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 clients long range goals versus using life insurance as the platform for achieving the clients objectives.