hello everyone and welcome to a very special bonus edition of Biff bites Mike we've been getting a lot of people ask us about the new code of ethics and standards of conduct that the CFP board put out it seems like everyone has it on the tip of their brain as far as what they're thinking about these days yeah you know there's some anxiety attached with that because maybe folks have looked at the old standards in the past and wondering how much it really changed but I think it's intensifying because we're approaching the exam and see if P Ward says that you know it's testable stuff for the November exam but we've got some tips and things for you here and hopefully that will relieve you a little bit and you'll know you can get through it yeah we've been having this conversation with so many students on a one-on-one basis that we figured it'd probably be a good idea to get a video out there so people can watch it at their own pace and get caught up with all the changes so just diving in right away we're gonna be going through the Code of Ethics estándar to conduct for those of you who don't know effective date of October 1st so it is currently in effect now but it's not going to be enforced until June correct Mike that's correct June of next year but we need to be acting under these this code and standards now right and as such it will be tested on the November exam the November 2019 exam is the first exam testing these new codes of ethics so it is something that we do need to have under our belts in order to you know score the best possible result we can when we take the exam yeah and in some good news right off the top here Wow while the code has has changed a lot of the language is the same as it used to be but the good news is the resource materials that the board has put together are really really excellent far superior to anything that they've had in the past it's far easier to read the code and the standards and they've done some really dynamite supplementary resource documents that Jerry and I will we'll talk a little bit about today so you've got all the material that you need to really master this piece and let these questions be begin ease for you on the exam yeah definitely definitely so let's take a look at this copy Mike you actually went in and you highlighted some of the most important parts if I'm not mistaken yeah I have some just highlights and some red boxes and and these are things that you know as a question writer you know you look at this and say hey here's some good test material and that's what you'll see in highlights and in red boxes either we're just spotting out good test material or we know that that's actually been on the exam in the past but this is a good way just to approach reading something like the standards definitely so yeah let's take a look so right off the bat the big one that I was not I don't want to say controversial but it's definitely the point part that everyone's talking about is fiduciary duty yeah this is the one that's getting talked about the most and tossed around and debated and such but this is the biggest change in the in the code and standards so this is a piece that I would be shocked if there weren't questions about it so the key here is distinction between financial advice and financial planning which we'll get into a little bit more here but there's three duties there owed whenever the planner is providing financial advice or financial planning and that's loyalty care and the duty to follow plan instructions you want to make sure you you understand this piece right definitely so I mean I feel this is a topic that most financial advisors are already acting towards their clients you know they're already taking their clients best interest at heart it's just more codifying it point yeah your abscess it's a great point Jerri you're absolutely right and I've said that of some of our students that have called worried about this I'm like read this pour through it cover to cover and then step back and say what about this are we really not already doing in our firm and you're gonna find this very little that's not actually being done yeah definitely now I noticed here you highlighted professional acting under a conflict of interest continues to have a duty to act in the best interest of their client in places the clients interest above the CFP professionals how come you wanted to draw attention to that yeah well conflict of interest is is just a really good test topic and having to disclose that you'll see that into disclosures that have to be made and they need to be avoided and managed but that's part of that duty of loyalty so even though there may not be a financial planning engagement the planner is still and under this duty of loyalty deadline I don't take a look at what we got next let's see so yeah I could have highlighted there on that there's that number five okay sure they'll go back they'll go ahead and there you go so there's the information about disclosure and it is a it has been tested before about what needs to be disclosed so again I'm gonna beg ya over and over to read this thing cover to cover but this is an important area as well so what uh what about the disclosure I do feel I I've seen quite a few test questions in relation to disclosures and when to disclose what not to disclose what are kind of your big takeaways with this section well just know that it's it's it's one of the biggies whether we're doing the financial advice or financial planning and we always must disclose conflicts of interest at the very top at the very beginning of the relationship now what's interesting and you'll see in one of these other documents is material conference of interest is one thing that can be provided verbally in either engagement which is a little weird to me you think that would be something that would always be in writing but it's actually the one thing on both sides that can be a verbal you'll see that in a minute and some other in another graph yeah I did want to talk about that a little bit because that is a question that confuses a lot of students is which disclosures