In order for you to continue your Certified Financial Fiduciary® certification, you must complete the annual renewal requirements below. Thirty days before your certification expires, you will receive an email reminding you of the requirements and your deadline.
Complete and Return the Certification Annual Renewal Form
Each year you are required to submit a Certification Annual Renewal Form in order to re-confirm your commitment to the Certified Financial Fiduciary® Code of Ethics, agreement to abide by the certification policies and agreement to use of the certification marks.
Please download the PDF form, complete and sign the form and email the entire form as a PDF attachment to jmcclanahan@nationalCFFassociation.org.
Or, you may mail the form to:
National Association of Certified Financial Fiduciaries,
8604 Cliff Cameron Dr STE 187,
Charlotte, NC 28269
Payment of Annual Renewal Fee
Each year you are required to pay the Annual Renewal fee. The fee is $250.00. Payment must be received on or before your certification expiration date. Payment information is included in the Certification Annual Renewal Form.
Alternatively, you can set up recurring payments by enrolling in autopay. If you are interested in setting this up, please contact Jenny at jmcclanahan@nationalCFFassociation.org.
Continuing Education Requirement
As a condition of holding the Certified Financial Fiduciary® designation, you are required to complete 20 hours of continuing education activities every two years. Because certification renewal happens each year, you may have fewer than 20 hours in one year and more hours the next year. Just be sure that you have 20 hours accumulated every two years. If you want to submit ten hours each year, that is acceptable, but you do have some flexibility from year to year.
Please email your proof of continuing education to jmcclanahan@nationalCFFassociation.org.
Your continuing education activities must relate to the subjects included in the exam specification:
- Fiduciary Regulation in the US
- Best Interest Standard of Care
- The CFF Fiduciary Standard
- CFF Fiduciary Responsibilities of Insurance Agents
- Comprehensive Financial Planning
- Consumer Financial Education
Continuing education activities can include:
- Attendance at a seminar or course (in person or online) where knowledge in the subjects is covered. Please submit a course completion certificate showing the number of hours of learning that took place, the provider of the course and the date the course was completed.
- Research you conduct in order to prepare for teaching financial education to consumers. [https://nationalcffassociation.org/financial-education] Please provide an explanation of the work you did in order to prepare for the course, including the number of hours your spent. Note that the hours you spend teaching the course do not count toward continuing education.
- Journal articles that you have read that cover the subjects above. Please provide an explanation of the time spent and the titles of the articles and the journals from which they were published.
- Other learning activities you participated in. Please provide an explanation of the activity and any supporting documentation.
Failure to Renew Certification
If you do not renew your certification by your expiration date, you will no longer be able to claim that you are certified as a Certified Financial Fiduciary® and your digital credentials (badge and certificate) will show that you are no longer certified. In addition, your name will be removed from the NACFF directory of Certified Financial Fiduciary® professionals.
NACFF will review your LinkedIn profile, website and any other publicly available sites or documents to ensure that you are no longer using the certification marks (logo, acronym, etc.)
Individuals who allow their certification to lapse for more than thirty days, but fewer than ninety days may submit a Certification Annual Renewal Form, pay the required renewal fee and a late fee and submit the required continuing education documentation. The late fee is $25.00.
Individuals who allow their certification to lapse for more than ninety days but less than three years may submit a Reinstatement Application, pay the required renewal fee and a late fee. These individuals will be required to submit documentation showing proof of:
- 15 hours of professional development for a lapse of three months to one year;
- 20 hours of professional development for a lapse of one to two years; or
- 30 hours of professional development for a lapse of two to three years.
Individuals who allow their certification to lapse for more than three years will be required to start the certification process from the beginning, including meeting the education and certification requirements (including taking the certification exam) then in effect.