Sample of Practice CFP® Exam Questions

One of the keys to being truly “exam ready” for the CFP® exam is to work as many sample practice CFP® exam questions as possible. There are a number of benefits to working practice CFP® exam questions; here are a few:

• It gives you an opportunity to practice what you know.

• It will identify what you don’t know.

• By getting questions right (and wrong) you are also learning the subtleties of how questions can be asked and how they should be answered.

• Sometimes there are differences between academic and real world questions, such as margin trading and how much equity an investor is required to contribute under a margin call.

I remember a students saying to me one time... “I know the material. I know the material when you teach it and I know the material when we work a question in class. However, when I work a problem on the same material by myself, I get it wrong.” My response was, “Then you really don’t know the material. You need to change the way you’re thinking and keep working practice questions on the topics you think you know. Once your scores are 70%+, then you “know the material,” so keep working the practice CFP® exam questions.”

I would suggest that at least half of your preparation time for the CFP® exam should be spent working sample CFP® exam questions. As a benchmark, that means spending about 100 hours, working about 3,000 questions in total. As part of The Dalton Review® for the CFP® exam, we have approximately 1,500 questions in our pre-study materials and another 1,500 questions in our Online Examiner Test Bank. Many of the questions in the pre-study materials and the Online Examiner Test Bank were developed by former members of the CFP Board of Examiners.

Request CFP® Exam Sample Questions for Free

Check out our FREE CFP® exam sample questions to test your level of knowledge. Reprinted from THE DALTON REVIEW® Online Questions Bank, these are moderate difficulty questions, similar to what you can expect on the CFP® exam.

How Many Questions Are on the CFP® Exam?

The CFP® exam is a computer-based test consisting of 170 multiple-choice questions which you can answer within two 3-hour sections, each divided into two subsections. The CFP® exam questions cover five key areas of fundamentals of financial planning, insurance planning, investments, income taxation, retirement and employee benefits and estate planning.

What Types of Questions Are on the CFP® Exam?

The CFP® exam questions fall into three buckets: short scenarios, stand-alone, and case studies. Case studies are an opportunity for students to showcase and apply course material knowledge to real-world scenarios. There are typically between 8 and 12 questions per case study.

Scenario-based questions follow a multiple-question format, with 3 questions per scenario displayed on the left side of the screen and the accompanying questions on the right, presented one at a time. Lastly, 2-3 sentence long stand-alone questions come with 4-answer options to choose from.

What Is the CFP® Exam Format?

Three hours are provided for the first 85 questions and another 3 hours for the last 85 questions. Each section is subdivided into two subsections. Candidates may take an optional unscheduled break after question 43 of the first subsection.

What Is the Hardest Section of the CFP® Exam?

Generally, the hardest area for students tends to be tax, retirement and estate planning. In fact, passing or failing the exam often comes down to the difference between getting 5-7 questions right or wrong, in those subject areas.

CFP® Exam Prep Courses With Practice Tests

Our comprehensive CFP® exam review packages are designed to equip candidates with the educational tools and confidence they need to perform at their best and pass the exam with flying colors. Our CFP® exam review packages include:

• Thousands of practice CFP® exam practice questions

• Study guides with cases from past CFP® exams

• Exam Readiness Assessment to determine your chances of passing

• Recorded online lectures on the most important exam topics

• Attend live online or traditional classroom reviews, or attend both at no extra cost

• All live online review lectures are recorded and available for playback any time.

Take it a step further with our Guarantee to Pass™ bundle, which ensures you either pass or receive your money back. Our Guarantee to Pass™ package includes:

• One-on-one coaching sessions after the Review Readiness and Exam Readiness Assessments

• ~20 hours of Supplemental Lectures covering the most challenging concepts that could be tested

• Supplemental Questions and Answer Lectures designed to stretch your knowledge so that regardless of how hard a question is asked, you will get it right.

Joseph M. Gillice, CPA, CFP®
President
Dalton Education, LLC