Mary Beth FrankIin: I finished my CFP program!

Call me a glutton for punishment. I wasn't satisfied with just writing about financial planners. I wanted to become one. In my 30-plus years as a financial journalist, I have always enjoyed digging into whitepapers and crunching numbers from income tax tables to give my readers a better idea of how a new law or proposal might affect their pocketbook or portfolio. I became fascinated with retirement income planning more than a decade ago when I was writer and editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine and received countless questions from readers asking how they should convert their lifetime of savings into sustainable streams of income. So I researched the 4% withdrawal rule, dissected the buckets of money strategy, and learned the value of pairing fixed expenses with guaranteed sources of income such as Social Security benefits, pensions or annuities. In the process, I became a first-class Social Security claiming strategy nerd. I occasionally toyed with the idea of enrolling in a Certified Financial Planning certificate program, but I never seemed to find the time. Then a few years ago, the University of Virginia opened a satellite campus a mile from my house and offered a CFP certificate program. How could I say no? I enrolled in one course per semester, including summers, and completed the seven-course program last week. All of the UVa courses were in person, with intimate class sizes ranging from about four to a dozen students. I had some great teachers. Sheffield Richey assigned real-world challenges such as writing stock analysis reports in his investing class and presenting financial plans for various case studies in the final capstone class. Jim Simos shared his years of experience as a tax preparer, including sample tests used by tax preparation services, in his income tax class. When I needed to take an insurance class that UVa wasn't offering that semester, I turned to The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. TAC's online course schedule didn't mesh with my work and travel schedule, so I opted for a self-study course. The three-inch thick text book covered everything I needed to ace the insurance competency exam, but the 12-CDs of recorded lectures that came with it should have carried a warning not to use them while operating heavy equipment. I nearly fell asleep and ran off the road while listening to them during a lengthy drive to a speaking engagement in Atlantic City! UVa must be doing something right. So far six students have completed the CFP program and all six have passed the comprehensive exam on the first try. It may not be a big number, but the 100% passage rate is impressive. Talk about pressure! I don't want to be the first one to screw up the program's perfect score. I plan to take the summer off and pursue another burning ambition: writing a handbook for financial advisers about Social Security claiming strategies. I'll keep you posted as soon as it's available. When that's done, I'll tackle my toughest challenge yet of prepping for the two-day, 10-hour CFP exam in November. I'd love to hear from InvestmentNews readers about their experience with CFP test-prep programs. I'll need all the help I can get!