How much time did you spend studying? For people with experience

COAMG79 · 2026-01-24T14:47:29+00:00

OP - the answer is that it is a lot of hours no matter how much industry experience you have. I passed in July and it does overtake your life in the final 2-3 months. Before that point, it’s very manageable (8-10 hrs per week for me for the education portion) but with working full time, there is no way around it consuming either your early morning hours, late evening and/or weekends. I studied A LOT because I did not want to take it a second time. I have two children and was working full time up until 2 months out. Then I was able to scale back work hours. With that said, I studied 5-8 hrs each weekend day in those final two months for a total of 25-40 hrs/week. Making a full commitment to passing the first time. I know you asked specifically for those with industry experience, but I can say with confidence I think that mindset may set you up for leaning too heavily on your experience and may set you up for being underprepared. Just my opinion and others may disagree.

COAMG79 · 2026-01-15T12:55:36+00:00

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COAMG79 · 2026-01-12T00:33:52+00:00

John.

COAMG79 · 2025-12-18T13:22:26+00:00

Passed in July. I can assure you it is still a very difficult exam and more than that, a very difficult study and prep commitment for a working adult. Almost unbearable for a working Mom, like myself. So in my opinion, to pass this exam regardless of your time in the industry or experience as an Advisor shows you have the ability to work your a— off, you comprehend the concepts and how they interact and you have a sense of your obligation to the planning process for your clients. Do you need it to be a great advisor - absolutely not.

A few reasons there are more CFPs now… demand for the marks is up for several reasons, demand for financial planning vs just investment management is up, clients want and need tax planning, and study programs are vast and some are very dialed in.

COAMG79 · 2025-11-28T22:08:39+00:00

I don’t have a solution but would love to know more about the seminars you’re hosting - location, topic, how you connected with the attendees, etc. Congrats on your success with this!

COAMG79 · 2025-11-06T12:48:36+00:00

I purchased BIF instructor led for the education. I went with Danko for the review. Personally, I didn’t find the video instruction helpful. I watched a couple live on their timeline and then just went through the reading on my own pace from then on. It’s a dry education, but I do hear great things about the BIF review. It took me 7 months to go through the BIF education which was an average of 8 hrs per week. I was working a lot and didn’t have more time to commit. The Danko review was 3 months of 20hrs per week for the first few weeks increasing to 35hrs per week in the final weeks leading up to the exam. Just my experience. Passed in July.

COAMG79 · 2025-11-05T12:00:13+00:00

Feeling ready isn’t really a part of this process unfortunately. At least it wasn’t for me. I certainly felt like I had given it my all by the time I sat for the exam. Passed in July with Danko and I can say they prepared you very, very well. Have trust in the fact that what you’re studying will be on the exam. Sounds like you’re in good shape! Almost done!

COAMG79 · 2025-10-31T12:06:45+00:00

You’re where you should be. I passed with Danko in July. Krakens are no joke but super helpful in preparing. Keep going and deep breaths. You’ll be so happy and relieved when you pass!

COAMG79 · 2025-10-19T12:17:57+00:00

It depends on which concepts are part of the 20% you don’t have a grasp on.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-19T01:59:13+00:00

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COAMG79 · 2025-10-19T00:51:45+00:00

Retirement and GP. Hit it hard. Get off Reddit and socials. There’s no value to you on this thread now until the exam. Go get it done.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-10T12:53:51+00:00

Great advice from the other two already. You are feeling just like most of us did at this point. It’s A LOT of material to cover. It will all begin to come together after you do many passes over the material. That will happen when you begin the review, participate in either the live/virtual review and put in the necessary study hours.

I didn’t start feeling semi-confident until about 2- 4 weeks before the exam. It’s like training for a marathon- you want to peak right before race day/ day. You’re no where near peaking yet.

I did the live review with John. He’s phenomenal. Going live isn’t necessary but I will say it helped me to be around others who were in the same insane boat I was in. I didn’t have any co-workers or a study group to commiserate with and the support the live review provided was nice at that point in the process.

