Dear Editor:
Mr. Robinson is obviously well qualified as an RIA, but I cannot believe that he reduces estate planning, long term care and retirement issues to "qualitative" status! We need both professional standards and a fiduciary level of responsibility for all who hold themselves out as "Financial Planners,” "Financial Advisors" or whatever else they may call themselves to portray a trusted advisor. The public deserves no less.
Susan MacMichael John, CFP
Financial Focus, Inc.
Wolfboro, NH
Dear Editor:
In reference to the ongoing discussion of the relative status of the CFP designation, I would suggest that the designation has little to do with financial planning competence in the real world. Rather, it rewards the person willing to take the time and expend the effort to pass the requisite tests, with the end result being a set of generally recognized initials. That does not denigrate the financial planning skill of successful CFPs; it simply suggests that learning to be a competent financial planner is independent of the CFP—or for that matter any other such designation—program. Many CFPs are captive or semi-captive servants of the insurance industry. One could reasonably argue that the term “insurance planner” is oxymoronic. The first CFP I encountered back in 1979 had just induced a retired newspaper executive to put his entire pension rollover into a University Life fixed annuity. Eh?
John Heeckt
President
Financial Sources, Inc
Bethlehem, PA
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