Diary of a CFP® Pro: July — In Celebration of Independence Day, This is What I Wish I Knew at the Start of My Career

This month’s insight from Marguerita Cheng, CFP® Pro: While the world is experiencing unprecedented disruption due COVID-19, war, inflation, and a myriad of other challenges, financial planners around the globe are leaning in. Now is the time for us all to support each other, and especially for CFPs to support their clients and communities during these trying times.

Reality check: More and more, those planners are women. It was recently Women’s History Month, and the month before that, the CFP Board announced that the number of female CFP® professionals had grown above 20,000 for the first time.

Photo by Tim Brown, flickr.com creative commons — Sikhs of America March in the USA Independence Day parade in Washington, DC, July 4, 2015

In commemoration and acknowledgment of the pioneering women in the financial planning profession who helped reach this milestone, several of our female CFP Board Ambassadors offered wisdom about what they wish they knew at the beginning of their careers.
It only makes sense that investors will be drawn to advisors who can relate and share experiences with them, so it’s increasingly vital to diversify the ranks for CFP® professionals across the country.
As you embark on your journey to financial independence, one of the most important steps is to visit www.ssa.gov/myaccount to create your personal Social Security account.

The bottom line: Even though I didn’t necessarily look like most everyone else in the profession, I wish I realized then the power of being able to connect with someone who shares my background. Many people from different walks of life could benefit from the services provided by a financial planner. And the personality traits that might appeal to one person or demographic may not resonate quite as well with women or people of color.

Photos by: Tony Alter, flickr.com creative commons (top) and Tim Brown, flickr.com creative commons (center)

Stay tuned for next month’s installment of Diary of a CFP® Pro!

About Marguerita M. Cheng, CFP® Pro: Rita is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Ocean Global Wealth. She has also been a spokesperson for the AARP Financial Freedom Campaign and a regular columnist for Investopedia & Kiplinger. Previously, she was a Financial Advisor at Ameriprise Financial and an analyst and editor at Towa Securities in Tokyo, Japan.

Certifications: CFP® professional, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor^SM, Retirement Income Certified Professional®, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. As a Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) Ambassador, Marguerita helps educate the public, policymakers, and media about the benefits of competent, ethical financial planning. She serves as a Women’s Initiative (WIN) Advocate and subject matter expert for CFP Board, contributing to the development of examination questions for the CFP® Certification Examination.

Awards: Ameriprise Financial Presidential Award for Quality of Advice and the prestigious Japanese Monbukagakusho Scholarship. In 2017, she was named the #3 Most Influential Financial Advisor in the Investopedia Top 100, a Woman to Watch by InvestmentNews, and a Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise (MBE®) by the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council (CRMSDC).

Rita volunteers for several organizations: CFP Board Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (DEC) hearings, she has also served on the Financial Planning Association (FPA) National Board of Directors from 2013-2015 and is a past president of the Financial Planning Association of the National Capital Area (FPA NCA).

Click here to learn more about Blue Ocean Global Wealth and here to email Marguerita!

Blue Ocean Global Wealth headquarters:

9841 Washingtonian Blvd., #200
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
301.502.5306 / 888.731.3117 (fax)
info@blueoceanglobalwealth.com