have to be in writing and which disclosures are okay to just be given verbally yeah there's one of the documents that I want to reference in our time here Gerry is is the road map and it has a really good layout of the disclosures and under financial advice and under financial planning and we could either do that now or finish out with the the actual code and then get into the road map yeah let's go through the code and then we'll dive into the road map I have that cute queued up next year yeah that's all you need really to tackle this piece of it perfect so let's move on so professionalism comply with law those kind of seem like kind of obvious gimmies but confidentiality and privacy that's where things get a little interesting yep this has been the source of some questions in in the past and we want to know when it's okay to share information so I've highlighted a couple of things there a common sense just for ordinary business purposes we can share in the firm to be able to provide the services for legal and regulatory enforcement purposes or to defend oneself from from charges so just be aware generally in here more of the the instances when it can be shared and and there that's good for maybe a question or so on the exam yeah that's the difference between CFPs and doctors if the police come for an investigation you should turn over those details to the police yeah that's right so again this I just highlighted because I know it's been tested before right yeah and I feel that is something that a lot of people get tripped up on they'll get a question saying you know police officers are doing investigation of your client you know do you turn over the information to them and I feel a lot of people get conflicted with the loyalty to the clients and then you know confidentiality and privacy outlines yes that's a that's a good point and in down toward the bottom there you can see it's it's also highlighted whether that information is stored physically or electronically so we don't get a free pass if it's in one form or the other right and right and anything about providing notice to the client this is also kind of getting into the Rhydian verse verbal so yeah there's there's things at the beginning you know certain practices in the firm that always have to be disclosed but then then the main thing is if anything changes in the following year that you have to make sure that that gets disclosed to the client right definitely moving on continuing with the providing information theme providing information to the clients all right yeah so this is again highly testable topic here under the category of financial advice so we haven't gone into a financial planning engagement yet but again a lot of common-sense things in here the costs that the client may incur how compensation works a lot of bats in Form ADV the existence of any public discipline or bankruptcy must be disclosed to the client and in the past it was a little more lenient than that but this is an upfront thing now that has to be disclosed yeah bankruptcy I feel in particular CFP Board likes to test on those yeah in in in there may be some of that in some of these case studies we're gonna reference but they also have anonymous case studies you can read on CFP website and you can get a feel for the kind of things that cause trouble for a planner when they don't disclose it or you know have done something yeah definitely so that was under financial advice now let's dive into when you're actually providing full-fledged financial planning yes and that's where the switch is is flipped Jerry we're almost all of the disclosures then well absent of one has to be in writing so they're they're the same types of things on both sides advice and planning but now we flip it to in one or more written documents and again some of that is satisfied with form a DA adv and then some other documents but we might have to create some additional detail to comply with this right definitely definitely and big one terms of engagement yeah they really want clear letters of engagement you know what are the terms here and that needs to be spelled out we can't skip that piece and that's one that maybe sometimes that happens but a lot of firms already have a letter of engagement that will want to compare those two to the board standards and at some point they'll probably release a sample my understanding is that's not up right now but I would expect it and just make sure you're you're dotting all the eyes and crossing the t's and in the letter of engagement that the firm uses yeah I feel that's kind of this is a more difficult topic for most financial advisors currently working in the business because I know you know when I worked at firms this is something our compliance team handles you know I basically before my meeting with a client was just handed a manila folder and be like hey make sure you give this to the client before you start talking about anything like okay sure and then my job was done at that point good point though and and that also should release some of the anxiety just to understand friends that you're not hanging out there alone on this you've got legal folks that are looking at this you've got folks that are talking to the board from companies and they're gonna help with this type of compliance you're just not out there drafting your own stuff right and for those of you out there who maybe have your own AR IAS or you know super boutique firms things like that you don't have the army of compliance people there is a lot of resources out there as well sure yeah good point and then last time this pagers want to draw attention to because this is a big one that I feel a lot of people are gonna get the question on is time frames so with this particular you have 90 days to make any updates for material changes for public just disciplinary history or bankruptcy information I feel that's very testable absolutely you're exactly right in in end dates critical dates have been tested in the past yeah so keep that in mind 90 days for reporting things especially usually when I see bankruptcy it usually goes