Those letters after your name

[BG5150]

Which professional titles do you put after your name on your business correspondence?

Hopefully, by the end of the year I will have:

QKA

QPA

CPC

ERPA

Now, that's a handful to place on a signature line. For example, this looks a bit cumbersome:

Jim McGillicutty, QKA, QPA, CPC, ERPA

So, which ones do you put?

[John Feldt ERPA CPC QPA]

I went with ERPA, CPC, QPA - but I've seen most folks go with CPC, QPA, ERPA.

[Andy the Actuary]

DTFAP

[david rigby]

DTFAP

DownTown for a Pint?

[Andy the Actuary]

Nope, "Deep Thinker For A Price"

Normally, sign "Andy the Actuary, Enrolled Actuary" My clients understand what this means. They are not partial to alphabet soup.

[Bill Presson]

I have QPA & QKA now and just waiting on the IRS to approve the ERPA application.

I'm thinking about spelling out Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent under my name and just have the other letters after.

I understand Andy's thoughts, but the initials, etc aren't really for clients. They are for potential clients. It tends to provide them with some initial comfort that allows me the time to provide confirmation of expertise.

[Andy the Actuary]

Point well taken. It does depend upon your marketing strategy, your marketing targets, and the services you provide. I always marketed directly by relationship. No one was ever concerned with my credentials. Since I'm from St. Louis, they were only interested in where I went to high school.

The letters suffixes certainly help sell your curricula vita as well as any articles you might pen. Generally, not too much credence is given to an opinion presented by an unqualified professional.

[shERPA]

I've always thought of ASPPA's QKA, QPA, CPC line as cumulative, so would only routinely use the highest one attained. ERPA is a separate ticket of course.

[ESOP Guy]

Point well taken. It does depend upon your marketing strategy, your marketing targets, and the services you provide. I always marketed directly by relationship. No one was ever concerned with my credentials. Since I'm from St. Louis, they were only interested in where I went to high school.

The letters suffixes certainly help sell your curricula vita as well as any articles you might pen. Generally, not too much credence is given to an opinion presented by an unqualified professional.

I live in St. Louis but didn't grow up here. After almost 17 years here I still can't relate to the whole "what high school did you go to?" thing.

I remeber once a company I worked for sent around a bio of the new regional head. This guy was almost 60 years old had a long a sucessful career. Towards the bottom it listed attended Country Day High School. I will never get it. That tells you more about his parents then it would about him. I guess I will never go native.

[MoJo]

I remeber once a company I worked for sent around a bio of the new regional head. This guy was almost 60 years old had a long a sucessful career. Towards the bottom it listed attended Country Day High School. I will never get it. That tells you more about his parents then it would about him. I guess I will never go native.

Yea... You should try Richmond, Va on for size. Not so much the high school thing, but colleges (and the 60 year olds would wear college class rings over even wedding rings). When asked, there actually were only a number of "acceptable" answers. UVA, William & Mary (the top choices); Univ. of Richmond (only if you couldn't afford to go out of town - a "poor" second choice), and "out of state." If the latter, it truly was irrelevant which school - as it was obvioulsy inferior to the aforementioned choices (as was virtually any other college in Virginia).

The designations after my name are irrelevant (I'm a lawyer) unless I want to tick someone off (nobody likes lawyers), but other than using Andy's (DTFAP - that is AWESOME!), I usually see the ASPPA designations used only one at a time (with the highest designation being the one used) - plus an other designations (ERPA, etc.)

[david rigby]

... virtually any other college in Virginia).

Nope. I'll take mine, any day.

[MoJo]

... virtually any other college in Virginia).

Nope. I'll take mine, any day.

Oh, I agree - I was a "carpet-bagger" as far as the natives were concerned. Indeed, I was a "trailing spouse" and spent the better part of a year being asked by prospective employers "why I let my wife do that to me?"

And we aren't talking that long ago.

MoJo, J.D., LL.M.

Proud graduate of the University of Akron (J.D.) and Case Western Reserve University (LL.M.) and a "Buckeye" once again....

[QDROphile]

If you are a lawyer, please do not use "Esq." Despite its prevalence in certain parts of the country, is is a misuse of the term, unless you are of the school of language that says there are no rules and no standards and words should not be bound by any historical meaning. Whenever I see it, I think of a seven letter word starting with "a."

[GMK]

as in, two a's and two c's and best pronounced by a pirate? just guessing.

[MoJo]

One of the most wonderous aspects of the English language is its dynamic nature. Two "sources" on the use of "Esq." as a designation for attorney's:

http://www.emilypost.com/forms-of-address/titles/115-correct-use-of-esquire

http://ms-jd.org/there-issue-calling-yourself-quotesquirequot

Bottom line: It's "historic" use is of little consequence in contemporary society. It's used. It's understood. Some react positively, other's negatively.

[Bill Presson]

My favorite card ever was one I got from an insurance company actuary I met. It had his name listed and then "FCA, ASA, EA, MAAA, CEBS, FLMI, CLU" and right before he handed it to me, he took a pen and wrote ", ChFC" at the end.

BTW, I know this because I got the card in 1985 and I still have it in my desk.

[Andy the Actuary]

My favorite card ever was one I got from an insurance company actuary I met. It had his name listed and then "FCA, ASA, EA, MAAA, CEBS, FLMI, CLU" and right before he handed it to me, he took a pen and wrote ", ChFC" at the end.

BTW, I know this because I got the card in 1985 and I still have it in my desk.

Did he add FOS to the end?

[shERPA]

My favorite card ever was one I got from an insurance company actuary I met. It had his name listed and then "FCA, ASA, EA, MAAA, CEBS, FLMI, CLU" and right before he handed it to me, he took a pen and wrote ", ChFC" at the end.

BTW, I know this because I got the card in 1985 and I still have it in my desk.

This reminds me of General Patton, who corresponded quite a bit during his career with much of it compiled in a two volume series "The Patton Papers". As I recall, he got a letter from someone with a whole bowl of alphabet soup after his name. He addressed his reply to the sender something like "John Smith, SOB".

[PensionPro]

There are about 150 professional designations listed on the FINRA Web site. The client usually has no idea which designations are difficult to obtain and which are relatively easy. Most don't know if the QKA is harder or CPC. To the client its just some random letters after your name. So in marketing situations only, I am PensionPro, CPC, QPA, QKA, TGPC.

[Bill Presson]

My favorite card ever was one I got from an insurance company actuary I met. It had his name listed and then "FCA, ASA, EA, MAAA, CEBS, FLMI, CLU" and right before he handed it to me, he took a pen and wrote ", ChFC" at the end.

BTW, I know this because I got the card in 1985 and I still have it in my desk.

Did he add FOS to the end?

I think we just all assumed that credential!

[Tom Poje]

as for abbreviations, I recall years ago in a phone book (for those of you too young to know what a phone book is...)

ayway, the person was a lawyer, had a middle initial F

and the listing in the phone book was

Smith, John F atty

gotta love that.