CE Catalog

• General Planning

Historically, there has been limited research and insight when it comes to assessing how financial advisors actually work. To establish advisor trends in productivity with respect to preparing plans, using technology, and determining client fees, Kitces Research conducted its third bi-annual survey of financial advisors in 2022. In this latest report, various perspectives of financial advisor productivity are examined, and findings are compared with those from previous studies conducted in 2018 and 2020.

1. Discuss how financial advisors spend their time differently based on their advisory roles and business models.
2. Identify the components of and differences between the Calculator, Comprehensive, Customized, and Collaborative planning approaches and how each approach impacts plan delivery.
3. Describe how different members of a financial advisory team impact financial plan creation.
4. Explain how CFP certification impacts an advisor’s plan development process and the time spent on developing the plan.
5. Evaluate the different ways that financial planners communicate with clients.
6. Compare how different financial planning tools are used and how they impact the financial planning process.
7. Determine how financial planning fees and fee structures relate to different business models and clientele.

Registered Investment Advisor (RIA): A firm or individual registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or state authorities and working in the investment advice business.

Collaborative Planning: Financial planning approach that generally relies on planning software used as a live/real-time collaborative tool with clients during client meetings.

Custom Planning: Financial planning approach that generally relies on custom-written plan developed for each individual client’s circumstances.

Comprehensive Planning: Financial planning approach that generally relies on printed reports from financial planning software used to show a more holistic picture of the client’s current and project ted financial situation.

Calculator Planning: Financial planning approach that generally relies on plan analyses to calculate the client’s needs or gaps, which help the advisor identify products to implement.

Broker-Dealer (B/D): A financial entity engaged in executing securities trades in their own account as a dealer, and in executing securities trades on behalf of customers as a broker. 

Financial Planning Practice: An entity for which there is a common business vision, budget, client base, and service standard. Across the entity, resources and profits are pooled. A practice could be an entire firm, an individual, or a team of individuals affiliated with a larger firm (e.g., a broker-dealer, an independent RIA, or a platform service provider).

Service Team: A subset of a practice that consists of a group of individuals within the practice that serves a defined client base, with at least 1 individual managing client relationships and leading the delivery of financial planning advice. Support roles could include associate advisor, paraplanner, or client service administrator.

Unsupported Solo Advisor: Advisors with no other advisors or W-2 employees.

Supported Solo Advisor: Senior advisor with ultimate responsibility for all clients of the practice, supported by 1 or more W-2 employees, which may include associate advisors.

Senior Advisor: Accountable for managing the most valued client relationships as well as business development and mentoring other advisors.

Ensemble Advisory Firm Or Team: Multiple advisors or advisor teams pooling all resources and profits, where clients are clients of the firm and are served under a consistent standard.

Silo: Multiple advisors or advisor teams, each independently responsible for their own distinct client base and profits.

Service Advisor: Primarily accountable for relationship management and retention of existing clients.

Associate Advisor: Supports more senior advisors on a team to deliver advice in a client-facing capacity but typically has no primary responsibility for client relationships.

Paraplanner: Conducts financial planning analyses and provides similar financial planning support for more senior advisors but is not responsible for delivering recommendations to clients.

Financial Planning Specialist: Serves as a centralized planning resource to support all advisors of a practice; may include Director of Financial Planning.

Client Service Associate: Interacts with clients only with respect to administrative requests.

CFP / IWI: Intermediate
NASBA: Basic

• 3.0 CFP hours
• 4.0 NASBA hours
• 3.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 3.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the August blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Motivational Interviewing Techniques To Help Clients Talk Themselves Into Implementing Advice and Crafting More Equitable Advisor Non-Solicit Agreements With The ACRES Agreement

1. Evaluate how the 4 guiding principles of motivational interviewing support the general steps involved in the process.
2. Describe the stages of change and where ambivalence most commonly occurs during those stages.
3. Discuss the role of desire and fear in motivation.
4. Understand the role of the Broker Protocol in the historical use of employment agreements by financial services companies.
5. Differentiate the differences between non-compete and non-solicit agreements and how each have played a role in the financial advice industry.

• CFP and IWI: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA Topic Area(s): New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz includes the following articles: Form U4: Common Missteps And Best Practices For RIAs; and RIA Code Of Ethics: Important Nuances To Note In Relatively Straightforward Requirements.

