August continuing education quiz open for financial advisors

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Financial Planning’s latest continuing education quiz is now available online.

The August 2025 CE quiz will test takers’ general knowledge of various practice areas in wealth management via a self-guided study of seven recent articles. 

Subscribers to Financial Planning, a longtime approved CE provider and sponsor, may earn up to 12 hours of continuing education credit toward maintaining professional certification from the CFP Board and the Investments and Wealth Institute. 

To earn a single hour of general credit via one of FP’s CE quizzes, advisors must provide their ID number and email and answer eight of the 10 questions correctly. Quiz results are automatically reported to the relevant institution (though they may take a few weeks to post). Broad topics covered under general knowledge include financial planning, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning and behavioral finance.

READ MORE: How to avoid capital gains taxes with highly appreciated stocks

To earn more credits, see FP’s archive of continuing education quizzes. 

Professional certifications can boost credibility — and salary

Certified financial planner, certified private wealth advisor, retirement management advisor — why do financial advisors add to their workloads by pursuing and maintaining industry marks? 

First and foremost, advisors say education is its own reward; building wealth management expertise prepares them to best serve clients. But holding professional marks has other benefits as well.

“As a younger advisor, earning trust is hard. By obtaining certifications and continual learning, I feel way more confident advising clients double my age,” Luke Harder, a financial advisor at Boston-based Claro Advisors, told reporter Elijah Nicholson-Messmer last month.

Another excellent reason to pursue designations: They can lead to greater income and assets under management. 

The Investments and Wealth Institute, which offers the CIMA, CPWA and RMA marks, found earlier this year that holding those marks pays off for advisors: “Those with the certifications manage an average of $267 million more in team AUM than peers without the marks and generate mean annual income that is 33% above those that don’t have them,” Tobias Salinger reported.