With Estimated $1 Trillion in 401(k) Rollovers Annually, CFP Board Publishes Guide on Fulfilling Fiduciary Duty While Providing Rollover Advice
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CFP Board has published the Guide to Applying the Fiduciary Duty to
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CFP Board has published the Guide to Applying the Fiduciary Duty to Rollovers, a guide to help CFP® professionals provide financial advice on whether to roll over assets from an employer plan while fulfilling their fiduciary obligations and adhering to CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct. The guide is part of an ongoing series of resources to help CFP® professionals with their practice.
“For many Americans, a rollover involves life savings they have worked decades to build, and the consequences can last a lifetime,” said CFP Board CEO K. Dane Snowden. “With this much at stake, people deserve competent, ethical advice that puts their interests first. This new guide gives CFP® professionals practical direction for helping clients protect what they’ve earned.”
Millions of 401(k) rollovers occur every year, resulting in the transfer of over $1 trillion in assets to IRAs or new employer-sponsored plans. Rolling over a 401(k) to an IRA is a significant financial decision that can offer broader investment choices and make it easier to administer and keep track of assets. But bad or conflicted advice can expose the client to unnecessary costs or significant tax penalties. A CFP® professional should encourage individuals who are considering a rollover to obtain financial advice before making that important decision.
The Guide to Applying the Fiduciary Duty to Rollovers points out that financial advice to roll over assets into an IRA raises several Material Conflicts of Interest that a CFP® professional must disclose and manage. The guide also applies to a rollover recommendation the 7-step process for complying with the Duty of Care when providing Financial Advice. A CFP® professional may follow this 7-step process to act in the best interests of the Client when providing financial advice about a rollover.
The guide:
- Provides examples of the qualitative and quantitative information about the Client’s personal and financial circumstances that a CFP® professional should gather;
- Clarifies that Financial Advice about a rollover consists of several related, but distinct, recommendations;
- Identifies four potential alternative courses of action and ten features of the Client’s current employer plan and each alternative that a CFP® professional should, if applicable, consider; and
- Describes eight characteristics of each alternative course of action that a CFP® professional might assess in developing a recommendation
CFP Board provided CE Sponsors with advance access to the Guide’s learning objectives to support the future development of related continuing education programming.
Download the Guide to Applying the Fiduciary Duty to Rollovers.
ABOUT CFP BOARD
CFP Board is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board consists of two affiliated organizations focused on advancing the financial planning profession for the public’s benefit. CFP Board of Standards sets and upholds standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification — widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planners — so that the public has access to the benefits of competent and ethical financial planning. CFP® certification is held by more than 109,000 people in the U.S. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning addresses diversity and workforce development challenges and conducts and publishes research that adds to the financial planning profession’s body of knowledge.
CONTACT: Jane Riley Jacobsen, Director of Public Relations, P: 202-379-2305, E: media@cfpboard.org
