Financial Planning

A personal study and job map from the current career break (October 2024–present, Lee’s Summit, Missouri), after Facility Archive Coordinator at Boulder Valley School District and design roles at 505Design, now Cooper Carry. No securities licenses or CFP® mark are claimed on this site yet. Target employer: Creative Planning (RIA, Kansas City metro / Overland Park). This page is not an offer of financial-planning services.

Path to Creative Planning · ordered map

Do these in order from Lee’s Summit. Study is mostly online at home; FINRA/NASAA exams are usually in person at a Prometric center in the Kansas City metro. The job target is Creative Planning’s HQ area in Overland Park, Kansas—short drive from Lee’s Summit. Confirm dates and rules on the linked sites before you book anything.

1. Pass the SIE

   Online study In person exam Home · Lee’s Summit → Prometric · KC metro

   Securities Industry Essentials is the first FINRA exam you can take without a firm sponsor. Study from home; sit the exam at a Prometric center near Kansas City. It is not enough alone for advisory work, but it shows foundational knowledge on applications.

   Go: FINRA · SIE · Prometric

2. Start CFP® Registered Program coursework

   Online Home · Lee’s Summit

   You do not hold the CFP® mark yet. The M.Arch from Kansas State can satisfy the bachelor’s-or-higher degree piece once a transcript is on file; you still need a CFP Board Registered Program (courses below), the CFP® exam, experience, and ethics. Starting coursework now strengthens a Creative Planning application—many of their planner/advisor roles prefer CFP®.

   Go: CFP Board · Get certified · Find a program

3. Study and sit Series 65

   Online study In person exam Home → Prometric · KC metro

   Series 65 is the usual Investment Adviser Representative exam for an RIA path (not Series 7). Creative Planning postings often list Series 65 or 66 as required for client-facing wealth roles. You can study before hire; some firms also sponsor after you start. Book the exam through Prometric.

   Go: NASAA · Series 65 · Prometric

4. Apply to Creative Planning

   Online apply In person / hybrid Careers page · office Overland Park, KS (from Lee’s Summit)

   Primary target: Creative Planning, a large RIA headquartered at 5454 W 110th St, Overland Park. Watch associate planner, financial wellness, wealth, and related openings on their careers page; send resumes to the address they list (currently careers@creativeplanning.com). Prefer fiduciary / planning tracks over product-sales seats. Screenings start online; work is typically at the OP office or hybrid.

   Go: Creative Planning · Careers · IAPD · firm profile

5. Register as an IAR through Creative Planning

   Online IARD / firm compliance

   Once hired (or sponsored), the firm files Investment Adviser Representative registration. You do not freelance this step; compliance walks Form U4 / IARD. Keep fingerprints and disclosures ready—usually arranged through their process.

   Go: firm compliance · IAPD · FINRA

6. Grow into a planner / advisor seat at Creative Planning

   In person / hybrid Creative Planning · Overland Park (and KC metro)

   Joining Creative Planning is the RIA seat for this plan—practice as an IAR on their platform rather than forming your own firm first. Finish CFP® requirements on the job if needed. Own RIA / partnership is an optional later branch, not the near-term goal.

   Go: Creative Planning · CFP® process

Shortcut reminder: SIE → start CFP® coursework → Series 65 → apply to Creative Planning (Overland Park) → IAR filing with the firm → grow on that RIA. Skip Series 7 unless a role specifically requires a broker-dealer seat.

Brett Danko · when to pass the CFP® exam

One CFP Board Registered Program option for the coursework step above. Click a cycle to open Danko Education’s complementary pre-registration form—that form must be done before you can pay for classes. Confirm dates and pricing on their site; schedules change.

Danko Education has partnered with many leading financial firms for discounted pricing on CFP® education and exam prep. See if your firm is a partner.

Source and full program details: Brett Danko · Fast Track CFP® Certification Program · brettdanko.com. This site does not sell their courses.

Websites for exams, CFP® study, and Creative Planning

Official places for exams, coursework, the target firm, and adviser registration. Confirm anything time-sensitive on these sites; rules change.

• Creative Planning · Careers Job openings; HQ area Overland Park, Kansas.
• Creative Planning Firm site — large Kansas City–area RIA.
• FINRA · Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Foundational exam content, scheduling, and study outline.
• Prometric Schedule SIE and Series 65 at a testing center.
• NASAA · Series 65 Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam — usual route for RIA IARs.
• Brett Danko Education CFP® Registered Program cycles and exam prep (see section above).
• Danko · Fast Track program Pre-registration by exam cycle (March / July / November).
• CFP Board Home for certification, ethics, and public resources.
• Get certified Overview of becoming a CFP® professional (future goal).
• Certification process Education, exam, experience, and ethics steps in order.
• Education requirement Degree plus a CFP Board Registered Program.
• Find an education program Registered coursework providers (schools title classes differently).
• CFP® exam Exam schedule, topics, and registration.
• Code of Ethics & Standards of Conduct Ethics course and conduct rules for CFP® professionals.
• FINRA Broker-dealer registration and qualification exams.
• Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) Look up Creative Planning and other RIAs before applying.
• SEC · Register as an investment adviser Form ADV overview — only if forming your own RIA later.

CFP Board education domains

The Master of Architecture from Kansas State University already meets CFP Board’s degree requirement: a bachelor’s degree or higher, in any field, from an accredited college or university. An architecture degree does not replace the financial-planning courses, and it is not a credential that qualifies for CFP Board’s accelerated path. A CFP Board Registered Program covers the eight principal knowledge domains below, all 70 topics, and the capstone course. Schools title the classes differently.

Courses

These are the courses in CFP Board’s coursework requirement. The percentages are CFP Board’s approximate share of the CFP® exam for each domain, from the March 2021 Principal Knowledge Topics list (effective 2022).