hand in hand like I feel one of the most common questions aren't that it gets seen over and over again is how many days you have to report a bankruptcy yep there can be a gimme then I would expect to see that question definitely so moving on duties when representing compensation method this is a big one this is a hot page it's Alan telling your clients how you get paid yeah and in this every time a new code comes out they changed the language of this a little bit but this is absolutely I mean I'd be shocked if this isn't tested particularly the the difference between fee only and and fee base they used to call it fee and Commission right yeah fee fee only and fee based is a big one that I work with a lot of students on because it's hard sometimes to picture something as fee only or fee based you know now that I'm on the spot examples are escaping me but this comes up a lot a lot of people have trouble differentiating between the two even though it seems like it's a really easy subject yes I mean the bottom line on this Jerry is it's it's really hard mmm-hmm to be a fee-only planner there are you know plenty of firms out there that truly it's just all by hourly building billing but it's tough to satisfy these these definitions when you get into looking at what is considered sales related compensation but I would expect a question where they described some of these things that show up as sales related to compensation in you you're gonna know the correct answers fee-based right I actually just thought of an example as you're talking about that mic so there was one question where I was talking about a financial advisor and this advisor makes their money by charging for office hours charges an annual fee and collects trailers on annuities are they fiown lee or fee based and a lot of people would go towards the fee only because the way they describe the advisor you know charging for office hours it doesn't sell stock doesn't get commissions or anything like that they would say fee only but in fact they were fee based because even though they weren't selling new new products or anything like that because they're accepting the trailers on existing annuities that makes them Phebe's because they are still technically receiving a commission from those annuities that were established a long time ago that's probably the best example and it would the story would go just as you stated you know that the practice has evolved and and maybe maybe the advisor started out in the insurance business or as a broker and in while now they no longer sell any new product they're getting these trails or renewal renewals from life insurance policies from ten years ago they would not satisfy the field even though that's all they're doing right now with clients yep yeah exactly that's that's a big one to be on the lookout for you know it even if they're not selling new products if you're still getting trails or 12b ones or anything like that from existing products that were sold years ago it's counts as fee-based yes and and and then I drew an arrow down there to a related party because it pulls them into this mix as well if it's the advisor or their firm that's receiving this sales related compensation then they can now hold out as as fee only so that's an important you know paragraph to read because the maybe the CFP has some ownership in it in a business entity that receives these fees and and trailers as such yeah and that's that's really common I mean when I was in the industry that was very common for most offices to have like the insurance guy or girl who ran all the insurance contracts and you know if if the your client wanted insurance you could be Fiona Lee but if you send them to the insurance specialist in your office who you know sells them an insurance contract where they're gonna get Commission's on then that would also still mean your fee based even though you're you yourself are not getting any commissions that's right yeah so here again I would I would bet heavily that you're gonna have one or more questions that relate to to this part of the code yeah definitely ready to move on the next page yeah just a couple more pages I think we have some highlights on so what other persons here yeah again this is a common-sense thing when you're gonna pull in other people to work on the client's behalf you kind of disclose that you gotta let them know there's there's going to be other people you have a an estate planning specialist in the firm or maybe you have a CPA that you work with for some tax issues you've got to let them know that's gonna happen upfront right for sure Financial Planning application backup what I think those are the bottom sorry Jerry yeah this has been tested oh yeah borrowing and lending money yeah this is a this is a big one cuz this scale is also a carryover from the series seven as well okay yeah millat of the red lines stuff in here is simply because I know it's been in there before again this is pretty common sense but watch for it and read through here particularly when is it okay to borrow or land and that's your you know the clients a member of the CFP Farrell's family or the lenders a business organization in the business of lending money those are the two two ways it can happen and that's sometimes how the question is posed yep so if your uncle Johnny is a banker it's okay to borrow from them because they are in the business of lending money and also because they are a family member though I forget Mike how far have separation does family member carry I think aunts and uncles are okay but I believe anything beyond that it starts to get crazy that sounds right Jerry I think if I were ever gonna do it I would I would I would call to confirm yeah but that sounds right right and I I do believe unless it's changed in the last decade that it's the same rules carried over from the series seven in FINRA and then same with commingling I mean I mean again you're gonna get this one because it's common sense you know when in doubt don't do it yeah don't mix your friends with your clients funds yeah and if you can't decide on you know you've