The stock market has been volatile, tariffs and other actions are creating uncertainty. Want a little help with financial planning?
Certified Financial Planners who belong to the Long Island Chapter of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) will offer 15-minute free sessions as part of “WTF: What The Financial! A Financial Empowerment Roadmap,” sponsored by AARP New York.
The free event, Saturday, May 17, 2025 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. will be at Nassau Community College’s College Center Building, One Education Drive, Garden City, next to the Public Safety Building accessible via Earle Ovington Blvd.
“If anybody wants to come in for a 15-minute consult, it’s free of charge,” said Mark A. Badami, CFP, president of the Hauppauge-based Long Island FPA Chapter. “It’s a good opportunity to get some good advice.”
What The Financial! is also an opportunity to showcase the local Financial Planning Association, the central group for financial planners and those who work with them. FPA includes 75 chapters nationwide and three in downstate New York — on Long Island, in New York City and Westchester. The Long Island chapter has about 350 members.
“We promote activities on Long Island to benefit the financial planning profession, our members and the general public,” Badami continued.
Founded in 1973, it is the principal organization for Certified Financial Planners (CFP), while including other financial services providers. The nonprofit provides education and training, standing behind high standards of professional competence and ethical conduct.
It organizes events and workshops with continuing education credits, keeping members informed of legislative issues, new tax laws and compliance. And it provides networking for financial planners and those who want to work with them.
While financial planners are the group’s core, the Financial Planning Association of LI includes accountants, attorneys and other professionals often seeking referral business related to financial planning, long-term planning, pension plans and other financial assistance.
“There are support people, mortgage professionals and attorneys, property and casualty insurance professionals who work with CFPs,” said Badami, also director of retirement planning at the Legacy Group, a financial planning firm based in Hauppauge and Syosset.
Although not all Financial Planning Association of LI members are CFPs, only CFPs will be providing consulting at WTF.
“When you get the CFP designation, you’re a fiduciary. You have to adhere to certain rules and guidelines,” Badami said. “It’s important to have an organization like this, to make sure we adhere to certain standards.”
In addition to the financial consultation, former Money magazine Editor-in-Chief Diane Harris is keynote speaker at WTF when financial planning is on many people’s minds.
People’s finances often have been hurting in a volatile market, making financial planning advice more pivotal than ever.
“The people that are hurting the most in this volatile market are the people who have no advisors,” Badami said.
He said people should have at least three months’ reserves as “just in case money” in cash or cash equivalents not affected by markets.
“When the stock market and the economy are good, the need for planners is diminished,” said Badami. “Everybody feels like they’re doing fine.”
The Long Island group holds quarterly symposiums and an annual symposium. What The Financial! is fast becoming a key event for financial professionals and those seeking advice.
“These are questions keeping them up at night,” Badami said. “With this program, people will have the ability to interact with financial professionals and ask for answers to their most pressing questions.”
Every day about 10,000 people turn 65 in the United States, making retirement planning a key issue on many minds.
“Now we have to figure out how to retire them,” said Badami. “More people come in for retirement planning than for any other planning.”
While the Financial Planning Association of LI helps consumers, it also provides services to financial planners, including courses with continuing education credits.
The CFP board requires 30 credits every two years, while other chartered financial consultants also need credits.
The Financial Planning Association of LI also keeps members up to date, benefiting members and their clients, while seeking to close the generation gap. They are making a push to keep young people flowing into the financial profession.
“We’re aging out,” Badami said of Baby Boomers.
They also address the relative shortage of female financial planners and women in finance recruiting with a Women in Finance Committee.
The Financial Planning Association’s Long Island chapter also focuses on financial literacy, bringing financial planners to those ill-informed or uninformed.
“So many people just have no clue. You go to high school and college, and you learn English, math and science,” Badami said. “No one teaches you financial literacy.”
Their members teach financial literacy in schools, such as how to balance a check book, and responsible charging on a credit card.
A Financial Planning Association Long Island Chapter Board member developed a financial literacy program to be taught in high schools.
“Members do some pro bono work, at libraries, and other locations like VFW halls and elsewhere,” Badami said.
New York State legislation was passed, indicating that before you can give financial advice, you have to get a wide range of information from clients.
“You have to ask all these questions,” Badami said. “It doesn’t matter how much or little money they have.”
Laws passed, in conjunction with advice from the Financial Planning Association, in the Pension Protection Act of 2006, took into account ways to benefit professionals and clients.
Although you don’t need to be a CFP to join the group, Badami is a big believer in the CFP certification.
CFPs have to put together full plans and hold annual reviews to make sure plans are implemented. Then there’s the fiduciary standard and guidance that goes with the designation.
“It’s important to make sure your financial advisor is a Certified Financial Planner,” Badami said. “It’s pretty hard to get the designation. It’s very easy to lose your CFP, if you don’t do the proper job for your client.”
