Client optimism rises despite inflation, CFP Board summer survey finds

Financial planners' clients are entering the back half of 2026 with more confidence in their financial futures than they had three months ago, according to new survey data from CFP Board, even as inflation and affordability concerns continue to weigh on household budgets nationwide.

According to CFP Board's Summer 2026 CFP Professionals Sentiment Indices, half of certified financial planners describe their clients' current financial outlook as positive, up from 36% in the spring survey.

The share of CFP professionals reporting a negative client outlook fell to 8%, marking a meaningful thawing in bearish sentiment since Winter 2025.The index measuring clients' financial outlook climbed to 71 this summer from 61 in spring.

CFP Board noted that the improvement in sentiment "comes despite heightened national concern about inflation and affordability and greater market volatility driven by the conflict in the Middle East."

The survey drew responses from 423 CFP professionals collected between July 7 and July 19.

CFP professionals themselves are feeling similarly optimistic, with 61% reporting a positive personal financial outlook, and 70% saying their client bases have grown over the past year. A similar share expects further growth in the year ahead.

What's driving the improved mood

According to the CFP Board report, planners say client conversations this summer have clustered around four themes: a preference for staying focused on long-term goals despite short-term uncertainty, anxiety tied to market volatility, concern over inflation and affordability – particularly energy and housing costs – and a tendency for clients to react emotionally to political and media coverage.

Against that backdrop, financial planners have been hard at work to earn their fees – with median total compensation for financial planners hitting $195,000 in 2025, according to separate survey research from CFP Board – as they reported spending meaningful time helping clients separate emotion from decision-making. 

The tension between improving sentiment and persistent cost pressure is showing up across the data. Nationally, affordability concerns remain acute: one report drawing on the Urban Institute's December 2025 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey found that 90% of more than 10,000 adults surveyed cited groceries and food prices among their biggest financial worries, according to CNBC. Roughly 35% of adults said they pay for groceries with a credit card and pay the balance in full each month, while another 20% carry a balance while making minimum payments.

"There's no doubt that there's pressure in terms of affordability in this country," Marshall Lux, a visiting fellow at Georgetown University's Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, told CNBC. Food-at-home prices have risen roughly 25% over the past five years, the Urban Institute found, a trend researchers say reflects sustained cost pressure rather than a short-term spike.

The CFP Board survey found cost of living concerns weighing heavily on clients' outlook regarding their life goals, particularly in cases where clients are nearing retirement.

Markets add fuel to the pickup in sentiment

The CFP Board's findings track alongside a separate pickup in investor confidence. Schwab's new Q3 2026 Retail Client Sentiment Report found that 47% of retail clients describe themselves as bullish on U.S. equities, up from 28% in the second quarter, with bullishness among active traders climbing to 57% from 38%. The survey, conducted June 16 to June 23, polled 1,123 retail clients and 1,100 active traders with at least $2,000 in assets.

"The shift in client sentiment this quarter has been remarkable," said Jonathan Craig, head of retail investing at Charles Schwab, noting that trading volumes rose 57% year over year as clients backed their optimism with action.

Despite the exuberant mood, most survey respondents were also conscious of potential froth in the market. Sixty-one percent of Schwab's retail clients believe the market is currently overvalued, up from 52% in the second quarter, and active traders now rank inflation as the dominant risk shaping markets for the remainder of 2026, cited by 52% of that group, ahead of geopolitical conflict and developments in artificial intelligence.

The CFP Board survey found fear around market uncertainty dominated clients' investing decisions, with CFP professionals reporting that their clients are holding more cash in their portfolios.

Optimism ticks up among CFP professionals

Planners are also feeling more assured about their own financial standing, according to CFP Board's polling. A 61% majority of CFP professionals describe their own financial outlook as positive, up from 54% in the spring survey and roughly in line with the 59% reading recorded a year ago.

Nearly half of planners say their own financial outlook has held steady over the past 12 months, while about a third report having grown more optimistic since spring last year. Over two-thirds report that their client bases have grown over the past year, with nearly an equal share anticipating continued expansion in the next 12 months.

That confidence is tempered by their mixed outlook on the broader economy. Roughly two in five respondents expect economic conditions to stay about the same, while close to a third each anticipate improvement or deterioration from current conditions.