SeanWest

I have an MSF and the CFA charter, but for some reason that is not sufficient where I work. They could care less about those two and only care that I get the CFP, pretty much because the principals of the firm are CFPs. They actually discouraged me and in some ways penalized me for doing the CFA. In my opinion the CFP is a soft designation for people who couldn’t do the CFA, CPA, law or business school, and retail brokers and other wolves in sheep’s clothing, but whatever, I’ll take my time doing the CFP just to appease them. I am tired of chasing after designations. My wife, who is a JD, thinks this is completely ridiculous as well.

mp3bu

I enjoy this debate, primarily because I like calling out “professionals” in the investment advisory world who collect third tier designations in an attempt to enhance their credibility. It’s just too easy to hold yourself out as an investment advisor in this world, but that’s an entirely separate conversation …
To the enthusiastic 20 year-old described in the initial post, I say “good for you.” At that age, I was naive enough to think that a graduate degree would be my golden ticket to professional success. I can hardly fault someone for trying to better themselves.
Finally, to ddrobinett’s point, I agree that most professionals should avoid peripheral designations in favor of pursuing one or two highly-regarded designations or degrees (CFA, CPA, JD, MBA, etc). I recently turned 27, became engaged, and completed a MS degree in Applied Economics. Pursuing the CFA charter is my “final frontier,” so to speak. After that, the only designations that I will care about are #1 Husband and #1 Dad.