Myles Clements was only a year or so into his career as a financial advisor when he decided to become a chartered retirement planning counselor, or CRPC.
"When you're coming out of college, you have a lot of practical skills and a lot of knowledge in this theory of giving financial advice," Clements, who is now a financial advisor at Fort Pitt Capital Group, said in an interview. "But to put that to practical use is a challenge for any advisor."
"If you're going to do this for a living, you need to make sure the advice you're giving is appropriate. Because people are trusting you with their life savings," he said. By getting his CRPC, Clements felt more prepared to later obtain his certified financial planner license. He now has several letters after his name, including the the CFP and the APMA, or accredited portfolio management advisor. Clements believes all advisors who are just starting out could use designations to stand out in the marketplace — both to clients and employers.
"I personally didn't feel comfortable giving tons of advice until I had some of these things. Because how do I know what I'm saying is right?"
From RICP (retirement income certified professional) to CSRP (certified specialist in retirement planning), retirement certifications abound in the industry. Yet the CRPC appears to carry significant weight, even in the crowded designation world. The College for Financial Planning, owned by Kaplan, maintains the certification, which was first offered in 1997. It is one of the oldest and most respected, according to Mike Harris, who runs the CRPC program there.
Mike Harris, associate professor at the College for Financial Planning—a Kaplan Company, runs the CRPC designation program.
Christi Heinrich
"Retirement planning is a little bit of a different animal, and the financial services industry really needs some outside help in going into all the details," said Harris, an associate professor at the college. Harris also teaches a CFP course and has taught other licenses in the industry, such as the Series 7 for brokers — and given the increasing complexity of retirement planning needs around issues like benefits and taxes, he says many other general industry licenses only scratch the surface of retirement training.
"Even if you're not paid specifically, to know about Social Security, you sort of are. You need to have some knowledge or somebody that you can say, 'Hey, listen, we have somebody in our firm, or I have a friend, and they do Social Security,' that you can send them to, who you vetted." Otherwise, if a broker ignores a client's request for help on such matters, they could end up driving the client to another advisor who does understand retirement better, Harris said.
Below, Financial Planning presents a brief guide to the CRPC.
The chartered retirement planning counselor certification allows advisors to help individuals and families with their personal financial planning needs around retirement. It's made for advisors aiming to define a "road map to retirement," according to the designation's website.
The CRPC is considered an "early career designation" on the Kaplan website, but it's appropriate at any point in an advisor's career if they want to specialize in retirement planning.
Why it's unique among certifications
The CRPC, compared to its competitors, is the "biggest, and we've been around the longest," Harris said. The curriculum comes from the same source as one of the industry's most trusted credentials, the CFP. The CRPC was created originally as an off-shoot of the CFP, when the College for Financial Planning (then in charge of the CFP, a responsibility that has since been spun off to be overseen by the CFP Board) decided there was too much material in the CFP.
Having such a long history and rigor in its curriculum helps give the certification weight that younger ones might not have, Harris said. "The government is very concerned about fly-by-night designations. You know, show up on Saturday morning; by Saturday afternoon, you become a certified good dude for seniors, 'CGDS,' or something like that."
Marco Rimassa, the founder and president of CFE Financial, an RIA based in Katy, Texas.
Marco Rimassa
For advisor Marco Rimassa, the founder and president at CFE Financial, an the CRPC was a major step forward in his career when he obtained it in 2022. CFE Financial is an RIA based in Katy, Texas.
"I was motivated to pursue it as a supplement to my existing designations because I wanted to focus my practice and ongoing education on retirement planning," said Rimassa, who is also a CFP and a chartered financial analyst. "Specifically, I am intrigued by the complex problems of [approaching] decumulation, and post-retirement, and I appreciated that the CRPC had a lot of focus on designing retirement income," Rimassa said.
Potential CRPC perk — a salary bump
A spokesperson for Kaplan said in an email that data on salary improvements is limited to self-reported information from respondents who have obtained the CRPC. However, the available data appears to show significant improvements in career prospects for CRPC holders.
On average, individuals who obtained a CRPC saw a 19% increase in salary, according to Kaplan's most recent available research, which was conducted in late 2021.
How to get the CRPC
To obtain the certification, the advisor must pay $1,375 for a comprehensive course package, which includes an online course (available live or on-demand) as well as an e-book textbook (a print textbook is available for an additional $159, plus tax and shipping), practice tests and the final exam.
The course provides nine learning modules, whose names include "Maximizing the Client Experience During the Retirement Planning Process" and "Making the Emotional and Financial Transition to Retirement," reflecting the importance of behavioral finance in retirement planning.
The remaining modules cover investing strategies; finding multiple sources of retirement income; ethics and regulation; health care options; tax and estate issues; and Social Security, military and government retirement benefits, among other topics.
It can take as little as a week to complete the course, Harris said, but in practice requires more time to digest and apply to one's practice — usually candidates finish in around three months.
Students must achieve at least 70% to pass the final exam and obtain the certification. They can only take it a maximum of two times. However, the current pass rate is high, at around 86%, a Kaplan spokesperson said in an email. 1,490 individuals registered to take it last year.
How to keep it
Once an advisor obtains their CRPC certification, to remain in good standing they must abide by a professional code of ethics listed on the school's online catalog. They must also meet continuing education requirements and renew their license within two years.
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