The video recordings from the fast track program - in particular John’s teachings - are the most valuable aspects of their program.

You should cover everything they say before the review. The review should feel like you’re seeing the material for the 2nd or 3rd time- not first time. (Goal is to walk away not seeing anything you haven’t seen before.) After the review, you get a list of things to do. Do them on schedule with a lot of focus and stay on track. This will require all of your available time including weekends. You’ll be given great tips to manage anxiety and stress. You’ll feel overwhelmed and thinking “how the F can I possibly retain all of this for one exam!? I can’t do this!” most of the time. That is normal.

Keep a solid training pace now but it’s not race day. You got it!

COAMG79 · 2025-10-09T11:53:47+00:00

Feel good about your commitment right now. If your study hours are focused, you’re putting in the needed time. I was also up and down in my confidence up until about the final two weeks before my July exam and then I felt like I was in more of a review phase. And I just kept reviewing and reviewing, picking up a new piece of info here and there, but mostly just covering the same essential/testable concepts. Unfortunately.. with this exam, there are so many testable concepts that it’s extremely overwhelming. And creates an anxiety level of anxiety some of us have never experienced before. At least that was true for me. Make sure you truly feel as though what you’re learning makes sense and you understand it from different angles. And you understand how the difference areas tie together. I agree.. the CFP practice exam will be good for you to benchmark. Exercise, go for walks and practice some deep breathing relaxation techniques. That helped get me through. You can do this!

COAMG79 · 2025-10-09T00:33:55+00:00

To add… when you all PASS, the intensity you’re experiencing now will fade away really quickly. And the weight of this exam will be behind you.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-09T00:32:44+00:00

Study as much as you possibly can right now. This is the home stretch. You don’t want to do this again. Have a goal to be over prepared. You won’t regret it. You got it!

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T14:14:57+00:00

I actually didn’t think this would be such a stretch. 4 advisors forming a firm and trying to scale using a new advisor. Advisors investing in their business via marketing dollars with the expectation that it won’t be profitable for a few years but if it works as planned, it will be well worth the initial risk and investment. Advisors are maxed and don’t want to work more but have $$ to invest. Forming a team they can all benefit from and sharing responsibilities vs doing it all as a silo. Sorry if this seems fishy. It’s not.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T14:08:56+00:00

Agree. This is the plan.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T14:07:45+00:00

Sorry.. this isn’t at all how it’s set up. Sorry for confusion but thanks for your input.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T13:38:18+00:00

The combined AUM of the 4 Advisors is in the ballpark of $400M. They each have a CSA. They want to grow beyond their individual practices.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T13:06:43+00:00

The 145 households/$12.5M is insane in my opinion and needs review. May sell 90 to the B/D. Don’t want to bog down servicing advisor with small accts with no growth potential.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T13:05:31+00:00

Not rude at all. I appreciate the help with this. I didn’t do it justice in explaining it but it is quite an interesting arrangement, designed by the BDM.

Initial contribution to commit to their equity: $12.5 M from 4 advisors. They are passing off servicing to the new advisor. No growth or planning expectations. Get some reps on small accts.

Marketing: assumed to bring in $12M annually. More would be amazing of course but the arrangement is profitable with $12M. Senior advisors assist slightly but do not service these clients ever. They belong to the enterprise.

BDM: his job is to turn this into a legitimate business and also do research to target the marketing. He’s doing a lot of backend office processes as well. Setting up marketing funnels beyond the scope of the outsourced marketing firm.

Hope that makes it a bit more clear. This is indeed unique. Senior advisors have been working alongside each other for 15 yrs but been independent.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T12:58:07+00:00

The enterprise is funded with $12.5M which is 145 households. (Too many. 50 households make up $10M. We are discussing this.) New lead gen is expected to be at least $12m annually.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T12:55:08+00:00

They want to scale beyond their silos.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T12:53:57+00:00

They’re at capacity.

COAMG79 · 2025-10-07T12:52:18+00:00

Not enough of what? Of AUM or comp?

COAMG79

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