Blogging about money allows the freedom to explore new ideas while we teach ourselves more and more things. Also, we don’t have the immense responsibility of handling other people’s livelihoods.

It’s too bad some financial professionals have the ideal personality for “off-the-cuff,” while their advice isn’t nearly as good as what you’ll find on PF blogs.

It depends on your state. I live in Texas, where the Consumer Credit Commissioner manages licensing Debt Management Services Providers. The only requirements are to fill out an application, obtain a surety bond, and paying a $250 investigation fee and $430 annual fee. This license is required for anyone who wants to provide a debt management service in Texas, regardless of where they are based.

You can additionally become certified through the National Association of Certified Credit Counselors for $350, though you don’t need this to call yourself a debt counselor or credit counselor.

I liked post #25 by Andrew Stevens. Having personal experience in the biz, I think he is the most on target of all the comments.
Getting into the business is tough, however the industry is maturing incredibly fast. If you’re remotely interested in pursuing this as a career you MUST check out the Moss Adams studies that are published yearly. They have been providing benchmarking studies for many years now and their research shows that the industry is experiencing incredible growth and change.

I would not advise starting out with a company like Ameriprise, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Morgan Stanley or any such company. In those cases you will be a salesman for the most part. If you’re truly interested in this as a career seek out an independent RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) who works on a fee basis, not commission. A decent sized RIA office will have hte ability to bring on newbies and move them up through the ranks to the point where they’re able to work with clients directly and provide advice to clients. With most decent RIA shops, you will not be pushing investments you will be selling ADVICE. This is was true Advisors do, they give ADVICE for a fee. The investments are a by-product of the advice. Most investment management will be “sub-contracted” out to professional money managers. Most post here miss the point that CFP are NOT money managers, they are financial planners. If you want to be a professional money manager, look at the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation.

Other’s have made comments about CFP’s not helping those who need it most, namely the lower income folks. This is true and it is a battle that is discussed at length within the industry. The problem is the economics of helping someone who cannot afford to pay for the advice. It’s impossible to run a business without paying clients. So it’s puts the Advisor’s office between a rock & a hard place. My office routinely accepts clients who’s fees do not make them profitable clients. The lager clients, who pay more in fees, end up subsidizing the smaller clients. Many offices will help a certain number of people pro-bono each year. But there really is no good solution yet.

Good luck to you all.

Bill, CFP

my one qualification, so far, is that I’ve gotten myself out of debt, so I think I could be helpful to those seeking counseling and education about spending and debt.