Financial Services
CFP®Certified Financial Planner
The Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) exam is administered by the CFP Board, the sole US certifying body for the CFP marks. The exam is offered three times a year (March, July, November) at ~50 locations. Not to be confused with the CFA — CFP focuses on holistic personal financial planning (insurance, tax, retirement, estate, investments) while CFA focuses on institutional investment analysis.
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Exam facts
Everything you need to know about the CFP® exam.
- Passing score
- Pass/Fail (CFP Board does not publish a scaled score; uses modified Angoff methodology; recent pass rates 62–68%)
- Format & length
- 170 multiple-choice questions · two 3-hour sessions in one day · 40-minute scheduled break
- Voucher cost
- $825 early registration / $925 standard / $1,025 late registration
- Prerequisites
- CFP Board-approved coursework completed before sitting; bachelor's degree from an accredited college (within 5 years of passing exam); 6,000 hours of qualifying professional experience OR 4,000 hours via apprenticeship pathway for final certification; background check + ethics declaration
- Validity
- 2-year reporting cycle with 30 CE hours required (including 2 hours of CFP Board Ethics CE)
What’s tested
Key topics on the CFP® exam.
The Cert Climb question bank is mapped to every domain on the official CFP® exam blueprint, so what you study is what the test asks.
- Professional Conduct and Regulation
- General Principles of Financial Planning
- Risk Management and Insurance Planning
- Investment Planning
- Tax Planning
- Retirement Savings and Income Planning
- Estate Planning
- Psychology of Financial Planning
Who it’s for
Built for the people taking this exam.
Financial advisors, wealth managers, RIAs, and bank-channel planners who want the dominant credential for holistic, fee-based financial planning with retail clients. Often paired with Series 65 or 66 for the investment-advisor regulatory side.
Why it matters in 2026
The career signal.
CFP is the recognized consumer-facing financial planning credential in the US — the CFP Board's public marketing has made it the mark that retail clients actually search for. The 6,000-hour experience requirement makes it a meaningful career milestone, not just an exam, which is why it carries weight in compensation, RIA hiring filters, and book-portability when changing firms.
What you get
Everything you need to actually pass.
Full question bank
600 questions covering every objective on the official CFP® exam blueprint, with detailed explanations on every option — right and wrong.
Quiz modes
Timed exam simulation, missed-only review, topic drills, and a daily question of the day. Practice the way you study best.
Flashcards
Spaced-repetition flashcards generated from each topic. Pull them up on a phone in the gap between meetings.
Progress tracking
See per-topic accuracy and answered counts. Find weak areas before they cost you on test day.
Per-category premium
Unlocking CFP® unlocks every other Financial Services exam in the Cert Climb catalog — pay once, stack credentials.
No-fluff explanations
Every wrong answer comes with a 2-3 sentence explanation of why it’s wrong, not just “the correct answer is X.” Pattern recognition is the whole game.
Read while you study
CFP® articles & study guides
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about CFP®
How many questions does the CFP® bank have?
600 questions, organized into 8 subject areas mapped to the official exam objectives.
Is the free trial really free?
Yes. 30 questions, no credit card, no email-trap, no “activate by Friday or pay” spam. You either upgrade because the bank’s good, or you don’t.
What does premium cost?
Premium is sold per category and unlocks every Financial Services exam in the Cert Climb catalog. Plans are 1-month, 3-month, or 12-month — see the upgrade modal for current pricing.
How current is the CFP® content?
We track exam version updates and refresh the bank within weeks of new objectives. Where the version of an exam matters (e.g. CompTIA SY0-701 vs. SY0-601), question explanations call it out.
Can I cancel my subscription anytime?
Yes. Cancellation is one click from your profile. Your access continues through the end of the period you’ve already paid for.
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