1. Understand the purpose of Form U4 and what it discloses.
2. Describe common mistakes made when filing Form U4 and some best practices to avoid those mistakes.
3. Understand the challenges an RIA facse when preparing Form U4.
4. Describe the 5 components that constitute the minimum requirements related to Codes of Ethics that must be maintained by all SEC-registered investment advisers.
5. Develop a compliant code of ethics.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• IWI: Ethics
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: Ethics

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz includes the following articles: Paid Solicitation Under The SEC Marketing Rule: Using Third-Parties For Lead Generation And Prospecting; Form ADV Part 1: Common Missteps And Best Practices For RIAs.

1. Understand the differences between solicitors, promoters, and providers, as defined by the SEC.
2. Distinguish between ADV Part 1 and ADV Part 2A.
3. Distinguish when testimonials and endorsements are considered advertisements.
4. Recognize common issues faced when completing Form ADV Part 1.
5. Identify the difference between the four ADV forms.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• IWI: Ethics
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: Ethics

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the July blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Why International Diversification Is Still The Prudent Strategy (While Keeping Behavioral Biases, Risks, And Results In A Healthy Perspective); Changes To Student Loan Planning With The New SAVE Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plan; IAR CE: Continuing Education Requirements For Investment Adviser Representatives And How Different States Adopt NASAA’s Model Rule; and The Growth Of Collaborative Planning – And Decline Of “The (Written Financial) Plan”

1. Understand how recency bias can impact an investor’s viewpoint on global diversification.
2. Discuss the general trend of market diversification across countries after a systemic financial crisis.
3. Evaluate the impact of the new SAVE Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plan on student loan borrowers.
4. Describe the new continuing education requirements for Investment Adviser Representatives.
5. Discuss how collaborative planning strategies can facilitate better client engagement.

• CFP and IWI: Investment Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA Topic Area(s): New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 1.5 CFP hours
• 2.5 NASBA hours
• 1.5 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.5 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.5 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the June blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Form U4: Common Missteps And Best Practices For RIAs; Why Pre-Commitment Strategies Can Work And 3 Steps To Implement Them With (The Right) Prospects; RIA Code Of Ethics: Important Nuances To Note In Relatively Straightforward Requirements; and Flip ‘Plan Presentation’ Into ‘Plan Engagement’ Meetings To Generate More Focus And Reflective Questions From Client

1. Understand the purpose of Form U4 and what it discloses.
2. Describe common mistakes made when filing Form U4 and some best practices to avoid those mistakes.
3. Discuss the behavioral biases that make pre-commitment strategies so effective.
4. Describe the 5 components that constitute the minimum requirements related to Codes of Ethics that must be maintained by all SEC-registered investment advisers.
5. Describe a ‘flipped classroom’ approach and how it can be applied to a financial planning meeting.

• CFP: Professional Conduct and Regulation
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA Topic Area(s): New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 1.5 CFP hours
• 2.5 NASBA hours
• 1.5 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.5 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review May blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Foster More Productive Client Meetings By Mitigating Interruptions Based On (Conversational) ‘Intensity Level’, Instead Of Asking “Why”, Try “What Else” To Get Clients To Open Up About Goals, and 5 Screening Questions To Assess Client Readiness And Appropriateness (And Why It’s Especially Useful For Some Firms)

1. Describe different individual conversational intensity levels.
2. Discuss how individuals with different conversational intensity levels are impacted by interruptions.
3. Explain the caveats of asking clients the question, “Why?” as a way to get explore their financial backgrounds.
4. Understand when a screening call process can be most beneficial for a financial planning firm.
5. Discuss how screening call questions can be used to identify relationships that will be a good fit for an advisor’s firm.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

IAR CE applied for, but reporting may be delayed.

This month we review May blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Investing For Nonimmigrant Visa Holders: Understanding Visa Types, Investment Challenges, And Tax Implications and Pass-Through Entity Taxes: Mechanics, Considerations, And Planning Opportunities For Navigating SALT Cap Workarounds.

1. Describe the types of nonimmigrant worker visas and the prerequisites to obtain them.
2. Discuss the investment challenges faced by foreign nonimmigrant workers in the U.S.
3. Understand what the Federal SALT deduction cap and how it impacts individual taxpayers.
4. Explain how the Pass-Through Entity Tax is being used by some states to alleviate the impact of the Federal SALT deduction cap on certain business owners.
5. Describe some of the scenarios where electing the PTET can benefit an individual taxpayer.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Estate Planning
• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the April blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Build (Customized) Flexible Estate Planning Strategies In A Constantly Changing Political Landscape;

How Different Monte Carlo Models Perform In The Real World: Assessing Quality Of Predictiveness In Retirement Income Forecasting Models; Switching Between State And SEC Registration: Evaluating Options (And Requirements) For RIAs Nearing $100 Million RAUM; and Crafting An Annual Compliance Calendar For A (Solo) RIA: Staying On Top Of Compliance Tasks While Serving Clients

