CFP Board Launches Campaign to Attract Young Talent to Financial Planning

Ads targeting younger workers call financial planning “quite possibly the perfect job.”

The CFP Board has unveiled a new digital ad campaign, “Quite Possibly the Perfect Job,” aimed at encouraging young people to consider a career as a certified financial professional.

The initiative, which launched on September 16, features playful and imaginative job titles like “professional daydreamer” and “chief self-care officer” to grab the attention of college students and high schoolers.

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One of the campaign’s YouTube ads shows an actor receiving a massage while a voiceover states, “Shockingly, there’s no career called ‘chief self-care officer.’ Until there is, check out a way to take care of others and yourself—financial planning, quite possibly the perfect job.”

The ads spotlight various benefits of becoming a CFP professional, including high salaries, career satisfaction and work-life balance—findings backed by surveys and the CFP Board’s 2024 Compensation Study.

“Demand for financial planning is at an all-time high,” CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller said in a statement. “CFP professionals enjoy rewarding work that pays well, yet we face a shortage of competent, ethical financial planners. This initiative highlights CFP Board’s commitment to fostering a diverse, sustainable talent pipeline for the benefit of the public.”

The campaign will run across major digital platforms such as Spotify, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitch and Snapchat through the end of 2024. The CFP Board enlisted Lambert, a Michigan-based communications agency, to help execute the strategy.

The initiative comes as part of the CFP Board’s broader efforts to address workforce issues, following a 2023 restructuring that created a new 501(c)(6) nonprofit professional organization. In addition to the ad campaign, the CFP Board has ramped up efforts to support aspiring financial planners through scholarships and career fairs.

This year, the organization increased scholarship funding by 54%, providing more than $2 million in total, and saw a 30% rise in attendance at its virtual career fair, which drew more than 600 participants. The CFP Board Career Center also more than doubled its job listings to nearly 2,500.

Americans Brace for Election’s Impact on Retirement Planning

Experts from Wealth Enhancement, summarizing a recent survey, say Americans are still optimistic about retirement in the long run.

As the U.S. presidential election draws near, a retirement lifestyle study from Wealth Enhancement Group LLC shows that 80% of Americans are preparing for potential changes to their retirement plans based on the political outcome, including 73% of those already retired.

Among respondents, 23% said they worry about the election’s impact on their retirement portfolios. The study also found that 55% of unretired Americans fear inflation has delayed their retirement goals, with the average setback estimated at more than eight years.

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Inflation concerns are a major focus heading into the election, with 49% of respondents worried about the rising cost of goods and services and 39% anxious about future tax implications. These concerns are compounded by apprehension over government programs like Social Security and Medicare, with 31% of those surveyed, including 38% of Baby Boomers, reporting concern about future stability, according to the study.

Despite these short-term worries, Americans reported being generally optimistic about their long-term retirement lifestyle, with 77% expressing positive emotions such as happiness (45%) and gratitude (37%), according to the survey. Among retirees, 90% reported satisfaction with their decision to retire when they did, and 33% said their retirement is even better than they anticipated.

Generation Z is particularly anxious, with 29% fearing the election will affect their retirement timeline, despite historical data showing U.S. markets tend to perform well in election years.

“Historically, elections have had minimal long-term effects on market performance,” stated Ayako Yoshioka, a portfolio consulting director at Wealth Enhancement, in the report. “Anyone concerned about the election should connect with their advisor to ensure their financial plan is resilient, no matter who wins. … Want to invest in an election year? Think long term.” 

Even as economic uncertainty looms, retirees generally reported a more positive outlook than their working counterparts, with 60% feeling happy and 51% expressing gratitude, significantly higher than the 40% and 33%, respectively, of working adults. While concerns remain, only 19% of those surveyed reported regularly meeting with a financial adviser.

However, in contrast, those still in the workforce reported lower levels of happiness (40%) and gratitude (33%). Instead, working adults tended to report more anxiety (37%, vs. 16% of retirees) and fear (26%, vs. 8% of retirees).

Nearly 69% of Gen Xers reported negative emotions, such as anxiety (39%), likely influenced by the fact that 25% of non-retirees said they have not set retirement goals.

The study, conducted by Wakefield Research in July, surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults through an online poll representative of U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

Wealth Enhancement recently told PLANADVISER the firm was nearing $5 billion in retirement plan assets as it builds the practice with wealth management services. Its total assets are about $85.7 billion.

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