Chawn Honkomp

Retirement Planner

Chawn Honkomp is an experienced retirement planner with an extensive background in tax planning. He is a CPA who has achieved several industry designations. Chawn is a lifelong learner, and is passionate about staying up to date on ever-changing tax laws and retirement legislation. He has helped hundreds of families and individuals plan for retirement and continues these important relationships after the initial planning process to help retirees update, adjust, and stay on track throughout retirement.

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™️, Retirement Income Certified Professional^®️, Chartered Financial Consultant Designation^®️, and Certified Financial Fiduciary^®️, Chawn can apply industry education with his more than 20 years of experience to ensure that all of the details of a retirement plan are covered. Chawn has been a CPA since 2000 and earned an MBA from the University of Iowa. He has his life, health, and accident Iowa insurance licenses and has passed the Series 7 and 66 securities exams.

Chawn’s insights are featured on our TV show Retiring Today with Loren Merkle, the Merkle Retirement Planning YouTube channel, and our podcast.

As a father and husband, he loves watching his high school-aged son play sports, hearing about his daughter’s adventures at the University of Iowa, and going on bike rides and hikes with his wife, Ryan. As a sports fan, he enjoys cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes and Los Angeles Dodgers. Growing up one of five brothers on a dairy farm shaped his work ethic and values, something he applies to his daily life.

Chawn Honkomp's Designations and Licensure

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)

The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® and federally registered CFP (with flame design) marks (collectively, the “CFP® marks”) are professional certification marks granted in the United States by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (“CFP Board”).

The CFP® certification is a voluntary certification; no federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold CFP® certification. It is recognized in the United States and a number of other countries for its (1) high standard of professional education; (2) stringent code of conduct and standards of practice; and (3) ethical requirements that govern professional engagements with clients. Currently, more than 62,000 individuals have obtained CFP® certification in the United States.

To attain the right to use the CFP® marks, an individual must satisfactorily fulfill the following requirements:

Education – Complete an advanced college-level course of study addressing the financial planning subject areas that CFP Board’s studies have determined as necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services, and attain a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited United States college or university (or its equivalent from a foreign university). CFP Board’s financial planning subject areas include insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning;
Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The examination, administered in 10 hours over a two-day period, includes case studies and client scenarios designed to test one’s ability to correctly diagnose financial planning issues and apply one’s knowledge of financial planning to real world circumstances;
Experience – Complete at least three years of full-time financial planning-related experience (or the equivalent, measured as 2,000 hours per year); and
Ethics – Agree to be bound by CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct, a set of documents outlining the ethical and practice standards for CFP®

Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®)

The Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) designation is for the advanced financial professional. This course provides an overview of the financial planning process, including communication techniques, behavioral finance, financial planning approaches and applications, financial statement preparation and analysis, time value of money concepts and applications, education planning and funding, economics and understanding of the role and responsibilities of a financial planner, along with some analytical skills to aid in the financial decision-making process. This is a voluntary certification comprises of 8 modules and an extensive final examination must be passed to obtain the designation.

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

A Certified Public Accountant certification is granted by the State Board of Public Accountancy. The CPA certification is the respected mark of excellence for public accountants.

To attain the right to use the CPA designation, an individual must satisfactorily fulfill the following requirements:

Education- 120 college credit hours of education earned in related
Examination- Completion of courses focused on financial accounting, auditing, taxation, management accounting and ethics.
Pass the comprehensive CPA 16-hour Certification
Ethics- Agree to be bound by CPA Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct.

Certified Financial Fiduciary®

This designation is reserved for those professionals who have successfully completed a rigorous certification and training process established by NACertified Financial Fiduciary and The American Financial Education Alliance (AFEA) which include:

Exemplified the highest standards of morals, ethics, and fiduciary standards of service
Passed a certification exam with a score of 75% or better
Passed full background check and in good standing with regulatory license requirements
Business office was reviewed for best practices and compliance
Completed and submitted the signed Certified Financial Fiduciary Application for
Agreed to the National Association Certified Financial Fiduciary terms of awarding and maintaining certification
Agreed to abide by and uphold the Certified Financial Fiduciary Code of Conduct

Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®)

The RICP^® certification is a voluntary certification: no federal or state law or regulation requires Investment Adviser Representatives to hold RICP^® certification.

An RICP^® designee is trained to understand how to structure effective retirement income plans, how to mitigate risks to the plan and how to create a sustainable stream of income to last through a client’s retirement. They are educated in areas including: Social Security claiming, evaluating and addressing risks faced in retirement, choosing distributions from employer-sponsored plans, Medicare and other health insurance choices, planning for long-term care needs, choosing appropriate housing and income tax and legacy planning.

To attain the right to use the RICP^® designation, an individual must satisfactorily fulfill the following requirements:

Experience – Three plus years of relevant work experience
Examination – Completion of three courses: retirement income process, strategies, and solutions; sources of retirement income; and managing a retirement income plan and pass a 100-question exam following the completion of each course.
Ethics – RICPs^® must adhere to a code of ethics and meet continuing education and reporting requirements.

Series 7

The Series 7 license is the general securities representative license. Those who carry this license are officially listed as "registered representatives" by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and referred to as stockbrokers. Series 7 authorizes licensees to sell any individual security, including common and preferred stocks, call and put options, bonds, and other fixed-income investments.

Series 66

Series 66, the North American Securities Administrators Association Uniform Combined State Law Examination, is an exam and license that is meant to qualify individuals as investment advisor representatives or securities agents. The Series 66 covers topics relevant to providing investment advice and effecting securities transactions for clients. Once licensed, investment advisor representatives can legally conduct financial advising and wealth management duties.

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