1. Discuss some of the ways that Federal legislation has impacted estate and tax planning.
2. Identify how disclaimer trusts and Clayton trusts can offer adaptability to changing tax laws.
3. Explain why traditional Monte Carlo analyses might not be the best probabilistic forecasting model to use in retirement planning.
4. Understand the different requirements for registering with the SEC and at the state level, and when advisers need to switch between state and SEC registration.
5. Describe the basic compliance requirements for which a solo RIA is responsible.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 2.0 CFP hours
• 2.5 NASBA hours
• 2.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

A/B Trust: A joint revocable trust created by a married couple. When the first spouse dies, the trust splits into two parts: the survivor’s portion of the trust (called the “Marital Trust” or “A Trust”) and an irrevocable Credit Shelter Trust (called the “Family Trust” or “B Trust”).

Brier Score: A score function calculated to assess the accuracy of a predictive model, based on the mean squared error of the predictions of the model. A lower score indicates more accurate predictability.

Clayton Trust: A revocable trust that allows an option to create an irrevocable QTIP trust and/or bypass trust upon the death of the first spouse.

Decanting Provision: An irrevocable trust provision that allows trust assets to be ‘poured’ into a new irrevocable trust if the original is no longer suitable.

Disclaimer Trust: Revocable A/B Trust structure that directs all assets to the Marital Trust upon the death of the first spouse. The surviving spouse is given the discretionary option to disclaim any assets to the Credit Shelter Trust.

Form ADV: Foundational registration documents that must be submitted by any investment adviser seeking to become registered with the SEC or the states.

Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT): A type of trust structure where the income of the trust is still the grantor’s for income tax purposes, but the assets of the trust are excluded from their estate for estate tax purposes.

Monte Carlo Analysis: A type of probability-based analysis often used in retirement planning, which at a basic level calculates multiple iterations of a client’s projected income and spending over a specified time period while randomizing investment returns, with an output representing the percentage of iterations in which the client did (or did not) deplete their assets over the time period.

Qualified Terminable Interest Property (QTIP) Trust (aka ABC Trust): An irrevocable trust for married couples that permits the grantor to provide trust income (and sometimes principal) to support a surviving spouse, while maintaining control of trust assets to distribute to the trust beneficiaries once the surviving spouse dies.

Regime-Based Monte Carlo Simulation: Adjusting the return and standard deviation assumptions in a Monte Carlo analysis to emulate particular market conditions for certain periods of time; for example, adjusting the first ten years of an expected timeline to reflect expectations based on current valuations.

Regulatory Assets Under Management (RAUM): Defined by the SEC as “securities portfolios for which [advisers] provide continuous and regular supervisory or management services.” For most states, an RAUM over $100 million requires registration at the SEC level.

Tax Cuts And Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017: Signed into law in December of 2017 by President Donald Trump, this was the largest re-write of the Federal Tax Code in more than 30 years, and, among other measures, closed the loophole on Roth recharacterizations by eliminating the ability to recharacterize Roth IRA conversions made in 2018 or later.

Trust Protector: A third-party who is responsible for overseeing trust activities and resolving disputes, with the power to amend trust provisions if certain conditions result in the trust running in contrast to the grantor’s original intent.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Insurance
• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the March blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Framing Prospect Conversations Around What Motivates Them Today (And Not Their Future Goals), Factor Investing And Its (Behavioral) Persistence: Facts and Fiction About The Zoo Of Factors, Instant-Issue Term Life Insurance: What Are The Costs Of Low-Hassle Coverage, And When Are They Worth It?, and Discovery Meeting Framework: 6 Questions To Help Prospects Who Are Resistant To Change

1. Explain how focusing on current pain points can motivate clients more than discussing future dreams when it comes to taking action on their financial plans.
2. Define what factor-based investing is and how to assess whether a particular factor may be worthy of consideration.
3. Understand some of the risk-based and behavioral theories offered for different factor styles.
4. Discuss the pros and cons of instant-issue term life insurance.
5. Describe how the Transtheoretical Model of Change can apply to financial planning clients.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 2.0 CFP hours
• 3.0 NASBA hours
• 2.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

Investment Factor: specific drivers that influence a security or portfolio’s return. Th two main types of factors include macroeconomic (e.g., economic growth, inflation, credit, etc.) or style (e.g., value, momentum, quality, size, carry).

Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): A model that defined how risk can drive expected returns of a particular investment by examining risk and return through its exposure to market beta.

