Five New Members Elected to CFP Board's Board of Directors

News provided by

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

Nov 18, 2014, 11:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Five new board members have been elected to serve four-year terms on the Board of Directors for Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., beginning January 1, 2015.

"These five individuals represent some of the best minds there are in the financial planning profession. They are dedicated volunteers who will contribute to the success of CFP Board and the CFP® certification," said Board of Directors Chair Ray Ferrara, CFP®. "We are thrilled to have them join the Board of Directors. Each person brings a unique set of perspectives and experiences that will help CFP Board advance its mission."

The new Board members are:

Jeffrey Farrar, CFP® is First Vice President – Wealth Management and Wealth Advisor at the FDG Group, a team working with UBS advisory company in Stamford, Connecticut. He has been a CFP® professional since 2001 and also has obtained Series 7, 66, 6, 10 and 31 licenses. He holds a B.S. from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. Farrar retired as a Commander in the Coast Guard, having served for twenty years. Currently, Farrar serves on PIMCO's Retirement Advisory Board and for FINRA as an industry arbitrator. Past non-profit board experience includes serving as Chairman of the Investment Committee of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association.

Charles Fitzgerald, III, CFP® is a principal and founding member of Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC in Orlando, Florida. Fitzgerald has been a CFP® professional since 1992, holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in Finance from the University of Florida and has over 30 years' experience in financial services. Fitzgerald brings 20 years of volunteer and civic involvement through his local church, community and profession. He is often quoted by the media and has contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's "Ask the Experts" call-in hotline for over 15 years, fielding personal financial planning questions from the public. In 2009, Fitzgerald received the Financial Planning Association's Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award for his work as a founder and leader of the FPA of Florida since its inception in 2004.

Peggy M. Ruhlin, CFP® is the Chief Executive Officer of Budros, Ruhlin & Roe, Inc. She has been a CFP® professional since 1986 and is a Certified Public Accountant. Ruhlin holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Otterbein University. Ruhlin also has been recognized as one of America's most distinguished women in wealth management by Wealth Manager magazine. She is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the International Women's Forum and the nationally recognized wealth management consortium, The Alpha Group. Previously, she was President of the International Association for Financial Planning and served as a Trustee and Committee Chair for the Foundation for Financial Planning. Ruhlin currently serves on the Schwab Advisor Services Advisory Board.

Richard C. Salmen, CFP® is Manager of Financial Planning Services at BOK Financial in Overland Park, Kansas. He has been a CFP® professional since 2000 in addition to holding a B.S. from the University of Nebraska– Kearney and an MBA from the University of Kansas. His non-profit experience includes serving as the National President and Chairman of the Financial Planning Association in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Salmen serves on the Board of Directors for the Olathe, Kansas YMCA. He is a graduate of Leadership Kansas (class of 2012) and served as a committee chair for the Alliance of Cambridge of Advisors (2002-08). In addition to his work in financial planning, Salmen was a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves and worked as an air traffic control specialist for 25 years until retiring in 2013.

Neal J. Solomon, CFP® is Managing Director, CCO & Financial Planner/IAR at WealthPro®, LLC with offices in Gloversville and Wilton (Saratoga), New York. He has been a CFP^® professional since 1989 and has worked in the fields of finance, investments, insurance, managing retirement and pension plans and professional financial planning for more than three decades. He is also the Chief Financial Officer for Hearing Care Resources, LLC. Since 2001, he has been a member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Financial Planning. Solomon holds a B.A. from the State University of New York, College at Potsdam. He serves on the Board of Directors of SFA Holdings, Inc. and represents its subsidiary broker-dealer, The Strategic Financial Alliance, Inc. In 2012, he received the Financial Planning Association's Heart of Financial Planning Award.

The five new board members-elect were chosen during the Board's Fall 2014 meeting. The Board has 14 voting members and one non-voting member, Kevin R. Keller, CAE – Chief Executive Officer of CFP Board.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP^® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board's mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP^® professionals and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP^®, Certified Financial Planner™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes nearly 71,000 individuals to use these marks in the U.S.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.