Doors to the 2024 Externship have closed.
We'll see you next summer for
The Externship 2025
The only online training experience focused on making an impact with your career in financial planning.
The Externship
The only online training program focused on a career in financial planning
The Externship 2024 is available for purchase now!
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT
ABOUT YOUR EXTERNSHIP BENEFITS
CFP Board Standard Pathway Experience Hours
IS NOW
CFP Board Standard Pathway Experience Hours
If you’re on the fence about joining The Externship, this is the year to do it!
3200 lives changed.
This year, it could be yours.
start your career with confidence.
Everything you need to know
Cost
$350
Registration deadline
May 29
PROGRAM DATES
June 3-July 26, 2024
Where
The Externship is 100% virtual and asynchronous. That means you can take part from any part of the world, at any time of the day.
WHO CAN JOIN?
Anyone interested in starting or advancing in a career in financial planning!
If you’re an employer, click here for information just for you.
It's our birthday.
And we're celebrating!
To celebrate year 5 of The Externship, we’re giving 5 seats of The Externship for $5 each. On April 5!
The only way to enter the giveaway is to join our waitlist! The names will be drawn and announced at 5 p.m. CT on April 5! Join the list by April 5 at noon, CT!
We have a proven record of success.
More than 3,200 new and future financial planners have taken the Externship since 2020.
What’s included
Access to financial planning software, tools, and training
8 weeks of virtual learning. Access trainings on your own time
180 CFP Board Standard Pathway experience hours
50+ experts and professionals sharing their work
Work on real client scenarios and watch client meetings
Countless ways to find your own path in the profession
Investment Planning
Insurance and Risk Management Planning Cash Flow Planning
Student Loan Planning and College Planning Retirement Planning
Tax Planning
Estate Planning
Navigating Your Career
Learn more at a free Open-House Webinar!
We make financial planning
come alive
Technology Access
In The Externship, you’ll have the opportunity to get eMoney Certified at no additional cost.
You’ll also have access to and training in the best financial planning tools. By the time you leave this program, you’ll be able to walk into a job and hit the ground running with financial planning software that makes your work easier. Past externs have told us they learn more about these tools in our program than they learn in a software certificate program!
A Pathway to Your CFP®
Experience as a Real Planner
Experience what your day-to-day would be like as a financial planner by seeing client meetings, using the software and doing the work as if you were a financial planner.
We want you to experience what it is like to be a financial planner so you have what you need to make the best career decisions for you. Instead of just seeing how ONE planner thinks or one career path, you’ll see many different ways financial planners think and discover what is the pathway for you!
To add to all of that, The Externship also offers live office-hour access to top financial planners — so you can see how some of the best of the best do their work.
Who are The Externs?
You might be wondering if there is a place for you in The Externship, and the answer is: YES!
The Externs are a diverse group of students and professionals. They come from across the U.S. and even around the world, and range in age from students to retirees. Get to know eight of our most common types of Externs and why they join The Externship.
Wondering how people fit The Externship into their busy lives? Click here to see a few example schedules.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Externship will be between 15-25 hours every week if taken within eight weeks. This includes time in the course, time spent working on the homework and time learning the software. To earn 180 hours of CFP Board Standard Pathway experience, you will need to complete all of Homework assignments before the end of the program.
Participants will have an additional four weeks after the program conclusion to complete course work. The last day to complete any course work to complete the program and/or obtain the 180 Standard Pathway experience hours is Saturday, August 31st, 2024.
Yes! In previous years, we had externs who worked a full-time job and were still able to participate and complete The Externship. The program has been designed with scheduling flexibility in mind and can be completed on your time. There are live elements each week, but they are recorded and available for you to watch the next day.
Every week there will be live office hours and calls. We would love it if you could make the calls and ask questions live, but if you can’t, replays will be posted within 24 hours for you to watch.
Scheduled live office hours are every Wednesday at 11am, 1pm and 3pm CT. Additional live calls will be scheduled throughout the week based on availability of speakers and specific programming. Externs will be provided with a list of the live calls to help manage their schedule.
If you have a conflict, don’t worry, you will be able to watch the replays!
You will need a modern browser to access the course on our site and the ability to access files hosted by Google.
To join live meetings and webinars you will need to use the Zoom client.
Monday – Meet the weekly experts as they showcase how they do financial planning
Tuesday – Technology training, homework assignments given, sit in on real financial planning meetings with Hannah
Wednesday – Live office hours with experts (11am, 1pm, 3pm CT)
Thursday – Live technology training, special topics
Friday – Level Up sessions, Homework walkthroughs
Yes! Even if you don’t have experience within financial planning, we will walk you through everything you need to know.
Yes! While you may not need the CFP Board’s experience hours, there is a lot of valuable information and valuable looks inside other financial planning practices.
Yes! There are so many great reasons to become a financial planner and The Externship will highlight the many different career options available in this field. Many previous Externs have said it has helped clarify the direction they want to take in their career as well as bring context to what they learn in their education courses.
Whether you love numbers, want to help people live their best lives, or find fulfillment in working on teams, financial planning may be your ideal career path. The Externship showcases just what a planner’s work looks like, and how you can make an impact with this career!
You’ll get the opportunity to see how financial planning is applied in diverse financial planning firms, and with diverse clientele, so you can really decide if this career is for you.
Yes! We love seeing familiar faces!
Yes! You’ll be eligible to receive the experience hours again this year. The great news is that it provides 180 hours this year! Experience hours will only apply to the standard pathway requirement.
Unfortunately, the experience hours provided in this program do not qualify for the CFP Board Apprenticeship Pathway requirement. The Apprenticeship Pathway requires that your experience be delivered by personally engaging with individual clients.
Thanks to our partners, we are able to offer a limited number of full scholarships to The Externship. Learn more here.
If your question is not answered above, please contact us at [email protected].