Beta: A measure of a security’s (or portfolio’s) volatility, or risk relative to the overall market.

Instant-Issue Term Insurance: Term life insurance policy that provides a (nearly) instantaneous decision to an applicant with no underwriting requirements.

Accelerated/Non-Med Insurance: Term life insurance policy that provides a faster decision (often around 2-4 weeks) and simpler underwriting requirements than traditional term life insurance policies.

Underwriting: A process that helps insurance companies determine the risk involved with insurance applicants through gathering information to develop a profile based on the applicant’s age, gender, health, medical history, and lifestyle factors that can impact a person’s health.

Transtheoretical Model (TTM) Of Change: A theoretical model developed by James Prochaska, John Norcross, and Carlo DiClemente, which describes the process of change in six stages.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the February blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles:

Paid Solicitation Under The SEC Marketing Rule: Using Third-Parties For Lead Generation And Prospecting; Navigating the Thrift Savings Plan: Planning Opportunities To Support Federal Employees, Military Servicemembers, And Veterans; The HSA ‘Deathbed Drawdown’: Making Tax-Efficient Distributions Of Large Balances (When There Isn’t Much Time) ; and Form ADV Part 1: Common Missteps And Best Practices For RIAs

1. Understand the differences between solicitors, promoters, and providers, as defined by the SEC.
2. Distinguish when testimonials and endorsements are considered advertisements.
3. Describe the main features of the Thrift Savings Plan.
4. Assess the benefits and potential drawbacks of superfunding Health Savings Accounts.
5. Recognize common issues faced when completing Form ADV Part 1.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 2.0 CFP hours
• 2.5 NASBA hours
• 2.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 1.5 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

Promoter: A term introduced by the SEC’s new Marketing Rule that replaces “solicitors”. They can include an adviser’s client (for purposes of a testimonial) or a person other than a client (for purposes of an endorsement) who reaches out to other prospective clients and tells them about the adviser’s firm and/or services.

Solicitor: Term formerly used to describe any person who, directly or indirectly, solicits any client for, or refers any client to, an investment adviser,

Testimonial: Any statement by a current client or private fund investor “(i) about the client or investor’s experience with the investment adviser or its supervised persons; (ii) that directly or indirectly solicits any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser; or (iii) that refers any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser.”

Endorsement: A statement by a person other than a current client or private fund investor that “(i) indicates approval, support, or recommendation of the investment adviser or its supervised persons or describes that person’s experience with the investment adviser or its supervised persons; (ii) directly or indirectly solicits any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser; or (iii) refers any current or prospective client or investor to be a client of, or an investor in a private fund advised by, the investment adviser.”

Operators: Lead-generation firms, adviser referral networks, and client-to-adviser matchmaking websites.

Ineligible Person: According to the SEC’s Marketing Rule, someone who is subject to a disqualifying SEC action or who is subject to a disqualifying event.

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP): The Federal employee and military member’s version of the 401(k) plan.

Blended Retirement System (BRS): The military retirement system that was developed out of an effort to create flexibility and mirror what retirement benefits are available to civilians.

Health Savings Account (HSA): A savings account that receives favorable tax treatment when distributions are used to pay for medical expenses. Contributions are tax-deductible, growth is tax-deferred, and withdrawals used to pay for (qualified) healthcare expenses are tax-free. In order to contribute, an individual must be covered by an HSA-eligible HDHP and have no other health coverage, may not be enrolled in Medicare, and may not be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.

High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP): A healthcare plan that has a higher deductible requirement than a traditional health insurance plan. In order to be an HSA-eligible HDHP, a plan must have a minimum annual deductible and a maximum annual out-out-pocket amount that meets the limits set by the IRS.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the January blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Implementing Retirement Income Guardrails To Facilitate (The Right) Spending Raises And Spending Cuts, Providing Mortgage Advice In A Higher Interest-Rate Environment: Opportunities For Advisors To Add Value, Is Private Debt Worth Considering As An (Alternative) Asset Class In Client Portfolios?, and Creating A (Just In Case) Game Plan For Clients Facing Layoffs.

1. Describe how advisors can best implement a ‘guardrail’ retirement income strategy and discuss the strategy with clients.
2. Learn ways advisors can add value for their clients in a higher interest-rate environment.
3. Understand the considerations underlying whether an investment in a private debt fund might be appropriate for a given client.
4. Describe how advisors can help clients prepare for a potential job layoff.
5. Understand how an advisor can support a client who is laid off from their job.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 2.0 CFP hours
• 3.0 NASBA hours
• 2.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

Guardrails Strategy: A retirement spending approach developed by Guyton and Klinger, this strategy considers upper and lower portfolio limits (i.e., the “guardrails”), that serve as pre-determined thresholds for determining when to increase or decrease future spending.

