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Hong KongFlashcards for a case-based exam: what they can and cannot do
Flashcards work for the recall layer - contribution limits, threshold ages, definitions, ordering rules and the short lists. They do not build integration, which is what case studies are for.
A case-based exam is not obviously suited to flashcards, and about a fifth of it is pure recall that cards handle better than anything else.
What cards are good for
- Contribution and benefit limits, with the tax year on the card.
- Threshold ages - 55, 59½, 62, 65, 67, 70, 73.
- Definitions: skip person, incidents of ownership, qualified disclaimer, material participation.
- Ordering rules: Roth withdrawals, capital loss netting, the estate tax sequence.
- Short lists: three fiduciary duties, seven planning steps, six ADLs, the six Code commitments.
- The distinctions you keep confusing: Sharpe against Treynor, CRT against CLT, rabbi against secular.
What they cannot do
Build the ability to read a three-paragraph client scenario and see which three domains it touches.
That is the exam's central skill and it comes from case studies. A candidate with perfect card recall and no case practice will still struggle, which is worth knowing before spending forty hours making cards.
Contribution limits change annually. A card without a year on it becomes wrong silently, and revising from it in a later year teaches you a stale number with confidence.
How to write them
One fact per card. Question on the front, answer on the back, in the direction the exam asks.
The exam gives you a situation and asks for the rule, so the front should be the situation. A card reading "59½" on the front trains recognition of a number, which is not a skill the exam tests.
Spaced repetition
An app that schedules by difficulty is genuinely better than a fixed deck, because it spends your time on what you keep getting wrong.
Three physical piles - daily, every few days, weekly - does the same job well enough and works without a screen.
When to use them
The dead time. Commuting, queueing, ten minutes before a meeting. That is time that would otherwise produce nothing, and it is exactly the sort of short repeated exposure recall material responds to.
Do not spend a study block on cards. The blocks are for questions and case studies, which are the things that cannot be done in a queue.
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Common questions
Are flashcards useful for the CFP exam?
For the recall layer - limits, threshold ages, definitions, ordering rules and short lists. They do not build the integration skill that case studies develop.
What should go on a card?
One fact, with the situation on the front and the rule on the back. The exam gives a situation and asks for the rule, so cards should train that direction.
Why date the limit cards?
Because contribution limits change annually. An undated card becomes wrong silently and teaches a stale number with confidence.
When should you use flashcards?
In dead time - commuting, queueing, waiting. Study blocks should go to questions and case studies, which cannot be done in a queue.
Is an app better than paper?
Slightly, because spaced repetition schedules by difficulty and spends your time on what you keep getting wrong. Three physical piles do the same job well enough.