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Department of Advisor Development
The Department of Advisor Development prepares students to provide the highest-quality financial planning services to clients through the mastery of client communication skills and drivers of financial decision making, via our CFP Board Certified Education Program capstone, Accredited Behavioral Finance Professional (ABFP®) program, Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor (ADPA®), and client psychology and capstone courses in our Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning degree program. Additionally, the Department provides thought leadership programming on behavioral finance, real estate, and divorce, and develops innovative courses designed to keep advisors up-to-date on financial planning topics.
Dr. Sara Stolberg Berkowicz, Ph.D., CFP®, ABFP℠, CDFA®, CRPC℠, CRPS℠, CSRIC℠, is Chair of the Advisor Development department and an associate professor at the College for Financial Planning, specializing in the areas of behavioral finance, retirement, divorce financial planning, and money psychology. In addition to teaching, research, and course development, Dr. Berkowicz chairs the College’s Research Committee and serves on several committees and councils. She was selected to be a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission, a top accreditor of colleges and universities.
Dr. Berkowicz earned her PhD in personal financial planning from Kansas State University. Her doctoral dissertation “Does Gray Divorce Delay Retirement?” was nominated for the 2019 American Council on Consumer Interests dissertation award. She was selected for two honors societies, Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Omicron Nu. She received her Master of Science in Financial Planning from the College for Financial Planning.
Dr. Berkowicz has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificant for over 25 years. She holds licenses for securities, life and health insurance, annuities, and long-term care insurance. She is an IRS-registered tax preparer, a real estate broker, and a divorce and family mediator, and has earned the ABFP®, CDFA®, CRPC™, CRPS™, and CSRIC® designations. She maintains an independent private practice in financial planning and divorce financial consulting in the Chicago area.
