Financial Planning Skills Certification Grade 1 study guide
Financial Planning Skills Certification Grade 1 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Financial Planning Skills Certification Grade 1 is a multiple-choice credential aimed at people who want to demonstrate practical, client-facing financial planning competence rather than pure product knowledge. Candidates typically include bank and insurance advisors, junior planners, paraplanners, and career-changers moving into advisory roles. The Financial Planning Skills Certification Grade 1 study guide has 9 sections and about 2,829 words.
01Financial planning fundamentals and professional ethics
Domain 1 covers the seven-step financial planning process, the planner's legal and ethical duties, and the business practices that sustain trust. Questions typically ask you to distinguish fiduciary from suitability standards, identify conflicts of interest, and apply confidentiality, competence and disclosure rules to realistic adviser-client scenarios.
330 words, about 2 min02Client data gathering and financial goal setting
Domain 2 tests the quality of the fact-find and the discipline of turning client hopes into measurable goals. Expect quantitative data (balance sheet, cash flow, tax returns, policies) and qualitative data (attitudes, experience, values, health, family obligations), plus goal prioritisation and time horizons.
310 words, about 2 min03Cash flow management and household budgeting
Domain 3 examines household cash-flow statements, budgeting, liquidity and debt management. Questions ask you to calculate savings rates and ratios, spot structural deficits, and design a budget that funds goals without pretending the client can save more than income allows.
300 words, about 2 min04Risk management and insurance planning
Domain 4 tests risk identification, treatment and insurance design. You must be able to size life, health, disability and liability cover, compare policy structures, and explain indemnity, insurable interest and the limits of insurance as a financial tool.
310 words, about 2 min05Investment planning and asset allocation
Domain 5 covers risk and return, diversification, asset allocation, investment policy statements and portfolio review. Questions test whether you can translate a client's goals and risk profile into a coherent allocation, and whether you understand costs, taxes and behavioural biases.
301 words, about 2 min06Retirement planning and pension arrangements
Domain 6 covers retirement income needs, pension structures, accumulation and decumulation. Questions test replacement ratios, defined benefit versus defined contribution schemes, contribution limits, longevity and inflation risk, and sustainable withdrawal.
318 words, about 2 min07Tax planning
Domain 7 tests marginal versus average tax rates, deductions versus credits, deferral, capital gains and the timing of income and deductions. It is applied arithmetic and planning logic, not a tax-law memory test; local rules vary, so identify the principle and state the assumption.
329 words, about 2 min08Estate planning and wealth transfer
Domain 8 covers estate objectives - control, liquidity, tax efficiency and orderly transfer - and the tools that achieve them: wills, trusts, gifts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney and insurance. Questions test intestacy, estate liquidity and the coordination of documents.
333 words, about 2 min09Integrated financial plan construction and case analysis
Domain 9 tests integration: can you assemble the fact-find, cash flow, risk, investment, retirement, tax and estate work into one consistent plan, prioritise recommendations, and test the result under stress? Case questions reward internal consistency and penalise isolated solutions.
298 words, about 1 min