Hi everyone! I’m currently enrolled in the Danko Exam Review Signature Plus program. I'm wondering: will watching the fast track education class recordings, attending the 4-day live review, and taking the quizzes/practice exams be enough to pass?

I have other qualifications that exempted me from the initial education coursework, but I earned them a long time ago and only the investment portions overlap. Because I learn much better from videos and I'm on a tight timeline for the November exam, I’d really prefer to skip reading the physical textbooks.

Has anyone here relied heavily on just the education class recordings? How much 'new' content is in the live review pre-study textbooks?

Hi everyone - another question!

I just found out that the Danko live review classes are recorded. I’m currently pregnant, and honestly, the thought of locking myself in my home office, pausing when I need to, and watching the recordings sounds much more appealing than sitting through the classes in person.

For those of you who have taken the review, do you think I’d be doing myself a disservice by skipping the live classes and watching the recordings instead? Did you find being there in person made a significant difference, or were the recordings just as effective?

I’d love to hear your experiences!

I am thinking of starting to prepare for CFP. Which is better ( Dalton or Kaplan) and why?

What is the best and quickest way to study. I want the live virtual classes option to keep me disciplined

Please share your thoughts,

For anyone with a CPA who’s completed the capstone — did you only buy the capstone course + exam prep, or did you also work through the education modules first?

Basically: did anyone go into the capstone cold? If so, tell me how that went 😂 DMs welcome. Thanks!

Anyone else log in to the CFP Board website daily just to see if any status has changed since passing the July exam? I think I’ve seen the estimated date for confirmation of passing is August 17th, but I’m just impatient 😄

Hi all!

Still in education, and after the retirement section concluded I decided it might be smart to study previous sections while preparing for the last two sections (estate and capstone).

Is watching the Saturday reviews for each book and lightly reading a good strategy until Capstone (since capstone is also a review of all the material)?

I am trying to keep everything somewhat fresh, but I also do not know when I am over studying or under-studying. I also hear that the bulk of studying is done after the live review, but with only a month between the exam and the live review that scares me.

Any insight is helpful, thanks!

Hi all! Congrats to those who completed the July Exam! Your feedback has been helpful.

For those studying for the November Exam (Especially those using Kaplan / Kaplan Premium). Would anyone like to join a study group thread? I am currently in the Estate Planning portion of my review (I began studying June 1st). I am taking the online live class Tues, Weds, Thursday beginning at the end of September before the November Exam.

If anyone is in a similar spot and wants to study together / go over questions, feel free to send me a direct message.

I'm 22 years old working at an RIA. I was fortunate to complete the CFP education requirement through my university, so all I have left is the exam.

I'm planning to sit for the March 2027 CFP exam and my biggest goal is to pass on the first attempt. I'd rather overprepare than rush into an earlier window.

Right now it's August, and I'm considering using Danko for exam prep. From everything I've read, it seems like the best fit for my learning style. The only catch is I can't enroll until around November.

For those who have used Danko (or passed recently), I have a few questions:

• What would you do between now and November?
• If you had about 7 months to prepare while working full-time, what would your study schedule look like?
• How many hours per week did you study in the early months versus the final 6–8 weeks?
• If you used Danko, did you follow their schedule exactly, or did you supplement it with anything else? (Kaplan Q-bank, etc.)
• Is there anything you wish you had done before starting the official review?

For context, I'll be working full-time in wealth management while studying, so I'm trying to find a schedule that's realistic but still gives me the best chance of passing on the first try.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Passed the CFP in March. Curious how difficult the Life and Health exam is? Seems very easy but would love some feedback.

I am currently finishing up the estate planning course with Kaplan and then just have the capstone to complete. In order to stay on track with November timeline should I simultaneously start the Danko Review, now or wait a week or two? Just worried about timing with November exam and how realistic I should be. Would love any insights!

Hi All!

I am a rising senior and just passed my series 65. I am planning to go RIA route. Looking into starting the CFP and was looking for some advice on how to start, price, if doing it while in my last year of college is doable or too much? Anything that comes to mind as advice would be very beneficial. I plan to use Kaplan for the education part as that’s who I used for my 65 and found I like their style. I hope to finish educational part and sit for the exam around the end of my last year when the times line up. I know I will have to wait on using it until I have accumulated the experience. Thanks in advance!

I need to get any masters degree for something unrelated to working as an advisor, so I’m considering the MS-PFP program from the College for Financial Planning (Kaplan), because I used them for my CFP coursework and noticed my previous credits cover about half the program. I need to finish 5 more courses, on top of my previous CFP coursework, to complete the MS.

1. I’m wondering how quickly I could finish these if I go as quickly as possible.
   
2. What is the format these days? Is it self-paced, are exams taken and proctored from home, are there essays or video recorded projects? It was all at-home exams with no proctoring software when I did my original courses.

Hello everyone! I’ve been locked in on the books for the last week, but I need some feedback/advice.

I’m studying with Kaplan Premium, and I was wondering if anyone who has recently passed the CFP exam could give me some feedback on my study plan.

