When I was in New York a few weeks ago to attend an InvestmentNews staff meeting, one of my colleagues referred to me as “the Dear Abby of Social Security.” I was flattered.
Like that legendary advice columnist, I have developed a rapport with my readers. Although I am usually the one answering questions, I recently turned to my readers for advice on how to best prepare for my upcoming certified financial planner exam on Nov. 15-16.
The response was overwhelming and gratifying.
Many readers sent notes of encouragement, good wishes and empathy for the arduous preparation process. I savored every one.
Several offered practical advice.
For example, Hal Guy, managing principal of Stone Castle Consulting, who is also a CFP review course instructor, cautioned me to “RTFQ.”
Translation: “Read the ffffffffull question,” Mr. Guy wrote in an e-mail.
While that may seem obvious, it's crucial advice. For example, one of the online test bank questions might ask: How many personal exemptions can a married couple with two young children claim on their federal tax return? My natural inclination is to answer four — one for each member of the taxpayer's household. But upon closer inspection, I realized the answer is two. Only a taxpayer and a spouse can claim a “personal” exemption. The two children each qualify for a “dependency” exemption. However, had the question asked how many total exemptions the taxpayer could claim, the answer would be four. RTFQ!
Wesley Yamamota, senior vice president, investments, with UBS Financial Services, took the time to send me a four-page document of random thoughts on CFP exam preparation.
“It's impossible to over prepare for this exam,” Mr. Yamamota wrote. “There are just no shortcuts. You have to work the stuff you don't know and not depend on the stuff you do know.” However, he added, “This whole process is highly doable — more than 70,000 people have passed.”
Most prep class programs recommend 175 to 250 hours of study. I think I'm tipping the scales at 250+ hours and still have a week to go.
In a recent column , I bemoaned my inexperience with crucial mathematical formulas used to calculate various investment returns. “The only Greek symbols I ever saw in college were on fraternity and sorority houses,” I wrote in that column on Sept. 29. “My last math course was in 1972 when I graduated from high school.”
In resp! onse, I received an encouraging note from James Coleman, who turned out to be my Dalton Review instructor in Washington D.C. a few weeks later. He promised to decode those Greek symbols and make the whole process more understandable — and he did.
Another instructor from a competing review course in Chicago offered to answer any of my questions, and sent me several pages of test-preparation tips. In a long phone conversation, he also helped me wrap my mind around how to use put and call options as a hedging device. Selling covered calls is a favorite pastime of one of my brothers-in-law, so I'll have a whole new topic of conversation for Thanksgiving!
Several readers in their late 50s — like me — sent encouraging notes about passing the exam on their first try. I guess some old dogs can learn new tricks. I hope I'm one of them.
I was also touched by their stories of changing careers at midlife, and even though they passed the grueling CFP exam, one still has to complete a college degree and another one needs to rack up several more years of work experience before they can use the coveted designation. That's dedication!
A few readers suggested bringing earplugs to the exam to avoid outside distractions and to practice using them before the test. Others recommended bringing two calculators in case one fails.
I added earplugs and extra batteries to my Staples shopping list, where I'll go to buy No. 2 pencils. In this digital age, the CFP exam is still a pencil-and-paper endeavor that requires filling in little circles on a Scantron. Luckily, I got some practice in this 20th-century test-taking method last week when I
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