Intra-Family Loan: A type of loan where the loan recipient receives the loan from a family member rather than a commercial institution. Such a loan can provide the lender with interest income and the recipient with a lower interest rate than they might otherwise receive, but the loan must be set up in accordance with IRS regulations to avoid running afoul of gift tax rules.

Equity Risk Premium: The excess stock returns over a ‘risk-free’ asset (e.g., government bonds) demanded by investors to compensate for the additional risk being taken.

Private Debt Fund: A managed pool of assets that lends money to companies, frequently small and middle market firms, potentially offering a higher rate of return than funds that invest in debt traded on the public market.

General Partner: Responsible for managing the private debt fund, with responsibilities including: selecting attractive credit opportunities, negotiating lending contracts, managing their execution, actively monitoring investments, renegotiating lending agreements in case of covenant breaches, and managing the execution of credit workouts and the realization of secondary market transactions.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA): A type of savings account offered as an employer benefit that allows individuals to save for certain out-of-pocket medical expenses. Taxes are not paid on withdrawals but, unlike Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), balances cannot be carried over year-to-year or after terminating from employment.

Home Equity Line Of Credit (HELOC): A revolving line of credit that offers homeowners access to a loan backed by equity in their home. Typically there is a set period – often 10 years – during which funds can be borrowed, and only interest on borrowed funds needs to be repaid during this period. After the ‘draw’ period ends, the loan is paid back, similar to a traditional mortgage, over another set period (which might be 10, 15, or even 20 years).

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the December blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Performance Advertising Guidelines For Investment Advisers Under the SEC’s New Marketing Rule, Simplify Decision-Making For Clients By Shifting The Perspective To Their Future Selves, How “Probability Of Success” Differs Between One-Time And Ongoing Financial Plans, and SECURE Act 2.0: Later RMDs, 529-to-Roth Rollovers, And Other Tax Planning Opportunities

1. Describe what types of communication are defined as advertisements under the first “prong” of the SEC’s Marketing Rule
2. Explain the regulations regarding performance advertising in the SEC’s Marketing Rule
3. Describe ways to help clients overcome ambivalence by shifting their perspective to their future self
4. Explain how the implications of a Monte Carlo result change depending on whether the analysis is part of a one-time or ongoing plan
5. Name how the provisions of SECURE Act 2.0 will impact retirement planning for individuals in the future

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 2.5 CFP hours
• 4.0 NASBA hours
• 2.5 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 1.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

SEC Marketing Rule: An SEC regulation adopted in 2020 (and requiring compliance by November 4, 2022) that introduced new rules and revised existing rules for SEC-registered investment advisers, most notably allowing the use of third-party testimonials and endorsements.

Gross Performance: Investment returns that are reported without accounting for fees or expenses that would be paid by the client

Net Performance: Investment returns that are reported after accounting for fees and expenses paid by the client

Hypothetical Performance: Investment returns that are reported for a portfolio that does not actually exist in reality, but is instead calculated based on historical investment data, market assumptions, or other calculations, and is heavily scrutinized by the SEC for its potential to mislead investors.

Status Quo Bias: A cognitive effect whereby individuals prefer to stay in their current situation when faced with the possibility of change.

Monte Carlo – A type of probability-based analysis often used in retirement planning, which at a basic level calculates multiple iterations of a client’s projected income and spending over a specified time period while randomizing investment returns, with an output representing the percentage of iterations in which the client did (or did not) deplete their assets over the time period.

Probability of Success/Failure – The output of most Monte Carlo simulators found in financial planning software, which states the probability, based on the simulation results, that a client will (“Failure”) or will not (“Success”) run out of money during retirement.

Required Minimum Distributions – Distributions that are required by the IRS to be taken from most types of pre-tax retirement accounts upon reaching a specified age.

529 Plan – A type of account allowing for tax-advantaged savings for qualified educational expenses, including college, graduate school, and certain K-12 expenses.

Catch-up contributions – Certain additional contributions to IRAs and employer retirement plans (beyond the standard contribution limits) that are allowed for individuals age 50 or older.

Qualified Charitable Distribution – A distribution that is made directly from an IRA to a qualified charitable organization, which is allowed after age 70 ½ and can satisfy an individual’s RMD requirement and is excluded from their gross income.