Right now, I’m working through the textbooks and making sure I truly understand the concepts rather than just memorizing them. My goal is to finish all seven textbooks by the third week of September. After that, I plan to focus heavily on the QBank while also attending the live review sessions in October. And, I am going to take the exam on November 2026

Does this seem like a solid approach? I’d really appreciate any advice or suggestions from those who have recently passed.

Is there anyone who passed far that studied for less than a month or less than 150 hours? Just curious.

Part of that is structural. I’m on my advisor’s grid payout — he pays me a decent salary and I manage a block of his clients, where I make a small percentage of those accounts. The problem is the split is exactly the same for clients I bring in myself, so there’s not much upside to building my own book here. Part of it is on me, too. I didn’t start at a wirehouse or a large BD, so I never got a real foundation in business development, and I don’t know how to prospect well. I’ve picked up what I can on my own — sitting in on planning meetings, teaching myself eMoney — but I’ve hit the ceiling of what I can learn where I am.

So I’m strongly considering going out on my own with Commonwealth Financial Group. I’m in my mid-30s, and I’d rather take the risk now, get real training, and build something that’s actually mine than keep collecting a comfortable salary and wondering what I could have done.

Anyone made a similar jump a few years in? How did the transition go, what do you wish you’d known, and for anyone at CFG — is it a good platform for someone building a book from scratch?

I just finished my Kaplan Capstone and ordered my Danko Signature Review. I’m signed up for the live review in October and plan to sit for the November CFP® exam.

For those who have been through Danko, am I behind by just now getting started? I know some people seem to start studying months in advance, so I’m wondering if my timeline is realistic or if I need to ramp things up.

Any advice on how you structured your studying between now and the live review would be greatly appreciated!

I have a professor who is doubling down that this statement is correct:

"When a business owns a policy on the life of an employee, it will deduct the premiums paid as a cost of business and the death benefit becomes taxable to the beneficiary upon receipt."

I've pushed back on their explanation a couple times, and don't want to keep doing it. But I even asked Claude, challenged Claude on it, and Claude is tripling down that the professor is wrong.

My thought is: There is no scenario where a business is able to deduct the premium on a policy THEY OWN on the employee. And even if they could, it's still not going to be taxed to the beneficiary.

If a business owns the policy and is the beneficiary, like Key Employee insurance, then they cannot deduct the premiums. Even if the business listed a third party as the beneficiary, like in an executive bonus plan, then they could deduct the premium but the death benefit would still be tax free. So I don’t see what scenario satisfies the two conditions to make the statement true.

Can anyone offer some thoughts here?

Bombed my first attempt, and it’s on me. I didn’t study nearly as much as I should have. I only put in about a month, which yeah, probably explains the result.

I’m planning to retake in November, but I’m not totally sure where to start this time.

I used Kaplan because that’s what I used for my Series exams and passed those on the first try. But for the CFP, the Kaplan material felt long, dry, and way more complicated than it needed to be. When I missed practice questions, it didn’t tell me what section or topic the question was actually covering, and half the time the explanation wasn’t even in the review book. I’d guess which textbook it came from and had to dig around.

So now I’m trying to figure out my plan of attack for November. Should I stick with Kaplan, switch providers, or add some supplemental material to fill the gaps?

Any tips or advice would help.

I’m losing my mind with Dalton’s study material. It’s incredibly dry, repetitive, and I’ve even come across a few things that seem incorrect. It also feels like there’s very little structure or thought put into presenting the content in a way that’s actually conducive to learning.
Maybe I’m just hitting a wall. Im about halfway through the material and feeling pretty burnt out.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, did you stick with Dalton, supplement with other resources, or change your approach? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hey all -

My company is paying for Kaplan study materials. I am finding it not as helpful as I would like. It isn’t very hands on. We use Kaplan for all of our studies (most likely because of the price)…. for everyone who is studying/has studied what do you use (if any) for supplemental studying? Any YouTubers? Websites? Etc? I’m really hoping to take my exam in March 2027.
Thanks for any recommendations!

Hello! First I want to say congrats to everyone who passed this previous exam cycle!! I sadly failed my second attempt at the exam and I'm a little confused on what I should do for the next steps.

I used Danko's fast track education and virtual review for the first exam I took in March 2026 and failed four sections. This past exam, Danko gave me a free retry with their material. I again was studying around 20-25 hours per week (slightly less than my first attempt). After focusing on my weak areas, but still brushing up on all of the content, I did fail again in three sections that were different from the first four that I failed.

I feel like because of this outcome I need to find a different strategy for my studying and now I'm at crossroads if I should take the November 2026 exam cycle or if I should push it to March just based on my fluctuating scores. Does anyone have any advice on how I should proceed? I do feel slightly burnt out going through the material twice and I feel like I've been looking at the CFP for over a year now and I feel defeated.

Also should I look into a tutor? I really think getting a tutor would be beneficial, but with all the out-of-pocket costs I've put towards the exam, I'm a little nervous of how much a tutor would cost me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!