CFP Module 2 study plan

Map every Investment Planning learning outcome to a one-line self-rating (strong/weak/unknown) to expose gaps before studying.

Build a personal formula sheet covering time-weighted vs money-weighted return, holding period return, real vs nominal return, and standard deviation, then solve one worked example per formula.

Reconstruct the risk-return relationship from first principles: covariance, correlation, diversification limits, and why systematic risk cannot be diversified away.

Explain aloud, without notes, how taxation of interest, dividends, and capital gains alters after-tax portfolio return, and where tax-exempt vehicles change the ranking of asset locations.

Compute after-tax holding period return and after-tax yield for taxable bonds, municipal bonds, and dividend-paying equities, and state the tax-rate breakpoint at which the muni wins.

Assemble a model portfolio for three client profiles (aggressive accumulator, mid-career balanced, retired income-seeker) and justify each allocation with risk capacity, horizon, and tax location.

Differentiate active vs passive management costs, expense ratios, and turnover-driven tax drag, and quantify the drag over a 10-year horizon in a worked calculation.

Practice interpreting portfolio performance metrics (Sharpe, Treynor, alpha, information ratio) and identify which metric fits which client question.

Classify the major retirement plan types (defined benefit, defined contribution, hybrid cash balance) by who bears investment risk and how benefits are calculated.

Calculate a retirement funding gap using a three-step method: project retirement expenses in today's dollars, inflate to the retirement date, then discount the annuity need at a real return.

Compare pre-tax, Roth, and after-tax contribution treatment, and explain how the choice of contribution type changes the client's lifetime tax profile.

Apply early-withdrawal rules, required minimum distribution timing, and rollover mechanics to four short client scenarios you write yourself.

Integrate retirement projections into a full cash-flow plan: savings rate, emergency reserve, education funding, and retirement all competing for the same dollars.

Test sensitivity of a retirement plan to three levers (savings rate, retirement age, expected return) and record how much each lever moves the projected outcome.

Draft a client-facing explanation of sequence-of-returns risk and a withdrawal-rate policy the client can actually follow.

Reconcile the retirement plan with the investment policy statement so the asset allocation matches the plan's horizon and liquidity needs.

Map the estate planning toolkit (wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, titling) to the specific problem each solves.

Trace the transfer of assets under intestacy versus a valid will versus beneficiary designation, and identify which instrument controls when they conflict.

Calculate gross estate inclusions and deductions for a simple estate, and explain how lifetime gifts and marital transfers change the taxable estate.

Explain the roles of executor, trustee, guardian, and agent, and match each to a client situation involving minor children or an incapacitated spouse.

Integrate estate planning with the broader financial plan: coordinate beneficiary designations with the will, fund a trust, and address liquidity for estate settlement costs.

Diagnose three common estate planning failures (outdated beneficiary forms, no contingent trustee, unfunded trust) and write the corrective recommendation for each.

Explain how income tax basis and estate tax interact at death, and when a step-up in basis makes lifetime gifting less attractive.

Draft a client letter translating estate planning jargon into plain language and confirming what the client must actually do next.

Assemble a complete financial plan for a new hypothetical client using the seven-step planning process, documenting each step in one or two sentences.

Identify regulatory and ethical obligations that constrain recommendations, and apply the standard of conduct to three gray-area scenarios you construct.

Reconcile competing goals (retirement vs education vs liquidity) into a prioritized funding order with a stated rationale.

Review the plan for internal consistency: do the assumptions, projections, recommendations, and monitoring plan actually agree with one another?

Diagnose remaining weak areas by re-rating every learning outcome and comparing against your week 1 baseline.

Run two timed, full-length practice sets under exam conditions and record accuracy by domain to confirm the weakest domain is now above threshold.

Drill only the missed items: rewrite each missed concept as a one-sentence rule and re-test yourself on it after 48 hours.

Rehearse a 10-minute verbal walkthrough of a full financial plan, from data gathering to monitoring, to prove integrated recall across all five domains.