. On its own, that’s an observation. When we ask hundreds of CFP® professionals the same question, we can see whether it’s happening across the profession. That’s when an observation becomes evidence. And we bring that evidence to journalists, employers and policymakers so they can better understand what Americans are experiencing and how CFP® professionals are helping people navigate it. It helps us, too. As the questions people bring to you change, we want to understand what you’re seeing so we can build resources and guidance that are genuinely useful in your work.

Our latest pulse survey on affordability is a good example. Nearly seven in 10 CFP® professionals say their clients have a positive overall financial outlook. About the same share say clients are more worried about affordability than they were a year ago.

Both can be true at once. That’s the kind of nuance CFP® professionals see every day, and research helps us show what’s really happening beneath the headlines.

You’ll find more from the survey later in this newsletter. What we study changes with what Americans are facing. Why we do it doesn’t.

It all starts with the CFP® professionals who take our surveys. When one lands in your inbox and you take the time to respond, thank you. Your observations, taken together, give the profession a stronger voice.

You have a view of Americans’ financial lives that few others have. Our job is to make sure it’s heard.

K. Dane Snowden
CEO, CFP Board