got the answer choices down to two and you can't decide if there's any doubt that something might be a piece of compensation or it could be considered commingling then always err on the side of what's the greatest protection for the client and that's that's the one I would choose right for sure so next we have financial planning and application of the practice for the financial planning process itself yeah just a couple of things on here and and so here we've we we're into an engagement we're going to do financial planning and so that opens the door to another set of regulations having to do really with the steps in the financial planning process and then what we can and cannot do and so you want to make sure you read through this piece because you may get a scenario based question is here's where they're at in the relationship and they're going to do this isn't this what watch the the planner do next and that's this is the section of material that we give you that that information and then down at the bottom the red box that has been tested I heard of this being tested ever since the first standards came in into play so expect some scenarios where the clients may be not cooperating a hundred percent or at all and what should the planner do so you know one is not enter into the engagement or limit the scope of the engagement to only the areas in which the client is cooperating or go ahead and provide the services after the discussion of how this would benefit to do it as a formal engagement or you just terminate an engagement authority underway if they you know later don't cooperate and understand that not every one of them is going to be terminating the engagements right yeah exactly I kind of think of this as like the obstinate client scenario where you have a new client who comes to you to make a retirement plan this client doesn't want to tell you their annual income their expenses when they want to retire exactly that's the the obstinate client is exactly what they're describing here I had a guy a few cycles ago and he did not pass the test and we were talking about this because he was surprised you know that that there were as many questions as there as there were about this code and standard and so he had several scenarios of the obstinate client and he said you know what in my firm we would just fire him I marked every one of them terminate the engagement that was the answer on all the three or four that he saw so look in there and see is there any language where there there is something you can do for the client most slamming yeah I usually err on the side of limit the scope of the engagement because as long as there's some room to provide value to the client you're usually free to take that as long as you cover yourself and limit the scope when basically say hey I appreciate you came to see me but if you're not going to tell me any of your retirement goals or income or anything like that I'm not gonna be able to make a retirement claim for you but I'm still happy to you know come up with a asset allocation for your portfolio or just do transactions you know or put you know take a life insurance application or something that's not financial planning but you're exactly right in the description you're not going to do a whole plan and this is one of those I find that particularly very experienced planners need to unhitch from real world a little bit right right yeah especially some of the more established planners who already have their book of business and aren't really hungry for new clients you know if if they have a client that gives them any lip there they're really quick to just cut the strings like I don't have to put up with this yeah oh and that was the guy that I was talking to I will just fire him in my firm you know I hit that wagon a little bit and look at it through there CFP board eyes and an exam world eyes right that's a big one on that page perfect yeah let's move on what do we have here yeah just study the steps this is getting into the steps in the financial planning process you may have studied this before if you've taken the exam a little change in here where the second red box there's a step in there now about analyzing the clients current course of action or any potential alternatives do the the recommendation of my teammate don't overlook that as a possible correct answer that what they're describing to you and the question stem you know what it's on it's on target to meet their goal there's no overwhelming need to make a change here I would be on the lookout for that as a correct answer right now one question I get asked a lot Mike is is the CFP board going to test on specific steps like are you gonna get a question that says what is rule 3a say and are you gonna have to regurgitate that just based off of the step and sub-sub casa scripts good good question I have never known the exam to do that it's more descriptive piece you know when or in in in this in understanding a client's personal and financial circumstances you know what all is involved there well you see in the red box qualitative and quantitative information or you might get a list of wheel which of the following would be considered quantitative information and in the basic rule there of course is anything that can be counted yeah of life so it would describe where you're at but what we need to know is okay what goes on in that step but it's not going to be what is a practice standard you know three three point a and leave it at that it won't be that way right perfect this is kind of just continuing the steps on yeah just this is old hat stuff the only wrinkle was that analyzing current situation but the rest of them have always been in there if you've looked at this previously so again just refresh with it make sure you read through it and get a feel for how CFP board sees things happening in each step and again it may not be exactly as you're doing in your own firm so you know as they as you look through what if they think happens during input the plan so you know duties get discussed and such so just make sure you give it a good read