The CFP® Professionals
Sentiment Indices

The CFP® Professionals Sentiment Indices (CPSI) measure the financial and economic outlooks of CFP® professionals and their clients. The quarterly survey provides investors, the media and the public with data to evaluate the strength of the economy through the lens of the trusted advisor-client relationship, leveraging the insights and views of CFP® professionals, who guide and advise millions of Americans at every phase of their financial lives.

Summer 2026 Results

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals report that their clients are more optimistic about their financial outlook this summer than they were three months ago. The improvement in sentiment comes despite increased concerns about affordability and greater market volatility resulting from the conflict in the Middle East. Client confidence rebounded from its past spring dip and was slightly higher than this time last year.

Two in 5 CFP® professionals describe their clients’ financial outlook as neutral, while 8% report a negative outlook among clients. This summer also recorded the lowest share of clients with negative views since Winter 2025. Further, about half of CFP® professionals (51%) indicate that their clients’ sentiment has held steady over the past year, with similar proportions assessing their clients’ financial outlooks as having improved or worsened over the past 12 months.

CFP® professionals themselves are also more optimistic, with 61% reporting a positive financial outlook. Nearly half of CFP® professionals report that their personal financial outlook has been stable over the past year, and one-third have grown more optimistic since Spring 2025. CFP® professionals are undecided about the economy's future. Two in 5 predict that economic conditions will be about the same, while about one-third each anticipate that conditions will improve or worsen from their current position in the coming year.

Finally, over two-thirds of CFP® professionals report that their client bases have grown over the past year, and a similar share expects further growth over the next 12 months.

In your opinion, which of the following best summarizes your clients’ current financial outlook?

(A higher index score indicates clients are more positive.)

Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Read the Full Report With Seven CFP® Professionals Sentiment Indices