Board Center for Financial Planning Appoints Psychologist and Financial Educator Matt J. Goren, Ph.D., CFP® as Director of Knowledge for Practice

 

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning (“Center”) announced today that it has named psychologist and financial educator Matt Goren, Ph.D., CFP® as its Director of Knowledge for Practice, effective June 27. In this role, Goren will lead the development, curation and dissemination of financial planning knowledge to strengthen the academic foundations for the financial planning profession.

“Matt is an accomplished psychologist and financial planner with an exceptional background in designing and developing curriculums in CFP® certification education,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “With his focus on the interplay of personal finance and psychology, Matt has already helped train more than 10,000 advisors. In his new role with the Center, he will continue to deploy his skills in advancing the financial planning profession and helping CFP® professionals excel in their careers and deliver outstanding service to clients.”

Based in CFP Board’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, Goren will oversee all instructional programs, including initiatives that facilitate an increase in the number and diversity of faculty needed to teach at CFP Board Registered Programs. He will also lead the programming and implementation of the Academic Research Colloquium, the Center’s annual international meeting of researchers, practitioners, graduate students and leaders of financial planning practice. In addition, Goren will be instrumental in raising the visibility of and ensuring the dissemination of knowledge through the Financial Planning Review and other publications.

Goren was recently named to the 2022 InvestmentNews class of 40 Under 40, where the publication asked “Who better to educate future financial planners on the psychology of money than a psychologist and financial planner?”

“CFP® certification was my first entry into financial planning. My business professor said to me ‘If you want to be taken seriously as a financial planner, you need to get your CFP® certification,’ so I did,” said Goren. “I’m thrilled to now join CFP Board, the organization I’ve held in such high regard for over a decade, and I look forward to bringing the best practices from academia and industry to further advance the programs and initiatives of the Center for Financial Planning.”

Goren joins CFP Board from The American College of Financial Services, where he served as Assistant Professor of Financial Planning and CFP® Certification Education Program Director for one of the most successful CFP Board Registered Programs.

Formerly an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Georgia (UGA) and an instructor at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), Goren has created and taught courses on topics ranging from investments to cultural psychology and statistics. At UGA, he quadrupled enrollment in the financial planning major’s introductory course, and his team at UGA’s ASPIRE Clinic was honored with a Pro Bono Advisors of the Year Award from Financial Planning Magazine. He is also a regular columnist at Kiplinger.com and was creator and producer of the NPR radio show “Nothing Funny About Money,” which won the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education’s Best Consumer Financial Information Award in 2018.

Goren holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Florida, a Master of Science degree in social psychology from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in social psychology from UC Berkeley.