Retirement Designation Guide now available for download
Are you qualified to call yourself a 401k advisor?
The retirement industry is complex and plan sponsors rely on the professionals that service their plan to know the rules and help them avoid falling victim to the DOL’s “targeting” efforts.
To help you in your quest to be a valuable, competent and qualified plan professional, I’ve compiled a list of 24 of the industry’s retirement plan designation and certification programs to make it easy for you to identify programs that can help you accomplish your goals for specialization.
You can download a copy of the Retirement Plan Professional’s Designation & Certification Guide here.
Designation Guide Background
This is the fourth edition of this guide.
The first edition was published back in 2007 with only 13 different programs listed. Then, I updated it in 2012 to reflect 24 designation programs specifically developed to help 401k sales and service professionals. Then it went through a third iteration in 2015. And now this fourth and most recent update.
Some updates or changes noted in this edition, that changed from the last edition that you might find interesting include:
The removal of two programs that are no longer offered:
- Fiduciary Adviser Certification by DALBAR, Inc.
- PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation by PLANSPONSOR
A name change in the program offered by Don Trone of 3ethos:
- From Global Fiduciary Strategist to Global Financial Steward (GFS)
The addition of two new programs:
- Fellow, Secure Retirement Institute (FSRI) by Loma Secure Retirement Institute
- Fee Disclosure Expert by DALBAR, Inc.
A change in sponsoring organizations of the following programs:
- Professional Plan Consultant (PPC) was acquired by fi360, Inc. (This was the designation I created and I sold it to them 😉 )
- Qualified Plan Financial Consultant (QPFC) now falls under NAPA, a sister organization of ASPPA and part of the American Retirement Association
- Tax-Exempt & Governmental Plan Consultant (TGPC) now falls under NTSA, a sister organization of ASPPA and part of the American Retirement Association
Six programs increased their annual fee and four lowered them.
The average number of annual CE required is 12 hours a year.
The average annual designation or membership fee is $450 a year.
The average program cost is $2500.
Download the Retirement Designation Guide
You can download a copy of the Retirement Plan Professional’s Designation & Certification Guide here.
Which program should you pursue?
That’s a great question. As this article discusses, it really depends on your goals. But if you want my personal opinion based on the questions I get asked the most from advisors and my personal experience with a limited number of programs, read this article to see the 3 programs I recommend you START with if you’re new to the business.