Early Withdrawal Penalty – A 10% additional tax that is assessed on distributions from an IRA or employer retirement plan that are made before age 59 ½, unless the individual meets certain specified criteria for an exception to the penalty.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz includes the following articles: (1) Equity Compensation Planning as a Niche: Market Opportunities and Differentiated Value and (2) Investing a Roth IRA in Early Stage Growth Companies without Violating Prohibited Transaction Rules

LO#1: Understand how to conduct valuation and investment risk analysis for clients with equity compensation

LO#2: Learn how to conduct tax strategy modeling for clients with equity compensation and the documents needed for this analysis

LO#3: Understand the Prohibited Transaction limitations for IRAs owning small businesses

LO#4: Learn how a client can legally move shares of an existing business into a Roth IRA

LO#5: Understand how an individual receiving compensation from a company owned by their IRA can create a Prohibited Transaction

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 2.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Equity Compensation: This is non-cash payment for services that provides ownership in a company. It is commonly offered to executives and key employees in addition to their pay and includes different forms of company stock.

Employee Stock Options: These give recipients the right (not the obligation) to buy company shares at a fixed price (known as the exercise or grant price).

Restricted Stock Options: Also referred to as share grants or performance shares, provide employees with shares of the company, but are subject to vesting criteria.

Stock Plan Service (SPS) Providers: Companies that provide both software and services to administer large corporate equity award programs

Prohibited Transaction Rules: IRS rules restricting an individual from using their IRA to engage in various types of transactions with certain “Disqualified Persons”.

Disqualified Person: The IRS prohibits an IRA from purchasing property from a Disqualified Person, which can include the IRA owner; the IRA owner’s spouse, ancestors, lineal descendants, and any spouse of a lineal descendant; or an officer or director (or person with similar responsibilities), 10% or more shareholder, or other individual who earns 10% or more of the wages, of a company that is owned 50% or more by the IRA owner and other disqualified persons (combined); or a business that is 50% or more owned by a Disqualified Person.

Prohibited Personal Compensation: When an individual’s IRA exercises control over a business, the IRA owner is no longer able to receive compensation personally from that business.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz reviews the following two blog articles: Why High Equity Valuations And Low Bond Yields Won’t (Necessarily) Break The 4% Rule and Maximizing The Step-Up In Basis By Gifting Assets Between Spouses.

1. Explain what the 4% Rule means and how it is meant to be implemented.
2. Discuss why Morningstar’s recent research report recommends updating the traditionally referenced safe withdrawal rate of 4%.
3. Understand how current market conditions are used to predict future safe withdrawal rates.
4. Understand when assets in a decedent’s estate receive a step-up in basis.
5. Explain how step-up in basis rules differ in separate property and community property states.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 2.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Safe Withdrawal Rate: The highest initial withdrawal rate, followed by withdrawals of the same dollar amount every year in subsequent years, that will never result in the retiree fully drawing down their portfolio over the specified time horizon, even in the worst possible market conditions.

Cyclically Adjusted Price-To Earnings (CAPE) or P/E 10 Ratio: A ratio used to value equities based on the real price to earnings data over 10 years.

Robert Shiller: 2013 Nobel Laureate and Yale University behavioral finance economist who compiled various historical stock market data sets and confidence indexes, and is known for his research on stock prices, asserting that the market is inefficient.

Monte Carlo Analysis: A method of assessing the probability of certain outcomes and success levels by analyzing a large number of separate trials, generally based on historical market returns.

Step-Up In Basis: The readjustment of an asset’s value when the asset has appreciated between the time it was purchased, and the time it is received by a beneficiary.

Community Property: Property acquired by two spouses during marriage and considered to be divided 50/50 between each spouse.

Separate Property: Property acquired (and owned) by only one spouse during marriage, typically as a gift (including inheritances) or brought into the marriage (acquired by one spouse prior to marriage).

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz includes the following articles: (1) Helping Clients To Make Corrections To Social Security Statements and (2) Help Clients to Reconstruct Lost IRA Basis to Avoid Double Taxation

LO#1: Understand the advantages of reviewing Social Security statements.

LO#2: Examine how estimated benefits on the Social Security statements are calculated and to be able to explain that to clients.

LO#3: Identify the common ways in which IRA basis can be lost.

LO#4: Identify strategies to help clints recover lost basis either from IRS Form 8606 or from scratch.

LO#5: Understand the rules for the deductibility of IRA contributions

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Two-factor Authentication: A security feature, the two-factor authentication process is about proving your identity when logging into an online account. The first factor is correctly inputting the account owner’s password and username. The second factor is either a phone or email notification which normally requires putting an additional passcode into the system’s login screen.

COLA: COLA stands for Cost-of-Living Adjustment. This is an increase made to Social Security which counteracts the effects of inflation.

