CFP® Professionals Linked to Stronger Financial Outcomes in Ongoing National Study

Clients who work with CFP® professionals aren’t just doing well, they’re thriving. CFP Board’s report Trust. Confidence. Impact: 2025 Financial Planning Longitudinal Study shares findings from year two of an at least 10-year research initiative that tracks real consumer outcomes over time. The results show that clients working with CFP® professionals experience greater financial well-being than those who work with other advisors or no advisor.

On February 3, 2026, CFP Board Managing Director of Research Kevin Roth, Ph.D., hosted a webinar alongside the FPLS research team (Stuart Heckman, Ph.D., CFP®; J. Michael Collins, Ph.D.; Emily Koochel, Ph.D., AFC®, CFT; and Sonya Lutter, Ph.D., CFP®, LMFT) to present the findings.

About the Financial Planning Longitudinal Study

Beginning in 2024, CFP Board partnered with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago to conduct research on thousands of participants.

Who Was Included?

All survey participants had the following characteristics:

• Minimum household income of $50,000
• Minimum investable assets of $30,000
• At least a high school graduate
• Currently employed or recently retired
• Family financial decision-makers or shared decision-makers

The second year of the study saw an 83% retention rate from first-year participants. “We’re going to have that core group of people who respond over multiple years, and we can track that in a longitudinal way. That’s really what makes this such a powerful data set,” said Collins during the webinar.

Key Findings

Key Finding #1: Hiring a CFP® Professional Improves Financial Wellness

A clear theme emerged from the available data: Clients advised by CFP® professionals are objectively better off than other advised clients and unadvised clients, and half agree that they are living comfortably. “Hiring a financial professional definitely improves financial wellness,” said Sonya Lutter. “It improves how people are doing with their money, how they are thinking about their money and how they are feeling about their money.”

One hallmark of financial wellness includes having at least three months’ worth of income in an emergency fund to weather layoffs, health events or other financial shocks. According to the study:

• 83% of clients advised by CFP® professionals in 2025 have their emergency fund ready to go, compared to 68% of clients working with other advisors and 53% of unadvised clients.
• 61% of clients advised by CFP® professionals have a will in 2025, compared to 46% of clients working with other advisors and 24% of unadvised clients, showing a pattern of stronger financial preparedness among those working with CFP® professionals.
• 51% of clients working with a CFP® professional strongly agree that they are living comfortably, compared to 40% of clients working with other advisors and 31% of unadvised clients.

Key Finding #2: Clients Working With CFP® Professionals Trust Their Advisor and Recommend Them to Others

Clients aren’t the only ones benefiting from the marks — CFP® certificants are seeing strong client support, with referrals remaining the top reason a potential client will seek financial planning services. This is good news for CFP® professionals, whose clients are almost twice as likely to recommend them to friends and family when compared with those advised by other professionals. “This is ridiculously high for people within our [profession],” Lutter said.

Key Finding #3: Clients Working With CFP® Professionals Say Their Advisors Do More

CFP® professionals deliver value beyond portfolio performance, and the data shows meaningful differences:

• 59% of clients advised by CFP® professionals said their professional lessens their anxiety, compared to 38% of other advised clients;
• 54% of clients advised by CFP® professionals say that their CFP® professional motivates them, compared to 34% of other advised clients;
• 73% of clients advised by CFP® professionals strongly agree that they trust their advisor, compared to 52% of other advised clients.

“There are significant differences between people who are certain they have a CFP® [professional] versus those who don’t,” said Heckman. “These are all statistically significant. We can control for factors like income and assets and age, and we still see persistent differences.”

Key Finding #4: Clients Working With CFP® Professionals Have More Detailed Financial Plans That Cover More Stages of Their Lives

Clients feel that CFP® professionals offer more comprehensive and highly detailed plans when compared to other financial professionals. For areas including retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning and investment planning, clients showed high confidence that their CFP® professionals provided plans to help them reach their financial goals.

The Bottom Line

As the report’s title indicates, there is an ongoing story of the trust, confidence and positive impact that clients gain from working with a CFP® professional on their financial goals. Clients of CFP® professionals report feeling more prepared, less stressed and more confident about their finances than other comparable consumers.

The full webinar recording, including the Q&A session with the panelists, the complete report and additional resources provide more detail on the study and its findings.