How to Write CFP Practice Items with Stems and Distractors
CFP items fail when they dump real stems. Verify against the topic list. Keep the not-advice banner.
The matching generator is the CFP Exam Item Writer (Stem and Distractors, No Dump) prompt. Browse related cards in the PromptDig library (Browse more prompts). When a filled run survives, share the version you actually use (Share a prompt).
Print not-an-exam-dump banner first
Write CFP-style practice items with stems and distractors from a topic brief. Not an exam dump. Verify against the CFP topics list. Start by filling Inputs, not by asking the model to remember last week's run. If a field is blank, write NONE or NOT IN INPUTS and leave it blank through Generate. The card is built so the model cannot honestly invent a number, owner, URL, or command that you did not paste.
Paste these fields before you hit run:
Topic brief / CFP domain notes I lock: [Brief]
Item count: [N or 3]
Official topic excerpt I allow (or NONE): [Outline]
Words I must not use: [Banned]
What I must never invent: [Never]
Output format: [Format]
Language: [Lang]
Banner I require: [Banner or Not an exam dump. Not financial advice]
That inventory is the honesty ledger. Anything that does not appear there is forbidden in the draft. If you catch yourself adding a nice-to-have after the run, you are no longer using the card. You are ghostwriting. Put the extra fact in Inputs and run again.
Stems only from the topic brief
Generate is numbered on purpose. Do not skip a step because the first paragraph looked done. The early steps exist to stop later prose from smuggling claims.
Walk the Generate list in order:
- Honesty ledger: Brief nouns, N, Outline status, Banner, Lang.
- Banner line first.
- Up to N items: stem, A-D options, correct key, rationale citing Brief only.
- If Outline is NONE, write VERIFY AGAINST CFP BOARD TOPIC LIST (excerpt NOT IN INPUTS).
- Distractors must be plausible but wrong per Brief; do not invent tax numbers not in Brief.
- Refuse: remembered CFP stems, inventing IRS dollar limits not in Brief, guarantee pass claims.
- Domain tag per item from Brief only.
- Compliance pass: Banned and Never. Format as Format.
If a step asks for a version lock, quote the version from Inputs in the output. If a step asks for a refuse list, keep the refuse list in the published artifact, not in a sidebar you delete. Reviewers should see what the model was not allowed to do.
Leave IRS limits blank when not provided
Most failures are the same shape: a missing field gets a confident fill. A conversion rate appears. A Gradle task appears. A flash point appears. A caption appears on a job that asked for slide text only. Your review is to search the draft for numbers, names, and commands, then grep Inputs. No match means cut.
Honor the constraints as hard stops, not vibes:
- CFP practice items from Brief only. Not an exam dump and not financial advice.
- Never invent remembered stems or tax limits.
- Keep Banner visible.
- No emojis.
When the card says not legal advice, not certification, not an exam dump, or not a caption engine, that sentence belongs at the top of the output. Deleting it to look more finished is how you inherit risk.
Refuse remembered exam items
Finish with the compliance pass the prompt already asks for. Quote the banned-word hits. Cut them. Print character counts when the job has a cap. Print word counts when the job has a budget. List gaps as gaps. Five missing facts are more useful than one smooth paragraph.
Tags on the card (cfp exam item writer, stem and distractors no dump, cfp practice questions coach) are a reminder of the job shape, not an invitation to wander into a neighboring cluster. If you need a different surface, open a different PromptDig card rather than stretching this one.
Fill the card, then run
Replace every bracket. Run on ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Read the ledger first, then the artifact. If the model invents a commit, KPI, DOI, PEL, bid, or logo, discard the run. Tighten Inputs. Run again. Share the filled card that survived, not the first draft that sounded done.