When I first became a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor, I heard, more than a few times, “Congratulations… what is that?” It wasn’t surprising, because NAPFA is a small but important group.
What is NAPFA?
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a group of professional financial advisors who advise on a Fee-Only basis, meaning no commissions or incentives. This way, the client pays for the advice (rather than the mutual fund company or the insurance company, for example) and the client feels more comfortable that they are getting objective advice. NAPFA was started in 1983 and has only about 2,400 members. Considering the number of financial advisors there are in the country, only a very small percentage of them offer advice on a Fee-Only basis.
How do you become a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor?
Becoming a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor is a multi-step process. From the www.napfa.org website:
- You must agree to follow the NAPFA Fiduciary Oath
- Advise across Disciplines “NAPFA –Registered Financial Advisors are broadly trained to bring together and apply the separate disciplines comprising personal finance – income tax, financial position and cash flow, retirement preparation, estate planning, investments, and risk management.”
- Have a Bachelor’s degree
- Hold the CFP® or CPA/PFS designation
- Submit a comprehensive financial plan for peer review
- 60 hours of Continuing Education every two years
What does it mean to be a NAPFA member?
I recently participated in a volunteer effort called JumpStart Retire, which was a joint effort between Kiplinger Magazine and NAPFA to offer consumers the opportunity to have their retirement questions answered for free by NAPFA professionals. I answered phones for four hours and answered a lot of questions; I really enjoyed myself and got to help people as well. What I call a “Do Good/Feel Good”. I plan to do more of that with future NAPFA pro bono opportunities. Also, NAPFA has free webinars from time to time for consumers as well. To quote from www.napfa.org, NAPFA members live by three important values:
- To be the beacon for independent, objective advice for individuals and families.
- To be the champion of financial services delivered in the public interest.
- To be the standard bearer for the emerging profession of financial planning.
Michele Clark
Michele has more than 25 years experience in financial services and has developed a specialization in working with people who are starting to seriously think about their retirement or who are retired and facing all of the complex planning issues one faces during this time.
She works with clients to coordinate decisions around investments, retirement accounts, Social Security, funding health care, tax planning, cash-flow, maximizing employer benefits, charitable gifting strategies and estate planning.
Before joining Acropolis Investment Management, Michele was the founder and managing principal of Clark Hourly Financial Planning and Investment Management for nearly nine years with an additional sixteen years at banks and investment firms.
Michele has been quoted in such online and print media outlets as The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, USA Today, Market Watch, US News & World Report, CNBC.com, AARP, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Fox Business, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, Financial Planning Magazine, St. Louis Public Radio, Yahoo Finance, St. Louis Magazine, and others.
Michele earned her B.A. from Purdue University. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® practitioner, obtained the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC®) designation from the College for Financial Planning, and is a NAPFA Registered Investment Advisor.
Michele has volunteered her time for financial literacy outreach at Financial Planning Days, Money Smart Week, Habitat for Humanity and others.
Michele has served on the Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association of Greater St. Louis since January 2014 and is Past President and currently serving as Chair of the Board.