CFP certificants would be required to obtain 10 additional hours of continuing education every two years under proposals being considered by the CFP Board of Standards.
At the same time, they will be given more avenues to obtain credits, said Kevin Keller, CEO of the CFP Board.
The number of CE credits to retain certification would be raised from 30 hours to 40 hours every two years under the current proposal, but planners could earn them through practice management, pro bono work and ethics classes, CFP Board officials said.
"The board has looked at what other professional organizations have been doing," said Alan Goldfarb, chairman of the CFP Board and director of wealth management at Weaver Wealth Management in Dallas. "The fact that we have 30 hours every two years seems inconsistent with growing this as a true profession."
"There's an acknowledgement that, as the financial planning profession continues to evolve and emerge, consistent with the established professions, there is a need for more hours-whether it's 40 or some number greater than 30," said Keller.
Other potential changes are a 50% cap on the amount of CE credit in a single concentration and increasing CE ethics requirements to four hours from two hours.
More than 1,200 planners sent in responses during the comment period that ended Sunday on the proposals. The CFP Board's council on education will review the comments and make recommendations to the board's leadership at its meeting Nov. 8.
The proposals were announced yesterday at the Financial Planning Association annual conference, Experience 2012, in San Antonio, Texas.
-Karen DeMasters