Social Security: This is a government benefit that helps older Americans, workers who become disabled, and families which a spouse or parent dies. This is not meant to be one’s only source of income, but it does replace a percentage of a worker’s pre-retirement income based on the worker’s lifetime earnings.

Inflation: This is the general increase in prices and/or which corresponds to the fall in purchasing power over time.

Retirement Age: On the Social Security statement, this term refers to the age when the individual actually stops working.

Full Retirement Age: Depending on when you were born, Full Retirement Age (FRA) FRA is when you become eligible for your full Social Security benefit. FRA rises over time.

Traditional IRA: An individual retirement account (IRA) that allows individuals to contribute pre-tax dollars that grow tax-deferred until withdrawal. Withdrawals are then taxed at the individual’s income tax rate at the time of withdrawal.

Non-Deductible IRA contribution: A contribution to a traditional IRA which is made with after-tax dollars and thus receives no upfront tax deduction. The contribution itself is tax-free when it is withdrawn, but any growth of those funds over time is tax-deferred and taxable upon withdrawal.

Basis: This the original cost paid for an investment, which can be different from the actual value of the investment at the time of sale.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz highlights a series of articles surrounding questions and other critical communication skills that advisors will want to consider in order to deepen and enrich client relationships through the financial planning process.

1. Describe how the three meeting skills of preparing, managing, and listening are essential to create a positive client meeting experience.
2. Be familiar with resources for newer advisors to help them practice honing their meeting skills.
3. Discuss how advisors can use ‘true’ follow-up questions to demonstrate responsiveness to clients.
4. Describe four types of direct indexing and when using each type of strategy makes the most sense.
5. Explain how asking prospects “Why now?” can help advisors demonstrate the value of behavioral coaching.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 2.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Follow-Up Question:  A question that is used with the sole purpose of understanding the speaker better.  

Behavioral Coaching: In the context of financial planning, the process of helping clients make rational financial decisions and follow through on their priorities. 

Passive Listening: Nonverbal form of communication involving attention to body language and eye contact.  

Active listening: Listening that involves distilling information received from the speaker and reiterating the message back, to acknowledge the message was received and to assure the speaker that it was understood correctly. 

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz includes the following articles: Adjusting Monte Carlo Success Thresholds By Tolerance For Spending Volatility, Getting Comfortable Delaying Social Security With Six-Month ‘Reversible’ Delays, and Analyzing Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) Opportunities For Privately Held Company Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

LO #1: Understand the rules for retroactively claiming Social Security Benefits.

LO #2: Discuss how advisors can use 6-month ‘delay nudges’ to help clients make good decisions around claiming their Social Security benefits.

LO #3: Understand how (and when) employees of private companies can take advantage of NUA, and when alternate strategies should be considered when using NUA is not the best option for the individual.

LO #4: Understand the limitations of using a default probability-of-success target for all client plans.

LO #5: Identify how dynamic probability of success targets can be chosen for client plans.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 2.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME): Metric used to calculate an individual’s Social Security benefit, calculated by taking the average of the 35 highest-earning years, indexed for wage inflation.

Full Retirement Age (FRA): The age at which an individual is entitled to 100% of their Social Security benefits, and generally ranges between age 66 and age 67, depending on the individual’s date of birth.

Lump-Sum Distribution: Withdrawal of the entire balance owned by an individual who is a plan participant of their employer’s qualified retirement plan. The distribution must take place within a single tax year, and generally takes place only after the participant leaves the company, reaches age 59 ½, becomes permanently and totally disabled, or dies.

Monte Carlo Analysis: A method of assessing the probability of certain outcomes and success levels by analyzing a large number of separate trials, generally based on historical market returns.

Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA): Appreciation of the employer’s company stock held in an individual’s retirement plan sponsored by the employer

NUA Triggering Event: One of three conditions that must be met in order for a NUA transaction to take place.

Risk tolerance: How much risk a client is willing to tolerate.

Sequence of Return Risk: a phenomenon which reveals that even if long-term returns average out in the long run, it doesn’t necessarily mean the portfolio can sustain ongoing withdrawals with volatile returns in the meantime.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz reviews two blog articles on the subject of Monte Carlo analysis and framing probability-of-success results for more effective client communication and outcomes. The quiz includes the following two articles: Why 50% Probability Of Success Is Actually A Viable Monte Carlo Retirement Projection and Reducing Retirement “Outage” Risk with Adjustment-Based Planning and Communication.

