CFP Board Supports Independent Contractors

CFP Board submitted a comment letter today to the U.S. Department of Labor about its proposed rule on how workers are classified as employees versus independent contractors under federal labor laws. This issue matters to many CFP® professionals because a significant number of financial planners operate as independent contractors while running their own businesses. In the comment letter, CFP Board expressed support for the Labor Department’s goal of creating clear rules, and emphasized these key points:

• Independent CFP® professionals are often small business owners who build their own client relationships, make their own business decisions, and take on financial risk.
• Many firms impose policies and oversight for regulatory and compliance reasons — which is important for investor protection — but that type of oversight shouldn’t automatically mean a financial professional is an employee.
• Flexibility in business models supports entrepreneurship, client choice, and the way financial planning works in practice.

Read the comment letter.