I am not sure what evoked all of the negative reviews/ratings. Actually it appears I’m the first one to post an actual review. Frankly, I found this fascinating and borderline exciting, as a member of the financial planning community. It is something that all Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), and serious members of the profession should take the time to read to understand how our industry has come to be.
There is a tremendous amount of emphasis placed on the “Four-E’s“, which are Education, Examination, Experience, and Ethics. As it should be, although ethics is listed fourth, the authors place a great emphasis on this facet of our professional responsibility.
The authors are both former Chairmen of the CFP Board of Standards from 1987-1990. They are able to paint a rather vivid picture of all of the important people who stood up for the integrity of the profession in the early days of the 70s and 80s, as well as the more recent people who helped shape both the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the CFP Board of Standards (CFP Board) into what it has become today. It’s truly unfortunate that the readership of this book amongst members of the financial planning community is so thin. There is tremendously important information and grounds the practitioner in the reality of the challenges we face moving forward.
The only bummer I would say is that this book was written 11 years ago. It would be wonderful to see a new addition that covers the last 10 years. Now that the financial planning profession has reached a half century in existence, it will be interesting to see what the future holds. It may be more interesting to hear what some of the best and most involved practitioners in the country think, as well.