1. Professional Conduct and Regulation (8%)
2. General Principles of Financial Planning (15%)
3. Risk Management and Insurance Planning (11%)
4. Investment Planning (17%)
5. Tax Planning (14%)
6. Retirement Savings and Income Planning (18%)
7. Estate Planning (10%)
8. Psychology of Financial Planning (7%)
9. Financial Plan Development (capstone). Develop and present a comprehensive financial plan. CFP Board requires this course. It is not one of the eight exam-weight domains.

Reading topics

The reading list for that coursework is CFP Board’s 70 principal knowledge topics. A school assigns its own textbooks. This list is the topic outline, published March 2021.

A. Professional Conduct and Regulation (8%)

• A.1 CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct
• A.2 CFP Board’s Procedural Rules
• A.3 Function, purpose, and general structure of financial institutions
• A.4 Financial services regulations and requirements
• A.5 Consumer protection laws
• A.6 Fiduciary standard and application

B. General Principles of Financial Planning (15%)

• B.7 Financial planning process
• B.8 Financial statements
• B.9 Cash flow management
• B.10 Financing strategies and debt management
• B.11 Economic concepts
• B.12 Time value of money concepts and calculations
• B.13 Education needs analysis
• B.14 Education savings vehicles
• B.15 Education funding
• B.16 Gift/income tax strategies

C. Risk Management and Insurance Planning (11%)

• C.17 Principles of risk and insurance
• C.18 Analysis and evaluation of risk exposures
• C.19 Health insurance and health care cost management (individual and group)
• C.20 Disability income insurance (individual and group)
• C.21 Long-term care insurance and long-term care planning (individual and group)
• C.22 Qualified and non-qualified annuities
• C.23 Life insurance (individual and group)
• C.24 Business owner insurance solutions
• C.25 Insurance needs analysis
• C.26 Insurance policy and company selection

D. Investment Planning (17%)

• D.27 Characteristics, uses and taxation of investment vehicles
• D.28 Types of investment risk
• D.29 Market cycles
• D.30 Quantitative investment concepts and measures of investment returns
• D.31 Asset allocation and portfolio diversification
• D.32 Bond and stock valuation concepts
• D.33 Portfolio development and analysis
• D.34 Investment strategies
• D.35 Alternative investments and liquidity risk

E. Tax Planning (14%)

• E.36 Fundamental and current tax law
• E.37 Income tax fundamentals and calculations
• E.38 Characteristics and income taxation of business entities
• E.39 Income taxation of trusts and estates
• E.40 Tax reduction/management techniques
• E.41 Tax consequences of property transactions
• E.42 Tax implications of special circumstances
• E.43 Charitable/philanthropic contributions and deductions

F. Retirement Savings and Income Planning (18%)

• F.44 Retirement needs analysis
• F.45 Social Security and Medicare planning
• F.46 Eldercare and special needs planning
• F.47 Types of retirement plans
• F.48 Qualified plan rules and options
• F.49 Non-qualified plan rules and options
• F.50 Key factors affecting plan selection for businesses
• F.51 Distribution rules and taxation
• F.52 Retirement income and distribution strategies
• F.53 Business succession planning

G. Estate Planning (10%)

• G.54 Property titling and beneficiary designations
• G.55 Strategies to transfer property
• G.56 Estate and incapacity planning documents
• G.57 Gift, estate, and GST tax compliance and calculation
• G.58 Sources for estate liquidity
• G.59 Types, features, and taxation of trusts
• G.60 Marital deduction
• G.61 Intra-family and other business transfer techniques
• G.62 Postmortem estate planning techniques
• G.63 Planning for divorce, unmarried couples and other special circumstances
• G.64 Planning for special needs and circumstances

H. Psychology of Financial Planning (7%)

• H.65 Client and planner attitudes, values, biases
• H.66 Behavioral finance
• H.67 Sources of money conflict
• H.68 Principles of counseling
• H.69 General principles of effective communication
• H.70 Crisis events with severe consequences

The architecture degree meets the bachelor’s-or-higher part of the education requirement once an official Kansas State University transcript is on file with CFP Board. The Registered Program coursework, CFP® exam, experience, and ethics steps are separate from design and facilities work; those jobs do not replace the Registered Program.

Other career paths from this background

• Educational facilities coordination. Facility Archive Coordinator, Boulder Valley School District, April 2021–October 2024: CAD and BIM with internal and external architects and engineers, in support of district operations.
• Concept design and placemaking at a design firm. Designer I (June 2016–May 2018) and Designer II, Associate (May 2018–July 2020) at 505Design, now Cooper Carry. Concept design, project visioning, retail, mixed-use, transit-oriented development, industrial lots, PUDs, specialty fabrication, and client and municipal presentations. That work was performed under licensed architects. Justin is not a licensed architect and does not offer architectural services.
• BIM and CAD for an owner or a design team. Computer-aided design and BIM are part of both the school-district role and the 505Design roles.
• Architecture teaching or tutoring. Private tutor for a structural systems course, and ambassador and mentor in Kansas State’s College of Architecture, Planning & Design. Study abroad in architecture and urban planning at Czech Technical University in Prague, 2012.
• Client-facing presentation. Client and municipal presentations in the design roles, and a part-time sales advisor role at Columbia Distribution Services (May–August 2012), demonstrating products to Costco customers.

Course names and the 70 topics follow CFP Board’s March 2021 Principal Knowledge Topics list. A school’s catalog may combine these subjects under different titles. Confirm the current requirement on CFP Board’s education requirement page and the 2021 Principal Knowledge Topics list (PDF). This page is a personal outline, not advice from CFP Board and not an offer of financial-planning or architectural services.