The American College of Financial Services Review

In this post, I’ll give my honest review of The American College of Financial Services CFP education program—how effective it was, how difficult it really is, and how I managed to complete all seven required courses in under one year while not exactly treating it like a full-time obsession.

Overall, the program is legitimately challenging, but it starts off deceptively easy. The early courses lull you into a false sense of confidence, only for the later ones to ramp up quickly in difficulty. If you’re considering the CFP path through The American College, here’s exactly how each course felt in practice.

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The Seven CFP Education Courses — My Experience

Financial Planning

This course is extremely easy. Since you only need a C to pass, the structure works in your favor. There are a few short papers and multiple assignment quizzes that together make up around 30% of your grade. Most quizzes can be retaken multiple times, which means you only need something like a 60% on the final exam to pass. The content is largely definitions and basic concepts—very manageable.

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Tax Planning

Tax Planning was rough—though not the worst of the entire program. The quizzes and exams were difficult, while the discussion boards and writing assignments were fairly reasonable. The material itself often felt disorganized and unintuitive. I barely passed this course, and that’s coming from someone who was already on the CPA track at the time.

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Insurance Planning

Surprisingly, Insurance Planning was one of the more interesting courses. Despite insurance having a reputation for being painfully boring, this class was engaging and straightforward. It was almost entirely reading-based with virtually no math, which made it easier for me personally.

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Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning was, in my opinion, the hardest course in the entire program, with Estate Planning coming in a close second. This class dives deep into the mechanics of pensions, 401(k)s, and retirement plan administration. While extremely boring at times, the content is genuinely useful—especially if you work in an administrative or operational role within wealth management.

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Investment Planning

Because I already had a background in finance, this course wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t easy, but much of the material was review—things like CAPM, standard deviation, variance, and portfolio theory. If you have a finance degree, this class should feel familiar.

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Estate Planning

Estate Planning was difficult, but manageable with consistent effort. I spent about a month studying 3–4 hours per day to get through it. While it didn’t quite reach the level of misery that studying for the FAR section of the CPA exam does, it came close. At times, it felt like a condensed version of law school for aspiring estate planning attorneys.

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Final Capstone: Building a Financial Plan

This course was more annoying than intellectually challenging. You’re required to build a comprehensive mock financial plan, complete with scheduled mock client calls and ongoing revisions. The workload drags on, but once you finish it, the sense of relief is real—you’re finally eligible to sit for the CFP exam or add one more course to earn the ChFC designation.

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My Overall Opinion of The American College of Financial Services

All things considered, the program was a better use of my time than doing nothing—but from a purely financial standpoint, I probably would have made more money by spending that same time writing another 1,000 blog posts. Still, what’s done is done.

I ultimately added the ChFC designation as a form of professional insurance. For roughly $40 per month to maintain it, it keeps a permanent foot in the door for wealth management roles. More importantly, the education itself significantly improved my ability to speak confidently and intelligently about finance.

At this point, the degrees and credentials section of my résumé looks something like this:

• ChFC

• CPA

• MAcc – Master of Accountancy

• BA in Finance

• BA in Accounting

• BA in Financial Planning (The American College of Financial Services)

• Notary

• SIE

• Series 7

• Series 66

I definitely gave up a lot of free time—and more than a few dates—to stack this many credentials. I’m not sure I’d recommend going quite this far for everyone, but I’ll gladly take the cash-flow optionality that comes with it.

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When I’d Recommend Getting the CFP (And When I Wouldn’t)

I’d recommend it if:

• You work in wealth management

• You want a serious résumé boost

• You’re in accounting or finance and want broader credibility

• You want to better manage your own capital—business, investments, or personal finances

The CFP helps in interviews, client conversations, and internal credibility. It also forces you to understand financial planning holistically, not just in silos.

I wouldn’t recommend it if:

• You’re not planning to stay anywhere near finance or wealth management

• You’re doing it purely for prestige with no clear use case

• You already have a specialized role where planning knowledge won’t be applied

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Final Thoughts on The American College of Financial Services Review

 

That’s my honest take on The American College of Financial Services CFP program. If you’re currently a CFP candidate, I’d love to hear your experience—has it been worth it for you so far?

As always, feel free to read more or subscribe for additional insights and commentary.

Cheers,
InflationHedging.com

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Sources

• Bankrate – CD Rates

• CNN Money – Market Data

• Western Governors University

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Disclaimer

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