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CSI FP II Guide

CSI Financial Planning II (FP II) study guide with topic weights, chapter and section lessons, review tools, and matching web practice.

Use this page as the main CSI Financial Planning II exam guide. FP II is the more integrated planning paper. It expects you to connect retirement, tax, insurance, business, family law, and estate consequences inside the same recommendation instead of solving each topic as a separate checklist.

Use matching web practice when you want timed mixed review, current progress tracking on Web, and a cleaner handoff from reading into exam-mode repetition. This guide also includes chapter and section lessons for each CSI FP II curriculum area, so you can move from broad topic review into specific integrated-planning objectives.

Exam snapshot

ItemValue
ProviderCSI
Exam codeFP II
Question count60
Time limit180 minutes
Passing grade60%
Strongest focusintegrated Canadian planning judgment across retirement, tax, insurance, estate, family law, and small-business facts
Practice statusfull FP II web practice is live

Where FP II fits

If the candidate mainly needs…Better first instinct
core planning workflow and foundational Canadian personal-finance judgmentFP I first
advanced integrated planning and more complex recommendation sequencingFP II
progression toward CSI’s advanced planning path and one step closer to the PFP designationFP II after FP I
certification-style integrated planning under FP CanadaQAFP once the core planning and integration base is strong enough

Exam topics covered

TopicWeightWhat it is really doing
Financial Planning Practice10tests process discipline, fact finding, and recommendation delivery
Savings Planning & Debt Management10tests borrowing, cash management, and debt strategy integration
Investment and Tax Planning10tests after-tax planning, account structure, and recommendation fit
Retirement Planning20the highest-pressure area, requiring product, tax, and timeline integration
Insurance Planning10tests insurance design, contract features, and risk-transfer judgment
Financial Planning for Small Business15tests entity, valuation, succession, tax, and continuity logic
Family Law15tests support, property, disclosure, and post-breakdown planning redesign
Estate Planning10tests trusts, powers of attorney, estate transfer, and death-tax planning

How to use this guide well

  • Start with the planning-practice and retirement frames because FP II punishes answers that ignore sequencing and timeline pressure.
  • Keep tax, insurance, family law, business, and estate implications visible while you review any recommendation.
  • Use the study plan for the first structured pass, the cheat sheet for fast integration cues, and practice questions when you are ready for mixed review.

How FP II relates to QAFP

If the candidate is really trying to build…Better next move
deeper CSI integrated planning judgmentstay in FP II and strengthen retirement, business, family law, and estate case logic
a broader certification-style integrated planning exam routecompare your readiness against QAFP under FP Canada
a clean sequence from CSI planning coursework into certification-style casesuse FP I -> FP II -> QAFP only if the target role actually needs that broader certification path

What stronger FP II answers usually do

  • identify the dominant planning issue before naming a tactic
  • test the recommendation against at least one second-order consequence in another planning area
  • keep implementation, documentation, and timing visible
  • prefer realistic sequencing over locally optimal but impractical recommendations

Review pages

Practice this exam

Use this free guide for review, then Start FP II Practice on Finance Prep for timed questions, topic drills, and detailed explanations.

In this section

Revised on Friday, May 29, 2026