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San Diego, CA. The growth in the financial
planning industry has been explosive over the past ten
years. The number of courses leading to a degree in
Financial Services or "Chartered Financial Consultant" (ChFC),
"Certified Financial Planner" (CFP), or a Registered
Financial Consultant (RFC) designations, offered by
colleges and universities nationwide has tripled. Still,
relatively few Americans are utilizing the services of a
financial planner and only a handful who do are fully
implementing a financial plan specifically prepared for
them.
"New investors must be created out of former spenders and
overspenders," insists Paul Richard, a registered
financial consultant (RFC) and Executive Director of the
nonprofit Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE)
based in San Diego, CA. "This is a real challenge for
consumers because, it is their everyday spending
decisions, and especially their credit based spending
decisions, that will cause severe erosion of their
financial future, more so than any investment decision
they will likely ever make," he said, adding; "People who
pay too much for things are also overspending."
More consumers are becoming aware of the importance of
doing some financial planning, however they are not
necessarily prepared to work with a financial/insurance
planning professional because they think should or they
may be making over $40,000 per year. There are five basic
steps the ICFE suggests for consumers to complete before
their first appointment with a financial and/or insurance
planning professional.
1) Know your starting point by calculating your net worth
and cash flow.
2) If spending more than your income, either increase
income or mend your spending.
3) Establish a written spending-plan for your income and
outgo, based on income frequency.
4) Predetermine how much you will set aside every pay
period for saving and investing.
5) Know the reasons why you want to begin financial
planning: retirement, college, etc.
For information about mending spending, increasing
spending value, increasing savings, the wise use of credit
and how to set up and implement a spending-plan for your
personal and/or family finances, visit the ICFE's Web page
at: http://www.icfe.info.
To receive the same information by mail, please send $1
and a self-addressed, 60 cent stamped envelope to:
ICFE Money Helps
PO Box 34070
San Diego, CA 92163-4070.
Financial Planning Organizations Contacts:
http://www.iarfc.org
http://www.financialpro.org
http://www.fpanet.org
http://www.napfa.org
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About the ICFE:
About the
ICFE:
The Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE), founded in 1982 by the
late Loren Dunton (creator of the “certified financial planner” (CFP)
designation) and it is dedicated to helping consumers of all ages to improve
their spending, increase savings and use credit more wisely. The ICFE trains and
certifies Personal Finance Instructors for its own curriculum. It also trains
and certifies Credit Report Reviewers and Identity Theft Prevention Specialists.
The ICFE is an award winning, nonprofit, consumer education organization that
has helped millions of people through its education programs and resources. It
publishes the Do-It-Yourself Credit File correction Guide, now in its 16th
printing and has distributed over one million “Credit/Debit Card Warning Labels”
and “Credit/Debit Card Sleeves” world wide.
The ICFE became an official partner with the Department of Defense/Financial
Readiness Campaign in June of 2004.
The ICFE is also a partner in the national Jump$tart Coalition for Financial
Literacy and the California Jump$tart chapter. The ICFE staff is also active
with San Diego Saves, an offshoot of America Saves, and the California Student
Debt Resource Awareness Project (CASDRAP) (studentdebthelp.org).
The ICFE’s on-line help for consumers who spend too much was featured in PARADE
Magazine in the Intelligence Report section. The money helps and tips are from
“The Money Instruction Book,” a course in personal finance, positioned to become
among the premier programs in the new bankruptcy and debtor education
initiatives.
The ICFE Web site at:
http://www.icfe.info helps consumers with mending spending, learning about
the proper use of credit, budget and expense guidelines, how to set up and
implement a spending-plan and also how to access financial education courses and
videos and how to teach children about money. Other ICFE services include a free
eNewsletter, and an online resource center of financial education learning
tools, including videos, books, software and personal finance courses.
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