yep definitely now duties owed to your firm and subordinates this is a big one the Madrid line I put on here was that if there's any public discipline you've got to tell your firm yeah you know even though they're an outside body you have to report it to the firm I think that's a good exam question yeah definitely especially drug and alcohol related offenses I feel that one gets tested fairly frequently yeah and this is interesting in the in the previous standards there was specific language to conviction mm-hmm that has gone away it seems if it's a second or more offense so that was interesting that caught my attention of Mahad yeah I didn't notice that that is interesting so is that so is that basically saying now so previously you only had to report it if you were actually convicted because they got rid of the conviction does that mean you now have to report it even if it you haven't been convicted the way I read this is if it's the second or more time yes so now even if you don't get a court case or anything like that it's still reportable that's how I'm reading this now there used to be a question that a person was charged and then it didn't talk about any type of conviction and the correct answer was he didn't need to report that but you know there's no language here that speaks of conviction interesting yeah that is gonna we're gonna have to take a look at this November exam results see if we can get any more insight about that because that is gonna be interesting if that slight if it's just the person who wrote it left that out unintentionally or if that's a conscious decision by the CFP board exactly yeah and I just think if the if they're gonna jump into this when it might be that fact that they now have second in there so that's why I read lined it and then on down there you know a civil lawsuit yes again might not involve the person's practice at all but now it has to be it has to be disclosed right definitely now refrain from adverse conducts yeah and that's where a lot of that comes in what we were just looking at is they're looking at you know how does this reflect on the profession and you know one's ability to do right by the client so there it's it's more than just I think about convictions and such it's you know what else have they done that might reflect that they're there they're not up to the task of being a financial planner the old standards Oh Jerry you might have to help me but I think it was two bankruptcies they wanted to know but it was unlikely to revoke the the marks unless it was like a second one but now just the existence of one needs to be reported so that's a little more stringent and the federal tax lien pizzas completely new yeah definitely so yeah you're right I believe it was second bankruptcy you get your marks revoked but you wouldn't have to report the first one now you also you have to report the first one you're not gonna lose your marks with the first one but you do have to report it and I think also a key thing that people don't realize is and it's not necessarily right away obvious is that it's not just personal bankruptcies if you are a control person in a business you know member the board something you know you had influence in a business and that business declared a bankruptcy that also reflects negatively upon you as a CFP because you are one of the individuals trying to make sure that the companies stay solvent exactly that's that's exactly right and and even things like disclosures from FINRA you know a planner should should make sure that they're disclosing those type of things as as well yep and then same federal tax lien on property that kind of falls into the same you know spirit of the law with the bankruptcies and that you know if you are getting tax liens on your property it's because you were you know less than I have pristine and your your finances in some area and if you if you can't manage your own finances how can you be expected to manage other people's right yes that's basically their their position although they do allow that to be appealed based on specific circumstances but the the default is hey that's not good then we may not need you may not be able to do the marks we have another reporting thing below that for thirty days here that's another one de to mark with these type of disciplinary things and there's even language in 3a they're been charged with or convicted in and so we're gonna remember thirty days there I think that's a good question yeah so 90 days for bankruptcy 30 days for charges or convictions yep yeah so you know just be aware and again a lot of this can fall under the common sense you know what I have to report this or not but a couple of things might be more specific like these days or the fact that it's charged with or convicted yeah I think if you remember 30 days and 90 days you'll be in good shape 30 days for a conviction 90 days for a bankruptcy yeah they used to have in the old cold there were some things with 10 days there were some with 30 there were some with 45 and 90 yeah it was a lot harder but the old one keeping all the days straight yeah longer so I think you got a good shot at it here with just a 90 and a 30 to remember and I think that's all we've got highlighted in the oh yeah this is just kind of going more on to the bankruptcy stuff and then after that it gets in the glossary so yeah that wraps up the code I mean yes there it's packed of information but this is a lot shorter and more manageable than the old code so I think this is a net positive that might be an oxymoron you notice it's good news about the yeah new code but everything you need is in there not only to get the questions for the exam but to kind of get a good feel for operating moving forward under under the code and then so you know I to tell us a lot of students if I were preparing for the exam now I would read the standards the code and standards once a week and I and I really mean it and I've gotten a lot of contact from students after the exam saying I thought you were kidding or I thought that would be overkill but you were right it threads through quite