The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) today announced it was updating the “Principal Knowledge Topics” that  CFP certification applicants are tested on to include  a new category called “Psychology of Financial Planning.”

The new category is based on feedback from firms across the country who hire CFPs, CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller in a statement.

The new topic will be integrated into the education requirements for CFP certification and assessed on the CFP exam starting in March 2022, the organization announced in a press release. Currently CFP certification is held by more than 88,000 people in the United States.

The changes are based on findings from the board’s latest Practice Analysis Study – which it said is the “largest research project in the U.S. related to the body of knowledge for financial planning.”

The new “Psychology of Client and Planner Attitudes” topic includes sections on values, biases, behavioral finance, sources of money conflict, principles of counseling, general principles of effective communication and a section on crisis events with severe consequences.

“For the first time, our Practice Analysis Study included research with firms that hire CFP professionals as well as clients of CFP professionals,” Keller said. “Adding that research to the traditional research with CFP professionals and financial planning educators provided a 360-degree view of financial planning practice.

Keller called the study “an essential part of CFP Board’s work to maintain the relevance of CFP® certification and ensure that it reflects the current practice of financial planning.” 

The prior standalone “Education Planning” category and underlying topics have been combined with the General Financial Planning Principles category, the organization said.

A side-by-side comparison of the 2015 and 2021 Principal Knowledge Topics is available here.

CFP Board’s new study also included the development of the first “Financial Planning Competency Framework,” which outlines the attributes and behaviors CFP professionals need to serve today’s financial planning clients and remain competitive.    

The CFP Board is currently revising their curricula to incorporate the updated content into their materials in preparation for the March 2022 CFP exam. Effective immediately, CFP Board will begin to grant CE credit for programs that address the new topics in the updated Principal Knowledge Topics.

Individuals taking the CFP exam in July 2021 and November 2021 will not be impacted by the updated list of Principal Knowledge Topics, the organization said.