Retirement Income Certified Professional^®

The Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) is a specialized certification for retirement income planning offered by The American College of Financial Services. The RICP® designation gives aspiring retirement income planners the knowledge and expertise to build sustainable, holistic, and integrated retirement income strategies for every client situation and retirement income style. It is similar in concept to designations such as the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® (CRPC®), but offers a more advanced curriculum with a focus on integrated and applicable strategies to help you become a retirement planning specialist.

To become a successful retirement advisor through the RICP® designation program, you must complete all courses needed for the program, including all associated classwork and a final exam for each course. These online courses make earning this financial planning certification easier to tailor to your busy schedule.

RICP 353, 354, and 355 are ten-week courses but can be completed in as little as five weeks.

Yes! Learners can move through the course at their own pace. However, each unit builds on the previous one, and all learning activities within a unit must be completed before proceeding. To be eligible for the final exam, students must score at least 70% on all learning activities. While students may complete their exam before Week Five, their final course grade will not be posted until Week Five.

Learners must earn a final course grade of 70% or higher. The final course grade is a combination of required coursework which consists of quizzes and multiple-choice mini case studies (30% weight) and a 100-question final exam (70% weight.)

Learners who complete their course during the first five weeks will have their final grade posted at the end of Week Five. Learners who finish between Week Six and Week 10 will have their grades posted within two business days of completion.

There have been some important updates to the content in the new versions of the RICP® that are important to existing learners in the program. You can stay the course and continue in the existing RICP® Program or switch to the enhanced RICP® by reaching out to our RICP® advising team at RICPadvising@TheAmericanCollege.edu. Our academic advisors are ready to help you with the transition!

The RICP® Program is designed to be taken in the following sequential order:

1. Required Course - RICP 353: Retirement Income Process, Strategies and Solutions
2. Required Course - RICP 354: Sources of Retirement Income
3. Elective Course - RICP 355: Managing Retirement Income or HS 326 Planning for Retirement Needs

The RICP® Program can now be completed in as few as four months.

Yes! Learners who are recertifying designations earned through The College can use the new RICP® courses toward your Professional Recertification Program (PRP) CE requirement.

The Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) designation can be completed in four months or less and is considered a specialized financial planning certification for professionals who want advanced knowledge in the field of retirement income planning. According to FUSE Research’s 2024 Designation Outcomes Study, advisors who earn the RICP® designation report 71% higher growth in client retention, 45% higher growth in their number of clients served, and 26% higher growth in earnings over a three-year period than their peers with no designations.

Adding the RICP® to complement another financial planning certification brings with it even greater benefits. Along with becoming a retirement planning specialist able to serve the 12,000+ Baby Boomers retiring every day better, advisors with multiple College designations showed an additional 45% higher growth in client retention and 19% higher growth in earnings than those with no designations. With stackable course credits, the RICP® designation fits perfectly into a lifelong learning path that can start with a foundational financial planning certification program like the Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) designation — which, if completed, allows those earning their RICP® to do it in two courses rather than three.

Each course follows a 10-week preferred schedule, however you can finish each course in as little as five weeks and then prepare to take your final course exam. You can expect to spend around 8-10 hours per week to complete each of the three courses. You must complete the entire three-course program within five years of enrollment; otherwise, you will be required to re-enroll. 

You only need a high school diploma or the equivalent to begin the program. However, in order to be awarded and to use the designation, you must have at least three years of experience in financial planning or a related profession. For more information, view Admissions Requirements above.