1st Place Overall in the National Financial Planning Challenge!!!!

Q: In 2010, if you invited every CFP(r) Board registered financial planning undergraduate degree program in the U.S. to compete in a 3-part Financial Planning Challenge where the students had to create a financial plan for a client, compete in a knowledge bowl, then adjust the plan in 36 hours to a change in the clients circumstances and present the new plan to the clients..... who would win????

A: William Paterson University.
William Paterson University students receiving their 1st place overall award w/ Marv Tuttle (FPA CEO) and Dr. Tom Potts (FPA President).
















Nick Scheibner of Stanhope, Nathan Phillips of Sparta, and Cagla Yildirim of Parsippany won the National Financial Planning Challenge at the FPA national conference in Denver, Colorado held Oct 7-12. They worked on the case all summer long without knowing if they'd get anything but a line on their resume saying they "participated" and they ended up with the following:
1st place overall
1st place in the Knowledge Bowl
1st place in the case presentation
$10,000 in scholarship money
Multiple job offers!

"This event demonstrated the work ethic of WPU students and their desire to get into the financial planning profession." -Luke Dean
WPU booth @ the FPA conference. Thanks to the judges & event sponsors: FPA, Ameriprise Financial, CFP(r) Board, Academy of Financial Services

I don't want the students to sit too high on their horse, but they asked me to send this message to Texas Tech, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Missouri, K-State, and the rest of the universities w/ financial planning degree programs.

WPU students attend FPA national conference in Denver, Colorado

WPU sent 8 students to the national conference of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) in Denver, Oct 7-12.
5 students earned free registration to the conference by working as volunteers at the conf.
3 students earned free everything (hotel, airfare, conf registration) by being selected as 1 of 8 finalists for the National Financial Planning Challenge.
This photo is of David Yeske & Elissa Buie of Yeske Buie stopping by the WPU booth. Yeske Buie is one of the largest RIA firms in the United States, with offices in Virginia & San Francisco.


WPU students attending an FPA social event for students attending the conference.


WPU students at the Denver Conference Center.

Executives from Prudential in NJ meeting with our students at the WPU booth.

QUICK HITS from WPU Campus in October

1) Our university President is cooler than yours.
(President Kathleen Waldron rode a Harley to the Homecoming football game)


2) The President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez, spoke on capmus @ WPU and signed an agreement for student/faculty exchange program. See story here. Any students prefer to take financial planning classes in the Carribbean?

We're #1! We're #1! We're #1!

WPU financial planning students Nick Scheibner, Cagla Yildirim, and Nathan Phillips finished 1st place in the National Financial Planning Challenge Knowledge Bowl @ the national FPA conference in Denver, CO on October 9th.


The National Financial Planning Challenge is sponsored by the FPA, the CFP(r) Board, Academy of Financial Services, and Ameriprise Financial.

The challenge consists of 3 phases:
1. Creating a financial plan for a sample client
2. The Knowledge Bowl
3. After a "life changing event" occurs in the life of the sample client, the team was given 36 hours to adjust the plan, and then present it to the judges in front of professionals and professors at the conference.

Congrats to Nick, Nathan, & Cagla! They worked very hard this summer, and we are very proud of them.

New Jersey university has first FPA student chapter in nation

The Insurance & Financial Advisor website ran a story in June 2010 about WPU being the home of the 1st FPA student chapter in the nation.

New Jersey university has first FPA student chapter in nation

WPU financial planning team featured in Paramus Post article

The Paramus Post published an article about 3 WPU students (Nick, Cagla, & Nathan) who gave up their summer to compete in a national financial planning case study. The article was printed before we found out that their financial plan was good enough to earn them a free trip to Denver to present their plan in front of the judges and professionals attending the national FPA conference in Denver! Congrats team -- make us proud with a Top 3 finish!

Click here to read article.

WPU financial planning team selected as finalists in national financial planning competition!!!

