How to Make a Career Transition to Financial Planner

You don't need an MBA to earn CFP® certification. It requires a bachelor's degree in any discipline plus coursework through a CFP Board Registered Program, a passing score on the CFP® exam, qualifying work experience and an ethics review, according to CFP Board's education requirement. Some advisor roles also call for separate securities or insurance licenses. Below, we walk through each step, the licenses to know about and how an MBA or accounting background fits in.

Why Consider Financial Planning as a Second Career

Financial planning could be a satisfying second career for those who have established themselves in the business and finance sector. Helping people make sound financial decisions that secure their futures and help them meet their goals may feel rewarding. If you have a relevant bachelor’s degree, some business or finance experience and a desire to help people, a financial planning career could be a fitting second career.

Here are a few more reasons to consider becoming a financial planner:

  • A range of job opportunities may be available to those with financial planning training and certification. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' occupation definition, personal financial advisors advise clients on financial plans using knowledge of tax and investment strategies, securities, insurance, pension plans and real estate. Their duties include assessing clients' assets, liabilities, cash flow, insurance coverage, tax status and financial objectives, and they may also buy and sell financial assets for clients. Example job titles in this occupation include estate planner, individual pension adviser and personal investment adviser.
  • Personal financial advisors, an occupation that includes financial planners, had a median annual wage of $105,070 nationally in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (SOC 13-2052). That figure covers all experience levels, not starting pay.

Do You Need an MBA in Financial Planning to Change Careers?

CFP® certification requires an undergraduate degree — a bachelor's degree or higher in any discipline from an accredited college or university — although a degree in business or finance may help you prepare for this career. Earning an MBA is not required for CFP® certification, according to CFP Board's education requirement. An MBA can still add value in the wider job market: in the United States, MBA graduates continue to earn higher starting salaries than comparable hires who come directly from industry, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council's (GMAC) 2026 employer survey. Depending on the school, you may be able to choose from several MBA concentrations, though not every program offers every specialization, as GMAC's guide to MBA specializations notes. If you choose an MBA, compare a finance concentration with a financial planning concentration to see which fits your goals.

Many reputable universities now offer online MBA programs for working professionals. According to AACSB's 2025 report on enrollment trends at accredited business schools, most MBA students at those schools are enrolled in part-time or flexible formats, and a growing number of well-regarded schools offer fully online MBA options. Getting into business school requires a few extra steps. Thousands of graduate management programs use the GMAT exam in admissions, according to GMAC, which administers the exam, although some schools are test-optional or let applicants request a test waiver.

Another option to work in finance as a second career is to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). CPA licenses are granted by state boards of accountancy, and the requirements differ from state to state. In Texas, North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, for example, applicants must meet education requirements, pass the CPA Exam and complete work experience, but the experience required ranges from one to two years depending on the state and the education pathway. Check the requirements of the board in the state where you plan to practice. CPAs who focus on financial planning can also pursue the AICPA's Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential, which is granted only to CPAs. Your expertise in both personal accounting and personal finance may make you uniquely valuable to your clients as they navigate their path to a secure financial future. If you need additional accounting coursework to meet your state's CPA education requirements, consider obtaining a master’s degree in accounting. You may choose to apply to a variety of accounting graduate degree programs to facilitate your career growth.

How to Make a Mid-Career Change to Certified Financial Planner

So how do you start a career as a financial planner? Every person’s path to becoming a Certified Financial Planner is different, but there are a few steps in the process that don’t change. These are the five basic steps an aspiring CFP might want to complete before starting their career in this field:

1
Complete the Education Requirements

The education requirement for becoming a CFP involves two parts:

First, earn your bachelor’s degree. CFP Board accepts a bachelor's degree or higher in any discipline from an accredited college or university, and the degree can be completed before you pass the CFP® exam or within five years after. A degree in business, finance, accounting, or a related field may help prepare you for a career in financial planning.

Second, complete coursework through a CFP Board Registered Program. This is a separate requirement that ensures you acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to serve your clients’ financial planning needs. Topics covered in the coursework include risk management and insurance, investment, tax, retirement savings and income, and estate planning, along with a capstone course in financial plan development. Career changers who already hold certain credentials, including CPAs, licensed attorneys and CFA® charterholders, may qualify for CFP Board's accelerated path, which lets them skip most of the coursework. Candidates on that path still complete either the Capstone course or a Capstone Alternative.

2
Pass the CFP Exam

The CFP exam ensures that you have attained the knowledge and skills necessary to provide expert financial advice to your future clients. It is a 170-question, multiple-choice exam taken in one day, split into two three-hour sections, according to CFP Board. You become eligible to sit for the exam after completing the coursework requirement. You may register before you finish your coursework, but CFP Board must receive proof of completion by the education verification deadline for your exam date.

3
Complete Work Experience Requirement

There are two pathways to gaining the work experience required for CFP certification.

The 6,000-Hour Standard Pathway: Hours are accumulated through work in the personal financial planning process, such as working directly with clients, understanding their circumstances and goals, and then developing, presenting and implementing financial planning recommendations. Other options for gaining experience in this pathway include supporting or supervising other financial planners, completing an internship or residency program or teaching college-level courses in financial planning concepts.

The 4,000-Hour Apprenticeship Pathway: On this pathway, hours are accumulated by working primarily with individual clients in all seven primary elements of the personal financial planning process. All hours must be completed under the direct supervision of a CFP® professional.

