Congratulations on your selection of the Keir Study Package for the CFP® Certification Examination. These books are designed to help you pass your examination the first time. We would like to share with you some ideas for the most effective use of these materials.
One of the advantages of Keir books are they enable you to study efficiently. If time is at a premium, the Keir books can help you make the best use of the time you have available. You are probably already aware of the study techniques that work best for you. Different people study in different ways, so you should not assume there is only one best way to study. We want to suggest some of the ways you can use the study materials in this package.
First, we would like to caution you, the CFP® Certification Examination is not to be taken lightly. The examination is 10 hours long and is taken over two days. Students generally find this examination to be extremely difficult, both mentally and physically. The examination consists of 285 multiple choice questions. A large part of the examination consists of cases requiring students to read and analyze many pages of information before answering the multiple choice questions. The pass rate for this examination overall has been in the 50 to 60 percentage range. The pass rate for those who retake the examination has been only around the mid-40 percentage range. The pass rate for students using the Keir materials typically has been 20% points higher than the national average in the 70 to 80 percent range.
The examination questions are based on a list of topics prepared by the CFP Board of Standards. This list of topics covers the following seven areas:
Questions may test a candidate's knowledge, comprehension, analysis, synthesis, application or evaluation of facts and information. The approximate percentage of test questions is listed next to each of the seven areas. However, it is important for the student to know the CFP Board of Standards does not attempt to guarantee questions will be drawn evenly from the topics in these seven areas. Questions from one topic may represent a much higher percentage of a given test area than questions from another topic. Some of the 89 topics may be tested only slightly. There is no way of knowing in advance which topics will be tested more heavily.
The Keir Comprehensive Review Package covers all 89 topics on the CFP Board of Standards list. To test your understanding and ability to apply knowledge of these areas, there are also application questions for each topic. After reading the material for each topic, we recommend you test your understanding of this material by answering the application questions.
Students should begin preparing for the Certification Examination approximately three months before the date of the examination. The recommended study time is between 200 and 300 hours. To study all of the topics, you should plan to study at least one section each day. The best plan is to set a specific time each day for study and then maintain that schedule until the examination date. Studying each day for an hour or two is better than trying to study all day on Saturday or Sunday. Even studying a few minutes at a time several times each day is better than trying to do it all in a short time near the examination date. Study time beyond four hours in a day is generally inefficient.
To help you allocate your study time, please refer to the following items later in this Study Tips section.
Most students will begin their review with the General Principles of Financial Planning. While it is not essential to begin with this area, we believe it is a good first overview of the financial planning concepts. Read one section at a time and answer the Application Questions for that section. If you answer 75% of these questions correctly, you are ready to move on to the next section. If you are not scoring 75%, you should review the areas in which you missed questions. If you do not mark the answers in your book, you can go back and take the test again and again. If you need to repeat the test, you should answer the questions in varying order so you do not just memorize the answers. In other words, the second time you take the test, skip around in the questions to be sure you understand the material.
After you complete both volumes, you should then make use of the Case Studies Book. The Case Studies Book contains case studies for each of the areas listed above. These case studies require students to read a fact situation and then answer multiple choice questions based on these facts. The questions are designed to test a student's ability to synthesize and apply the information. These case studies are similar to the case studies found on the CFP® Certification Examination. Try to set aside enough time to take these tests for the area you have just completed at one sitting. You should read the answers and rationales for these questions to see you are analyzing these facts correctly. Again, try to pass case study questions with 75% or higher.
Especially when you study Topic 11 in General Principles of Financial Planning, you will also want to use the Keir's Guide for your Financial Calculator book included in the Keir study program. This book provides important information on calculation of present value, future value, annuity values, internal rates of return, and other important time-value calculations. A very important part of the Keir's Guide for your Financial Calculator book is an explanation of the use of financial calculators. You must be able to make skillful use of a financial calculator in order to answer questions on the CFP® Certification Examination. There is a great deal of calculation required on many examinations, so it is important to practice use of the calculator. Although recently there have been fewer calculations on the exam, it is still very important to be able to use a financial calculator.
After you have completed your review, you should set aside ten hours to take the Keir Simulated Examination. This simulated examination will give you important practice in answering the kinds of questions on the actual CFP® Certification Examination. After you complete the examination, you should check your answers and read the rationales for questions you missed.
If you do not have enough time to complete the steps outlined above, we recommend you try the accelerated approach described below.