a few questions on the exam that this is pretty easy rating compared to what it used to be yeah for sure a lot more manageable reading this once a week compared to the old one yeah and then you couple that with these other documents that are dynamite and I really expect these to become nice for you definitely let's so let's dive into the roadmap yeah and again read this cover to cover but I just want to hit a couple of things if we can slide through start scrolling here Gerry and let's get to well there's the duties back up here I think one more yep yeah that's a pretty good look that's an easy thing to look at of what makes up the fiduciary duty and and how they describe it it happening again we mentioned that right out of the code but I think this is easier to read actually yeah that's what I do like about the roadmap for those of you who are visual learners out there like myself it is a lot easier on the eyes seeing the more kind of info graph setup compared to just the legal framework that the actual code is written in yeah so you give that code a good read you know a few times and then you really spend time in this roadmap and I think you can nail every one of these questions but scroll into there's a section Jerry that breaks out there you there you go back back one more financial advice so remember with these disclosures that are coming up in the next in the next page we need to break down between advice and and planning so this is a great way yes side by side with what isn't is not you see there is not financial advice just a basic communication to a client responses to directed orders we were talking about the obstinate client maybe all he wants you to do is trades well that's a good example of where not to in financial advice we're just doing directed orders or marketing materials or sometimes you'll have a question where the the financial planner teaches courses at a community college and from time to time people say after and ask questions are they giving financial advice or plenty and no it's part of their class that's been on the exam before but this breaks down financial advice the next page breaks down financial planning I believe yeah so just check the box have I done this this or this and then sometimes it the arrow going to the integration factors are you know it's basically answering the question how deeply am I going into a particular area you know how much information is being gathered but again I really think common sense carries the day on you know am I engaged here in the financial planning scenario yeah I remember the answers always terminate the engagement right we don't just forget about these three others I think yeah I like this one a lot better limit the skills this is the best material they've ever put out yeah this is really good material I do like this roadmap yeah this is also really great for visualizing the seven steps their their little circle of the financial and there's a stream where we have to evaluate their current course of action and so and then you see some documentation pieces there that's that's you know we've got these a lot of this documentation exists in different forms within ones firm and realize those can be used right definitely and I like the comment when in doubt document yeah when in doubt document yeah there you go here here's one of my favorite pages in this whole booklet and that's the disclosures so under financial advice and under financial planning privacy policy we had that section highlighted about confidentiality and privacy back in the code well that one always has to be in writing whether it's financial advice or financial planning there's are so you can remember that and then orally you've got a long list if it's if it's financial advice you've got all of these that line up of things that can really just be it can be mentioned can be given orally I mean the safest thing of course is to always do all of that in writing but understand that when it's just financial advice there's only one thing it has to be in writing and that's a good exam question yeah definitely they uh it's kind of funny how these two are mirror images of each other or financial planning yeah advice yeah and then we flip it into financial planning and now all the rest of that list has to become in writing except material conflicts of interest that's the one that can be orally either way right which even so like I would I would just give everything written but it's for test purposes you you can give conflicts of interest orally yeah you know em see material conflicts and then I'll just say em for it can be mentioned as opposed to written if you need to segregate that but I I said earlier I think that's kind of weird that that one's not writing but okay with me yep gets to cover yeah I think it's to cover advisers who just like offhand mention things like oh by the way you know we we also have the this company as a client or something like that yeah yeah so I think that's the the the only other thing I wanted to mention in the booklet but but do read the whole thing it's I think it's like thirty five or six pages there's a lot of great stuff in here more for practice management and then what you'll but you'll see tested I'm on the right-hand side here the pages your flippy now the tips so that kick is my attention essay uh is that material for a question under those tips so anyway that's what we wanted to mention on this particular thing and then I think Jerry we were gonna mention about the case studies yes I've got the case studies so let's dive into those these have been great the one in this handbook these are the same ones that are on the website the CFP board website is that correct that's correct and then I we've covered we covered some of these I think in one of the first Biff bites podcasts yeah a lot of people we should do some more of those because a few students have reached out to me to say how much they liked those case studies so we'll probably do a couple more of these on a future episode of myth mites but okay if people can't wait and they want to dive into these but we definitely