You can sit for the exam before you finish your experience. Qualifying experience must be completed within 10 years before or five years after you pass the exam. If you don't finish your experience and degree requirements within 12 months of passing the exam, you begin accruing pre-certification continuing education (CE) at 1.25 credit hours per month, starting 13 months after the exam, and you must complete that CE to be eligible for certification, according to CFP Board's CE requirements. This is separate from the 30-hour CE cycle that applies after you're certified, and the CFP Board Ethics course isn't required before certification.

4
Sign the Ethics Declaration

When your exam and work experience requirements are met, you’ll then complete the application for CFP® certification, which contains the Ethics Declaration. CFP Board also conducts a detailed background check. Once the background check is complete, you may be notified whether you meet CFP Board's Fitness Standards. If your background check meets these standards, you move on in the process. If not, you may be contacted to discuss any issues flagged in the background check.

5
Pay Your Fees and Earn Continuing Education Credits

Once your education, exam, work experience, Ethics Declaration and background check are completed, you pay a one-time $250 application fee and an initial certification fee, which is a prorated portion of the $575 annual certification fee, according to CFP Board's final steps as of October 2026. CFP Board sets your initial certification cycle by adding 12 months to the end of your birth month, based on your next birth date.

Six Skills That Financial Planners Use

Even after all that training, you may still have a few more things to learn to become a great financial planner. Because financial advisors work with clients all the time, it should be no surprise that certain “soft skills” may make a huge difference in a financial planner’s success. The better you relate to clients, the more likely it is that they trust you (and refer their friends and associates to you). Here are six skills that financial planners may use in their careers:

  1. Communication Skills. Financial planners interact and communicate with clients every day and often find themselves explaining complicated concepts to people with limited financial literacy. Being able to translate financial jargon into plain language is critical when helping people understand their financial challenges and options.
  2. Interpersonal Skills. Clients count on their financial planner to protect their assets and investments so building trust with clients is critical to a financial planner’s success.
  3. Analytical Skills. A good financial planner must evaluate all options and angles to develop effective plans for their clients’ portfolios. This may include analyzing trends, forecasting, shifting regulations and making adjustments accordingly to maximize their client’s portfolio.
  4. Attention to Detail. A financial planner works with many clients simultaneously, constantly monitoring their portfolio performance and looking for opportunities to make improvements. Staying up to date on markets and investments, coordinating communications with clients and creating performance reports for all clients requires the utmost attention to detail.
  5. Problem-Solving. Each client presents unique situations and challenges. One client may be far behind on their retirement planning, and the next client needs you to help them figure out how to send three children to college. You may find yourself thinking outside the box to develop creative solutions for your clients’ financial problems.
  6. Strong Ethics. People place a tremendous amount of trust and responsibility in their financial planner’s hands. Under CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, a CFP® professional must act as a fiduciary at all times when providing financial advice to a client. This is a commitment to maintaining high ethical standards, including acting in your clients’ best interest.

Maintaining Your New Career as a Certified Financial Planner

After certification, you pay the certification fee each year and report continuing education (CE) every two years. Under CFP Board's current CE requirements, CFP® professionals must complete 30 CE hours in each two-year reporting period:

  • Two hours from a pre-approved CFP Board Ethics course
  • 28 hours covering one or more of CFP Board’s Principal Topics

If you take continuing education courses with a registered CE Sponsor, the sponsor reports your attendance and completion to CFP Board within two weeks of the course ending. If you take a course that is not registered with CFP Board, you can report it online yourself for consideration, and CFP Board's CE requirements list a $60 non-refundable reporting fee for each non-registered course submitted for review.

Plan carefully! Under the current rules, extra CE hours cannot be rolled forward to a future reporting period.

Licenses Financial Advisors May Need Besides CFP Certification

CFP® certification is a professional credential, not a license to sell investments or insurance. Depending on what you plan to offer clients, you may also need one or more of the following. CFP Board's guidance for career changers recommends the SIE, Series 7 and Series 66 exams for many entry-level roles.

  • Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam: According to FINRA, the SIE is open to anyone 18 or older, and you don't need to be associated with a firm to take it.
  • Series 7: Unlike the SIE, the Series 7 can't be taken on your own: FINRA requires Series 7 candidates to be associated with and sponsored by a member firm or another applicable self-regulatory organization.
  • Series 65 or Series 66: According to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the Series 65 is the exam for investment adviser representatives. The Series 66 qualifies you as if you had passed both the Series 63 and Series 65, but to register as an investment adviser representative based on the Series 66, you must also have passed the FINRA Series 7.
  • State insurance license: If you plan to sell insurance products, check the licensing requirements with your state's insurance department. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners keeps a directory of state insurance departments.

Is Switching to a Career in Financial Planning Worth It?

If you are sincerely interested in finding ways to help a wide variety of clients reach their financial goals, then becoming a CFP may be a great fit for you. But maybe you are not sure your bachelor’s degree has properly prepared you for a CFP career. If you are not entirely committed to the financial planning career path, perhaps you’d rather consider pursuing an MBA. Depending on your goals, this may be a great way to explore more opportunities in the business realm while gaining valuable skills and knowledge, no matter what career you choose. In the end, only you know whether making the change to a career in financial planning may be worth it for you.

Information last updated: October 2026