Written By: Rebecca Wiggins

Executive Director Message

As I write this message to you, the sun is shining and the air feels like Spring! The first quarter has been filled with exciting changes and progress towards our goals for the organization and our field at large.  We have hit the ground running with planning for another exceptional annual symposium this Fall, because it will be here before we know it! Here are just a few things we have been up to:

Membership Resources

This year, we have rolled out even more reasons to join AFCPE Membership, in addition to our research journal, newsletter articles, network of professionals, and award opportunities. Beginning this year, all AFCPE webinars are FREE to AFCPE Members! Help spread the value of AFCPE Membership to your colleagues. More information can be found in this Membership Packet.

Errors & Omissions (E&O) Insurance

Over the past few years, many AFCPE professionals have expressed interest in investing in E&O insurance for their private practice, but also difficulty in finding options that are both viable and affordable. In an effort to ensure that you can obtain simple, comprehensive, and lower cost errors and omission (E&O) coverage for your practice, we have negotiated some opportunities specifically available to AFCPE Members. We continue to explore viable options for you, but see this as an important first step. As the pool of professionals grows, we will be able to continue to negotiate better plans honed more specifically to your needs. Please login to your Membership Dashboard to explore these options further along with other discounts available to you!

AFC® Online Study Course

We are proud to announce a supplementary tool to support your preparation for the AFC® certification examination! The course is designed to guide Candidates through the material, providing additional tools and resources to develop skills, test comprehension, and provide application examples for the content! The course is now included with the self-study pathway and available as an add-on for all other pathways. Housed in a learning management system, the course allows Candidates to:

  • Divide the material into manageable sections of content.
  • Sort through study processes more efficiently.
  • Engage with other certification candidates through discussion boards.
  • Tap into different learning styles, utilizing videos for visual learners.
  • Apply the material you are learning with “Think Like A Counselor” exercises.
  • Access study materials, including a glossary of terms and worksheets.
  • Explore additional resources and links to bring the material to life.
  • Experience new content, including case study applications for non-traditional clients and instruction on cultural sensitivity.

Events & Partnerships

We are excited to keep expanding our Statewide Investor Education Events in partnership with Investor Protection Trust. Last year we held an event in Atlanta, and this year we will bring the community engagement focus to Iowa! We are also part of a Money Confidence for Women program in Atlanta on May 3rd.  If you are in those areas, stay tuned for more ways to get involved!

This year, AFCPE partnered with America Saves to roll out our “Connect with an AFC” pilot – offering all Savers who took the saver’s pledge during America Saves Week the opportunity to sign up to meet with an AFC. We had more than 50 Savers take advantage of this opportunity and our counselors will be meeting with them throughout the Spring. We are excited to share stories and results later this Summer, and hope to grow the program in 2020.

2019 Symposium Call for Presenters

Mark your calendars for November 19-21, 2019 in Portland, Oregon.  Please note that this year the program starts one day earlier on Tuesday the 19th. This year’s theme is Connect. Empower. Impact. These three simple words underscore the incredible power of the AFCPE network and the energy of the annual symposium. The Call for Presenters is now open. If you are interested in presenting a practitioners’ forum, poster, research paper, research to practice forum (new!), or student paper, don’t miss the deadline to submit a proposal by June 3, 2019!

New! AFCPE uniquely brings together researchers and practitioners from all across the field of personal finance, and are focused on bridging the gap to facilitate integration for greater impact. That’s why we are thrilled to announce a new submission forum for the symposium, called Research to Practice. Submissions in this category should demonstrate effective collaboration of research and practice that advances the field and elevates the standards that AFCPE has set. This could be a practitioner who is working closely with a researcher to implement successful research findings, or a researcher who is collaborating with a practitioner to further test their hypothesis and methodologies.

New Symposium Award: Best Symposium Research to Practice Collaboration is available for this category and includes a monetary award up to $500 and up to 2 complimentary registrations to attend the 2019 AFCPE Symposium. This award is sponsored by National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE).

Thanks to each of you for your commitment to the highest standards of professionalism and your ongoing support and participation in AFCPE. We hope to see you soon on an AFCPE webinar, at a training, or in Portland in November!

Rebecca Wiggins, Executive Director

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