Nick Scheibner, Cagla Yildirim, and Nathan Phillips have been selected as finalists in the FPA's national financial planning case study!
Their financial plan was good enough to earn them free airfare, accomodations, and registration for the national FPA conference in Denver, CO Oct 7-12, where they will participate in the final 2 phases of the competition. The 1st is a knowledge bowl and the 2nd part will include them presenting their financial plan to the judges and professionals attending the conference.
Good luck! And Congratulations!

Wall St. Journal article on careers in finance (like financial planning)

A recent Wall St. Journal article lists Financial Planning as the finance career having the most projected growth from 2008-2018.

A related article on Career paths in Finance in the WSJ indicates that the 3 most essential skills for any career in finance are:

• Math skills
• Communication skills
• Technology and software skills

To see the WSJ articles, click here and here.

At WPUNJ, our financial planning students learn how to use software used by real professionals in the workplace (i.e., Morningstar, MoneyGuidePro, FinaMetrica and we're adding MoneyTree this semester). To hone their communication skills, we encourage our students to take a course in Public Speaking and at least one course in professional sales offered by our renown Russ Berrie Institute of Professional Sales.

HIRED!!!! Congrats to Michael Ciccone

Hired by Pinnacle Benefits Group, which provides insurance solutions to RIA's and other investment professionals.
Michael was one of the top students in the Cotsakos College of Business, graduated summa cum laude last semester, and was the recipient of the Pesce scholarship. He also helped co-found the 1st FPA student chapter in the U.S. here at WPU where he served as its inaugural Vice President. Michael was active in attending FPANJ meetings on and off campus.


Michael encourages current students to do well in their financial planning courses, and become active in the FPA (student chapter and FPANJ) and NAPFA to meet other professionals and potential employers as well as keep up-t0-date on the latest trends and issues in the industry. His last course before graduation was a self-designed independent study course where he created a financial plan for a sample client. Congrats to Michael and good luck!

WPU financial planning professor quoted in Bloomberg article

Luke Dean, Academic Coordinator of the financial planning program @ WPU was quoted in a September 2nd Bloomberg article about insurance agents being opposed to the fiduciary standard.

Click here to see the story.

WPU program director featured in Retirement Income Journal

Luke Dean, the program director for the financial planning program @ William Paterson University was featured on the homepage of the Retirement Income Journal for the week of September 1st! Take a look by clicking here.

Or check out the screenshot of their homepage below:

WPU students spend their summer.... working on case studies???

3 students from WPU participated in the national financial planning case study competition sponsored by Ameriprise, the CFP(r) Board, and the FPA. The top 8 teams from around the country will be flown to Denver, CO where they will attend the national FPA conference for 4 days and have a chance to present their financial plan in front of judges and professionals from around the country.

Our 3 proud participants are Nick Scheibner, Cagla Yildirim, and Nathan Phillips. Good luck! They completed their case study and are waiting to hear back from the judges.


Michael Ciccone completed an independent study this summer by creating a comprehensive financial plan for a mock client.

Keep up the good work.

WPU's student chapter featured as TOP STORY in FPA SmartBrief

WPU's student chapter was the TOP STORY in FPA's SmartBrief, a weekly update on FPA's latest news & events sent to thousands of professional financial planners across the United States.

WPU students participating in Summer Mentor program

Some members of WPU's FPA student chapter are participating in a 3-month mentorship program over the summer. Students are matched with local professionals in the financial planning industry. The goal of the program is to keep students actively learning and applying financial planning skills throughout the summer and, to use their mentors to help answer sample CFP(r) exam questions, discuss current financial planning issues, and to conduct mock interviews and resume reviews.

For more detailed info on the timeline and responsibilities: click here.

WPU financial planning program featured in FPANJ newsletter

WPU and the 1st FPA student chapter in the nation were featured in the FPANJ Summer 2010 newsletter sent out to all FPANJ members.