recommend cuz these are great practice the CFP board has come out with this case study from yeah again just an excellent document and we won't go case by case but just remember it's here read them and then the reason that we wanted to talk about it today and just tell you go get this booklet or download it from from their website I think this is how the questions will be written yeah I do too these are written almost exactly like CFP board questions I mean they give you a breakdown of a little blurb story of what's going on they ask you a question you know did Sarah satisfy her fiduciary duty you know on the test we'll give you four options but for these they're just giving you yes or no and then they'll give you a very detailed breakdown of why the correct answer is the correct answer yes I think that's just excellent that they took the time to really give insight into that particular piece that was being tested yeah so if you want to pull the curtain back from the CFP board a little bit and see how they tick I think these are some of the best resources that you can use for that yeah I mean you know they're test writers as well so just think about it you know if if this is how they see fiduciary duty why wouldn't the question look something like East they've already written and then hoped that you studied so this is another cover to cover Neal as far as your study so you've got three gotta read things your code the roadmap and the case studies yep for sure so all three of those are super important that's really what we recommend students tackle if you're trying to get these you know what if you do if you do these readings these points should be pretty easy give me it give me points you know there's not really much subjectivity I mean some of the case studies you can get a little subjective but as long as you have the process down and the rules down a lot of these are pretty easy points they really are and in you put in the time you get the points but conversely you know I've had students over the years that didn't pass and in the debriefing with them you talked about the standards like I didn't read that stuff I've been in business for 15 years I know how to run the practice and I know what's ethical or not well yeah you do but this is the exam land this is CFP world so you got to read that stuff yeah I will say that with a lot of students I talked to you who aren't successful in their attempts CFP Board does tell them which sections they scored lows in and usually I mean there's the normal ones like tax or retirement like those can be difficult ones but without fail almost every time general principles is in their low lows to mediums because it's it's a section that can really shoot you in the foot if you don't put the work in and you kind of skip over it thinking it's not as important absolutely and you know we would just instinctively think oh that's the easy stuff that's kind of the fundamentals but if you look at the breakdown of the exam between general principles of financial planning the the code and standards and education we've broken out as a separate section it's something like 30 percent of the questions on the exam relate to those those general principles type of topics course number one if you will I mean that's a staggering percentage of the overall questions if you have no principles at 17% and the kodan standards or 7% in education at 6% yeah so it's a lot of points to leave on the table by not just you know doing some fairly easy readings yeah and if you get stuck you know give us a shout when in doubt give us a shout who will help you you know we're not the authorities on this we're not we're not CFP board but we spend a lot of time with this material so we can help you yeah for sure and I think Michael we're gonna try to do with this video is also include links to three PDFs that we saw great idea and then I'm also gonna try and actually get your version your highlighted ones people can you know see the most important aspects that you outlined the Code of Ethics yeah or at least to set the stage of what to be looking for yeah you know what where's that testable material and Jerry and I are pretty good at that too because we write questions so yeah put it out there that'd be great yeah I wonder we should maybe we should start telling students that are having trouble with certain sections Mike to try writing their own questions that's not the best way to understand you know really how these questions work and you know how to get the right answer with them as just seeing how they work on the inside well yeah and not only write the good question but coming up with three tempting wrong answer choices that's the killer yeah yeah it's easy to get that you know choose the right answer it's more difficult using answers that look like they could be right but you know aren't necessarily right and I feel that's why on a lot of the CFP exam questions you'll get one or two of the wrong answers that are you know technically right but not necessarily the best right answer that yeah they could be it could be an absolute correct statement but it's not what the question stem is testing yeah in this particular question and I think most folks feel that on the exam it was fairly easy to go from four answer choices down to two and then it was challenging to pick between the remaining two and I think the decider and all that is did we spend the time to get into this kind of material not only for the standards in the code but with all of our subjects do we get into the nitty-gritty because that's how you bounce out that that last remaining incorrect choice yeah for sure well awesome Mike this is good fun definitely help our students get a lot of value out of this and just keep reading those code of ethics yeah boring stuff in the beginning you might actually want to go with a print copy and people on your nightstand and if you're you know anxious about the exam and can't sleep some night dive into the code and you'll be yeah definitely a design is a great replacement for sleeping pills all right Jerry talk to you later talk to you later Mike