how to attain aams certification
the aams certification is granted by the college of financial planning the college that created the certified financial planner certification to achieve certification you ll need to enroll at the college of financial planning this process is not similar to traditionally enrolling in a college you select the program from the college s website choose your options and pay for the materials you re given an opportunity to choose printed study materials when you re checking out once you receive your materials you have 120 days from the day you re granted access to the online material to complete testing and pass the final exam you follow the course online using prerecorded videos self study and printed study materials if you buy them the final exam for the aams program contains 80 questions a passing score on the aams final examination is 70 or better the time limit for the final exam is three hours and you re allowed two attempts to pass 1the self study program covers several topics once you receive your aams certification you must complete 16 hours of continuing education credits per year and pay a renewal fee of 95 once every two years to maintain your certification 1aams vs cfpaams certification focuses on personal finance asset management and investments it is intended for newer financial planners or planners transitioning from other financial work certified financial planners cfp are finance professionals certified by the college of financial planning to help people plan and achieve their financial goals a cfp can assist someone throughout their lifetime helping them adjust their finances to meet changing life events and updated financial goals the cfp certification is the highest accreditation available for financial planners requiring 6 000 hours of professional planning experience within the ten years preceding the certification exam special considerationsthe financial industry regulatory authority finra specifies that it does not approve or endorse any professional credential or designation still it does list the aams as one of the available designations in the financial services industry according to the college for financial planning cfp some organizations recognize the aams designation as representing 28 hours of continuing education credit the cfp maintains an accessible database of the names of all certificate holders and their status when aams students pass their final exam they receive credit for completing module fp511 from the cfp course 