appropriate decisions within a complex environment as well as the planner's progression from strict adherence to rules to use of past experiences to define future action.
The reader is encouraged to use these practice capabilities to both self-assess competency relative to a given concept as well as plan future education and experience that may facilitate a higher level of expertise. Financial planning firms may utilize these capabilities to facilitate formal and informal mentorship programs within their organizations.
Each of the chapters in Part One outlines many of the contexts that exist in financial planning, specifically relative to the topic of that particular chapter. These contexts, or vignettes, are designed to provide the student, practitioner, and instructor with specific situations in which this concept arises in real life as well as to offer some of the variables that may impact the decisions of the financial planner.
Relative to each of these contexts, the reader is encouraged to consider altering some of the fact patterns in the scenarios to see if the actions by the financial planner would change under different circumstances. Students and faculty are encouraged to discuss these scenarios and offer alternative actions that the financial planner could take relative to this or other scenarios and contexts.
Nearly 400 practice questions are available at www.wiley.com/go/wileycfpboard2e. Your access code is at the back of this book. CFP® professionals in the United States can also choose to obtain the full 28 credit hours by taking and passing the test.
CHAPTER 1
Theory and Practice
This book is designed for the discipline of financial planning – practitioners, faculty, and students. Regardless of discipline, practitioners gain from reconnecting with theory as well as questioning how it may relate to practice and their specific work. Faculty gain from witnessing how their work, whether research or teaching, relates to practice as a whole. Students wishing to join a given profession gain not only from acquiring a basic understanding of the theory associated with a given field, but also from learning, observing, and ultimately demonstrating the necessary skills and abilities associated with current practice.
At the risk of oversimplifying, this book is essentially divided into three parts: What a financial planner should know, what a financial planner does, and a systematic expansion of the body of knowledge for this discipline, incorporating related topics and disciplines. Chapters 2 to 70 outline the topics that encompass the content found within many financial planning preparation programs. The objective within Part One is to outline the topic and then discuss competencies relative to a given area. Competencies may be defined relative to a financial planning classroom or online learning platform or may be relative to the career track of the individual with years of financial planning practice. Just as important, this part outlines the contexts in financial planning practice in which these competencies are needed. It is not enough to merely know a particular area; the practitioner must also know when to utilize such competencies in a given context or scenario.
The second part of this book, Chapters 71 to 77, explores what a financial planner actually does in practice. Based on the steps of the financial planning process, this section outlines the action performed by the financial planner as well as the rationale for such action. These chapters then outline some of the techniques utilized in practice. Finally, as with each concept, vignettes outline the contexts in which such actions would be necessary and appropriate given client situations or professional rules of conduct. The vignettes in each chapter follow one specific case through each step of the process, highlighting the need for this process relative to one specific context.
Part Three provides an opportunity to expand financial planning research and practice into related disciplines, exploring the theory and implications of psychology, marriage and family therapy, behavioral finance, and others. In each of these chapters, the hope is for the diverse audiences of this book to gain insight into their particular areas: for the researcher to think about new lines of inquiry that will expand the body of knowledge; the practitioner to think about the implications of these disciplines and develop new tools that bring them into practice; and the students to make the connection between this new theory and its connection to practice as they aspire to become the next generation of financial planning practitioners, faculty members, researchers, or a combination of all three.
Finally, Chapter 88 offers a vision for the profession of financial planning, examining the changing demographics of the client and financial planner, future areas of research within the discipline, and the evolution of the role of the financial planner.
PART ONE
The purpose of this first chapter is to provide an overview and the rationale of many of the sections of this book.
Part One outlines much of the theoretical content of financial planning, exploring what the practitioner needs to know in order to effectively serve the client. Each of the chapters focuses on one specific topic area of financial planning, allowing the reader to use this book as a reference either throughout a given program of study or throughout practice.
The diagram at the beginning of Chapters 2 through 70 provides a visual representation of how a particular topic relates to the content areas in financial planning. A short paragraph below each of the diagrams provides a general analysis of many of the main connections relative to a given topic.
For example, a given topic may have specific connections to three or four content areas across the discipline of financial planning.
Students and faculty are encouraged to use these diagrams to facilitate dialogue in the classroom or online learning platform regarding how the particular subject area impacts others across the curriculum. Faculty may consider going around the different illuminated topic areas, discussing specific instances or circumstances where these content areas are related. Faculty teaching within a financial planning program may find it beneficial to review many of these diagrams with the objective of making explicit connections across the curriculum. Whether students are new to financial planning or have years of experience, providing key examples of how content areas are interrelated can help further the student’s understanding of key concepts within financial planning practice. With regard to practice, given the diversity of positions within financial planning, practitioners are encouraged to use this connections diagram as a reminder of the interrelatedness of financial planning content areas.
CHAPTER INTRODUCTIONS
The opening of each chapter provides an overview of the topic as well as historical background of the topic. This overview is meant to provide a basis for how this topic sits within personal financial planning. The content in this area is not meant to replace the specifics that come from a standard textbook. Rather, it is designed to provide a framework for the topic relative to financial planning practice.
STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING OBJECTIVES BASED ON CFP BOARD PRINCIPAL TOPICS
The notion behind the development of student-centered learning objectives is certainly not new to higher education, but it is part of a significant shift in the development of learning experiences across all disciplines. The shift is from an input-oriented curricular design to a student-centered outcomes approach where theoretical content, learning experiences, and assessment are based on predetermined student achievement benchmarks. As Toohey suggests:
A teaching strategy is.. a plan for someone else’s learning, and it encompasses the presentations which the teacher might make, the exercises and activities designed for students, materials which will be supplied or suggested for students to work
