Making money by helping others make money.

Stockbrokers are dealing with disgruntled clients who have seen their investment portfolios dwindle in value, bankers see their customers comparison shopping for better rates, and insurance agents are shown the door when an alternate and superior policy materializes. However, unlike these financial services professionals, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) enjoys a client loyalty unusual in the industry. A Certified Financial Planner typically retains clients for two or more decades compared to two years' client retention for a stockbroker and 5 years for an insurance agent. Why is this credential of choice emerging so dominantly in this industry? There are a number of reasons, the most important being the consolidation and metamorphosis of the financial services institutions into the financial planning industry.

Today's customers are seeking the same one-stop convenience shopping for their financial services needs that they employ for so many other purchasing habits. During the last fifty years, professionals in the financial planning services industry tended to be vertical specialists in one field (e.g. insurance or tax management) rather than offering clients a breadth of financial services. The financial specialists believed that clients would pay more and stay longer to benefit from the expertise of a specialist even if they had to visit many other "specialists" to accommodate all their financial planning needs. However, the trend today for financial services providers is towards consolidation of services because the planning aspect in coordinating a client's needs in multiple areas (along with multiple revenue sources) is worth far more than the single source of revenue earned by a vertical specialist. Thus, both client retention and revenue enhancement are driving the evolution of the services industry into the financial planning industry.

Other societal and economic changes taking place today are also aiding this evolution. A primary catalyst among these changes is the aging of the baby boom generation. The inheritance by baby boomers of their parents' estates is considered to be the single largest financial transaction in history. Conservative estimates range from $6 to $8 trillion. The recent downturn in the financial markets has convinced this generally well-educated group of the need for financial planning and the level of expertise and ethics required of the planner.

Traditionally, financial planning has been a service mainly for the wealthy. The recent experiences of average Americans trying to manage their own investments (day trading! and the subsequent steep decline in the stock market have changed that outlook. More than at any times before, ordinary citizens are also becoming aware about their need for and affordability of qualified financial planners. The entry of this market segment in the financial planning sector is also adding to the size and scope of this market.

The implication of these developments is that financial services companies are recognizing that if they are not yet positioned as a financial planning company they will not survive if they do not participate in these transactions. To that end, all financial services companies are now posturing as planning companies in order to take advantage of this emerging clientele and wealth pool. These institutions also recognize that ultimately their ability to provide comprehensive services depend on the expertise of their employees and that the highest credential in this field is the CFP. To that extent, these institutions are creating a huge and immediate demand for CFPs.

What does a Certified Financial Planner do? In a nutshell, a Certified Financial Planner evaluates your financial health, provides preventative and curative prescriptions and monitors your financial health. Analogically, the planner is to your financial health what your general practitioner is to your medical health. For people to enjoy a healthy financial life, excellent planning is an essential requirement.

Good financial planners are not only rigorously trained, they are extremely "people" oriented: most planners say that helping clients is the most satisfying element of their challenging job. Not that the money is bad either! More and more Americans are discovering that working with a financial planner is an affordable choice that pays off in big ways. The ease of mind that comes with knowing that a trusted and knowledgeable professional is managing your financial planning is priceless. No wonder the #1 job in America today belongs to the Certified Financial Planner.

California Lutheran University has responded to these changes in demand by offering its well known MBA in Financial Planning via an online venue in conjunction with its on-campus venue. The online program allows professional students to work towards their MBA while completing the educational requirements for the taking CFP Board's CFP[R] Certification Examination. The program has attracted students from all over the nation who are seeking to fulfill requirements as mentioned above. There are 16 courses required to complete the MBA. Each course is offered completely online with convenient, flexible course structure. All courses have a financial services focus and dedication making CLU's offerings the most comprehensive online MBA for financial planners.

Information for this article was provided by California Lutheran University. For more information about CLU's online MBA in Financial Planning, please go to www.clunet.edu/fponline. For information about the Certified Financial Planner Certification or for information on how to find a competent financial planner, please go to www.cfp.net.