Will Power: Conquering the CFP® Exam
Yeske Buie is pleased to recognize Will Tracy for his recent success in passing the CFP® Exam. This accomplishment fulfills one of the four requirements to earn the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM designation. In light of his accomplishment, we asked Will a few questions to learn more about his study process and the support systems that helped him succeed.
What motivated you to pursue the CFP certification?
Will: I will start with what motivated me to pursue financial planning, and then why I chose the CFP certification once I figured out that is what I wanted to do. Part of me has always wanted to be a coach in some fashion. My dad is a coach, and we are extremely alike. I love the feeling of teaching someone and then watching them succeed. When looking through the different types of finance, financial planning seemed to draw many connections to my joy of coaching. Once I decided to pursue financial planning at the end of my sophomore year at Virginia Tech, the CFP certification became a goal relatively quickly. Virginia Tech’s CFP Program does an excellent job emphasizing the importance of fee-only financial planning and obtaining the CFP certification. It became clear to me that to separate yourself and to provide the best possible service to Clients, the CFP certification is almost a requirement – and that was all the motivation I needed!
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while studying for the exam, and how did you overcome them?
Will: The biggest challenge from an academic standpoint was changing my studying method. In school, I would not move on from a topic until I felt I truly understood everything about it, and that is simply an unrealistic studying method for the CFP Exam. The exam is so robust and there are so many little intricacies in the material that you need to master the art of just moving on sometimes.
The study materials I used provided me with 7 books, and I spent 3 out of my 14 total weeks on just the first book trying to learn every single topic in it. I realized I needed to make a change or I would run out of time. For the remaining books, if there was a subject that I thought would eat up way too much time to learn, I would jot down a note to revisit it after I had read the rest of the book or ask someone in the office if they could help explain it to me.
From a personal standpoint, the biggest challenge was of course the time commitment the exam requires. Every minute of your day matters (always, but especially when studying for the CFP!). The best way I found to maximize every second of the day was to set my environment up for success. I deleted all social media to prevent any doom scrolling. I would come into the office and study since my desk at home is near my bed and TV. I would place my phone in the other room when reading. I tried to make sure that when I was studying, I was studying.
Is there anyone you would like to thank or acknowledge for supporting you through this process?
Will: There are so many people who supported me throughout the process, but I would like to give special thanks to my family and everyone at Yeske Buie. I only saw my family briefly one weekend over those 14 weeks of studying, compared to before when I would make the trip back to New Jersey about once a month or sometimes more. Even with seeing them less though, I still felt so much support from them via text messages, calls, and even a physical good luck letter before the exam.
Yeske Buie supported me in so many ways I can’t even type them all out. One that stands out was being able to come into the office and bounce questions off Yusuf, Ryan, Kacie, and even virtually to Sydney to help me grasp harder concepts exponentially quicker. They were also always so willing to help, and it never felt like I was hassling them, no matter what the question was. Everyone also sent a physical card to me before the exam which meant a ton to me, and also contained really great advice for exam day!
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of connecting with Will directly, he’s likely provided our team with behind-the-scenes support that’s impacted your financial life. Will joined the Yeske Buie team in June 2023 as a Client Support Specialist in our Vienna, VA office, and supports the firm and its Clients by serving as a paperwork expert, communicating trade notifications and reporting updates, introducing prospective Clients to the firm, facilitating our sports ticket program, and performing other organizational duties related to Schwab our databases. His robust skills and attention to detail are an asset to our team, and we couldn’t be happier for his success.
Congratulations, Will! We look forward to all the coming success that we’re certain lies your way.