The 2019 Retirement Designation Guide is now available for download
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 and I updated it in 2012 to reflect 24 designation programs specifically developed to help 401k sales and service professionals, and then again in 2015.
Some updates or changes noted in this 2019 version from the 2015 edition that you might find interesting include:
The removal of three programs:
- Fee Disclosure Expert by DALBAR, Inc.
- Qualified Plan Financial Consultant (QPFC) designation by National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA)
- Global Financial Steward (GFS) by 3ethos (a review of the current curriculum finds it to be more general Leadership focused and less specific to the qualified plan market)
A program name change:
-
From 401(k) 3(38) Adviser Certification to the DALBAR 3(38) Certification
The addition of three programs:
- Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA) (inadvertently omitted from the 2015 version) by National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA)
- Nonqualified Plan Advisor Certificate Program (2018) by National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA)
- 401(k) Practice Builder Certificate Program (2013) by National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA)
Additional notable information:
- The average number of annual CE required is 10 hours a year.
- Excluding the DALBAR 3(38) Certification, the average annual designation or membership fee is $330 a year.
- The average program cost is $2800, with the lowest being the 401(k) Practice Builder Certificate Program that comes in under $300 (also take the shortest amount of time to complete) and the highest being the Certified Benefits Professional (CEBS) that comes in just over $12,000 (one of the most rigorous and longest timelines to complete).
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.