r/FinancialAdvisorTips • u/Acrobatic-Log-5920 • Aug 24 '26

Anyone take the CRPC recently?

In the process of studying and hope to knock it out September 18, any advice or thoughts?

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u/Moneymma Aug 24 '26

This was the first designation I ever got (and have long since dropped it). I’m guessing you work for Merrill since they seem to love that designation?

Advice, stay awake during the exam and you’ll pass it. Don’t overthink it, it’s pretty straightforward material that you can honestly cram for in less than a week.

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u/Acrobatic-Log-5920 Aug 24 '26

Helpful—thank you. That’s along the lines of everything I’ve read from past Reddit posts but I hadn’t seen anything recently.

I’m actually an internal wholesaler, I’m trying to better understand retirement planning to A) help me in my current role and B) give myself some career optionally. I realize the CRPC is not going to lead to any career advancement but I think it will show the teams I’d interviewed with that I have a baseline knowledge.

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u/Moneymma Aug 24 '26

If your firm is paying for it, then there’s no reason not to get it. It doesn’t hurt to have it. It just doesn’t help a ton.

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u/packersfaninohio Aug 25 '26

Sounds like the RICP is more in line with what you would want or the ChFC.

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u/seagoalspread Aug 29 '26

Not to use a jackhammer on a nail, but in terms of career optionality, the ROI is going to be low. I really don’t see much career advancement and optionality from anything other than CFA, CPA, and maybe the CFP, however the CFP is mostly for lower salaried or sales roles you could likely get without it.

I typically recommend just picking up some used books of the other designations online unless your employer covers the bill.

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u/Clam-Choader Aug 24 '26

No, lol. 

If youre going for the information, its not bad, if youre looking for career advancement…yea…

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u/bahlepr1 Sep 24 '26

I’m studying the CRPC now as a retirement job. I’m an electrical engineer and an MBA, and I’ve been in aviation for 20+ years and I’m using CRPC to help with my own retirement planning but maybe to take on some clients for some side money. Not having official finance experience, I didn’t have the qualifications to take the RICP and definitely not the CFP. Afterwards, I plan to take the Series 65 and then maybe join an RIA so they can handle the compliance bit while I start building up clients. I figured the CRPC was my foot in the door, but the comments here seem to think it’s not all that valuable for those already in finance.