In 1992, I received my Certified Financial Planner CFP® after spending 6 years consulting clients within the life insurance business. In 1992, the CFP® designation was the recommended education for anyone thinking about building a solid foundation for a successful financial planning practice. A practicing CFP® builds a solid financial plan around the concept of using investments as the catalyst for growing wealth and achieves clients long range goals versus using life insurance as the platform for achieving the clients objectives.