Bill Winterberg is dropping his CFP mark and letting the CFP Board know he finds recent moves outrageous -- in a farewell shot -- as his career shifts away from planning

Bill Winterberg is dropping his Certified Financial Planner (CFP) accreditation. It's him. But mostly them.

The well-known Boston technolgy analyst and consultant explained in a Mar. 2 LinkedIn post he opted to drop his CFP qualification renewal after 18 years, declaring his path “no longer aligned with the attributes of the certification." 

Part of the issue is that Winterberg is simply no longer foremost a financial planner. Still, he might've kept it as a badge of honor had the organization not changed in ways that don't align with his values as a member of the RIA community.

“I didn’t want my annual fee revenue used to pay extremely high executives salaries, relative to other non-profit organizations, [or] fund expensive public marketing campaigns that have trivialized the role of financial planning professionals," he said in a Mar. 6 email.

“Coupled with the Board's recent announcement of an increase in required continuing education (CE) … [and its plan to form] its own in-house CE business, in conflict with third-party CE providers that pay the CFP Board on a per-CE credit basis … [I] let my certification expire,” he added.

The CFP Board declined to respond to Winterberg's critique. It also declined to answer questions regarding internal conflict in its CE program, its unpopular advertising campaign, or Winterberg’s critique of its salaries.

Rising numbers

But it published a triumphant release on Jan 15, celebrating 2025 as its biggest year yet.

“As of December 31, 2025, the number of CFP professionals reached an all-time high of 107,529, an increase of 4.3% over 2024 and nearly double the number of certificants since retiring CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE took the helm in 2007,” it states. 

"Last year also marked the largest number of exam candidates in CFP Board history, with 11,037 people sitting for the exam, a 5.7% increase over 2024. The CFP Board welcomed 6,709 new CFP professionals in 2025, the most ever in a single year.”

The CFP is as popular as ever with broker-dealers – which it touted in its recent release.

“In 2025, LPL became the first firm ever to exceed 6,000 CFP professionals,” it stated. “Edward Jones surpassed 5,000 total CFP certificants. Six firms minted more than 200 new CFP professionals each — LPL, Edward Jones, Charles Schwab, Northwestern Mutual, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Fidelity.”

Around 1,200 external CE providers, Kitces included, pay the CFP Board up to $1.25 per CE credit each individual earns. It charges advisors $575 per year to renew their CFP, up 26%, from $455 in 2024.

'Egregious conflict'

But others share Winterberg's dismay over the CFP Board's direction.

The board, which recently mulled dropping the need for CFPs to hold a college degree, announced its increased 40-hour CE requirements, Jan. 27.

It also announced it intended to expand its own CE business. Michael Kitces, founder of Bozeman, Mont.-based XYPN, called the decision “egregiously conflicted.”

“The new reporting fees originally had stated objectives … workforce development … [and] consumer research on the impact of planning, and enforcement. 

"Now they appear to be getting repurposed to allow the CFP Board to compete against its CE providers,” Kitces wrote, in a February LinkedIn post.

The CFP Board's 2024 “Quite Possibly the Perfect Job” campaign that so irked Winterberg also drew a fierce industry backlash over an implied comparison between CFPs and "professional daydreamers," and “true crime podcast junkies.”

Refined campaign

Outgoing CEO, Kevin Keller praised the ad campaign overall, but said in a “Message from the CEO” the board has been responding to input from CFP members. 

“We have updated the imagery and language of the static ads that appear on social media,” he wrote. "The refreshed ads include context that better captures the essence of being a CFP professional. 

"We have also further refined the age targeting so that our ads are more likely to reach high school and college students. The revised campaign will run through the end of the year." Click here to view the updated campaign ads.

K. Dane Snowden is the new CFP Board CEO, effective Mar. 16.

'Better than nothing'

Since 2011, CFP Board has invested over $185 million to consumer awareness about the CFP certification. 

“Those ads were a total embarrassment," says Sara Grillo, marketing consultant and 'evangelist' for the Transparent Advisor Movement, in an email exchange. See: CFP Board bars Jim Iannazzo from using its mark 'or [even] suggesting' he holds it, at least until the ex-Merrill broker is adjudicated on three crimes arising from smoothie-throwing tirade

“The CFP Board has lost its mission and planners should vote with their dollar signs in disapproval. But they won't because there is marketing value to paying the dues and keeping the designation, if you care about growing your practice,” she adds.

"There's no other designation that threatens to supersede the CFP, so at this point they can get away with anything,” Grillo continues.

“There is benefit to new planners … [with] no good industry training programs ... so it's better than nothing … [but] the only value to the experienced advisor is marketing value. 

"Regardless of what the true value of the designation is, people in our country do recognize it as having merit,” she explains.

The CFP Board did not respond to a request for comment on any of Grillo’s criticism. 

Winterberg also stands by the “original mission” of the CFP Board – and has no regrets for having held it.

“I continue to have deep respect for the certification and what it stands for, even though I haven't always agreed with the [board’s] actions … [and it] served me incredibly well for nearly two decades,” he says.

New pastures

Winterberg, an avid pinball enthusiast, software engineer, and cyclist also has his eyes on newvpastures, and he admits that plays into his decision to cut ties.

"The CFP certification is no longer valuable to me because I no longer meet directly with financial planning clients.

"I’ve changed, [and] the work that is important to me has changed … so it is time to let it go,” he says.

“My current path includes video campaign production for financial and healthcare organizations, as well as volunteer work with the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, where I prepare tax returns for low- and middle-income taxpayers in my community at no cost to them."