The short answer
The titles overlap, and neither one is the license. A financial planner's deliverable is a written plan: retirement, tax, insurance, and estate, or whichever of those the letter includes. An adviser's usual deliverable, in an ongoing account, is the portfolio over time. Many firms do both. Hire the thing you will hold in your hand, then check the registration of the firm and the person who signs it.
"Advisor" on a business card can be a registered adviser, a broker, or a planner who is also one of those. The card does not choose.
| Written plan | Ongoing portfolio |
|---|
| What you leave with | A document with goals, numbers, and a date | An account someone watches under the contract |
| A form checkbox that often matches | Item 5G(1) financial planning | Item 5G(2) portfolio management |
| A common way to pay | Hourly, or a fixed project fee | A percent of assets, billed again next year |
| Letters you may see | CFP, sometimes a CPA on the tax piece | The same letters, or none |
| What still has to be true | The firm or the person is allowed to give the advice you are buying | Same. CFP vs CFA does not replace that check |
What to do
- Write one sentence before you search: "I want a written plan and then I will invest it myself," or "I want someone on the account after the plan," or "I want both." The sentence stops a firm from selling you the other product.
- Open Search and read Item 5G. A Yes on 5G(1) means the firm offers planning. A Yes on 5G(2) means it offers portfolio management for individuals. Your contract can include one, the other, or both.
- Ask for the deliverable and the date. "A plan within six weeks that covers retirement age, savings rate, and the account" is a job. "We'll take a look" is not.
- Ask how you pay for that deliverable. A percent of assets is a strange way to buy a single plan unless you also want the ongoing account. Price it on the hourly page or the cost page.
- If they use the CFP mark, confirm the person on cfp.net. Then confirm the firm on IAPD anyway. Do I need a CFP? is the letters question. This page is the deliverable question.
- Read who signs the plan. The person who presents it should be the person whose registration you checked, or the brochure should say the firm is responsible for the advice.
What to look for on Best Investors
- Item 5G(1) and 5G(2) side by side. The gap between them is the gap between this page's two columns. A firm with only 5G(2) can still talk about your goals. The checkbox you wanted for a planning service is 5G(1), and the contract still has to include you.
- Item 5E. Planning paid by the hour or a fixed fee often shows up as 5E(2) or 5E(4). A percent is 5E(1). 5E(3) is the newsletter category, not a monthly planning retainer.
- Brochure Item 4. The advisory business description should sound like the column you are trying to buy. If the brochure is all portfolio management and the homepage is all planning, ask which engagement you are being offered.
- The person page. Exams and designations live there. They support the plan. They do not create the RIA. The firm does.
Common mistakes
- Using the titles as if they were registrations. You can print either title on a card.
- Paying an ongoing percent because you liked the planning meeting, without a list of what happens in year two.
- Assuming a planner files your taxes or drafts a will. Those are often a CPA and a lawyer. The plan can point at the need. The signature on the return is a different professional.
- Hiring a CFA because the work is a household plan. The CFA charter is an investment-analysis credential. It can sit on a planner. It is not the same mark as CFP. The CFP vs CFA page separates them.
- Skipping IAPD because the plan looked thorough. A good document from a firm you cannot find is still a problem. See advisor red flags.
Related questions
Can one person be both?
Yes. Lots of engagements are a plan plus portfolio management. Ask for two lines on the invoice, or one fee that lists both jobs, so you can see what you are renewing next year.
Do I need a written plan if I only want funds picked?
You need the scope you are willing to pay for. A portfolio-only agreement should say that, so you do not expect a tax plan that was never in the fee. What does a financial advisor do? is the task list.
Is a financial plan a forecast?
It is a set of assumptions you can read: savings, spending, retirement age, and returns used as inputs. It is not a promise that the market will match the inputs. Ask which numbers are your data and which are assumptions.
What if the firm has no CFP and I still want a plan?
You can hire them if the registration is real and the deliverable is described. The letters are a professional standard on top. They are not the only way a plan gets written. Verify the firm either way.
Limits
This page separates two deliverables. It does not tell you which one your household needs. It is not legal, tax, or investment advice, and Best Investors is not the SEC.
Item 5G is the firm's checklist of services. We do not read your plan or grade it. A checkbox does not mean your contract includes that service.
If our copy and IAPD disagree, use IAPD.
Sources
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