1. Understand some of the drawbacks of Monte Carlo analyses.
2. Examine the differences in behavior, income, and end-of-retirement totals using different Monte Carlo probabilities of success.
3. Review the ways to discuss Monte Carlo analyses and address client psychology issues using positive frames.
4. Understand the limitations of framing and the implications of considering retirement plans only in the context of probability of success or failure.
5. Identify other risk considerations, like outrage, and learn how to discuss them with clients.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Monte Carlo Analysis: A method of assessing the probability of certain outcomes and success levels by analyzing a large number of separate trials, generally based on historical market returns.

Perception: Related to our senses, this is what we are aware of and how we interpret sensory inputs, often guided by mental models.

Risk: The possibility of an outcome that is different from what is expected/desired. It is an inherent characteristic of all investment portfolios and a concept that Monte Carlo analyses are used to help a client understand.

Framing: Whether positive or negative, how an event is described or an outcome is incredibly powerful in shaping how clients feel about the result.

Magnitude of Failure: This is how large the potential change in income or spending may need to be adjusted. It is not well addressed with the basic probability of success/failure models.

Memorable risks: These are the risks or events that stick in your mind. They evoke vivid mental images.

Hazard: This describes the objective risk of a behavior or event.

Outrage: This describes the subjective risk of a behavior or event.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This quiz covers questions and strategies advisors can employ with clients experiencing crisis. Crisis can include things like losing a spouse or market event, or even just being anxious around an expected financial change.

1. Identify the use of purpose of narrative therapy.
2. Understand how ‘audience questions’ can help clients respond to stressful financial situations.
3. Discuss some of the communication challenges for advisors working with newly widowed clients.
4. Describe strategies advisors can use to stay connected with newly widowed clients.
5. Identify questions to ask and meeting processes for newly widowed clients.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 2.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Narrative Therapy: A process that focuses on finding and using words to create or modify the stories an individual tells themselves to help change the way they may see a certain issue.  

Audience Question: A type of question used to generate new perspectives and potentially new ideas for solving a problem; for example, asking an individual how they would recommend that a friend solve the problem at hand. 

End-Of-History Illusion: The expectation that a person will undergo relatively little change in the future. 

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the November blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Maximizing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Tax Benefits With Adult Children Under Age 26, Establishing Solo 401(k) Plans For Self-Employed Workers: Options, Contribution Limits, Deadlines, And More!, and Tax Advice Restrictions For Financial Advisors: How To Offer Tax Planning And Remain In Compliance

1. Explain the requirements for an adult child to establish a Health Savings Account (HSA).
2. Discuss the features of High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) coverage and Planned Provider Organization (PPO) plans, and when it makes sense for an individual or family to choose one over the other.
3. Describe the features and benefits of implementing a Solo 401(k) plan for self-employed workers.
4. Distinguish between tax advice and tax planning.
5. Explain how financial advisors who are not designated tax professionals can best offer tax planning recommendations for clients.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate

• 2.0 CFP hours
• 2.0 NASBA hours
• 2.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 2.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

Health Savings Account (HSA): A savings account that receives favorable tax treatment when distributions are used to pay for medical expenses. Contributions are tax-deductible, growth is tax-deferred, and withdrawals used to pay for (qualified) healthcare expenses are tax-free. In order to contribute, an individual must be covered by an HSA-eligible HDHP and have no other health coverage, may not be enrolled in Medicare, may not be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.

High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP): A healthcare plan that has a higher deductible requirement than a traditional health insurance plan. In order to be an HSA-eligible HDHP, a plan must have a minimum annual deductible and a maximum annual out-out-pocket amount that meets the limits set by the IRS.

Medicare: The Federal health insurance program for individuals 65 and older. In some cases, younger individuals with disabilities also qualify.

Solo 401(k) Plan: Retirement plan similar to a traditional 401(k) plan but restricted to self-employed business owners with no employees other than themselves (with the exception of the business owner’s spouse as the only other employee). The business owner may make contributions as an employee (with an annual limit of the smaller of 100% of compensation or up to $20,500 in 2022), and as an employer (up to 25% of their compensation).

Form 5500-EZ: IRS Form titled “Annual Return of A One-Participant (Owners/Partners and Their Spouses) Retirement Plan or A Foreign Plan” that must be submitted annually by certain retirement plan owners, including single-participant plans.

Tax Advice: making a recommendation of a plan of action on a tax strategy. This is in contrast to tax planning, which does not involve making a recommendation.

Tax Planning: the consideration, analysis, and/or projection of tax strategies without taking the step of making a recommendation. This is in contrast to tax advice, which does involve making a recommendation.

Tax Avoidance: the provision of tax-related recommendations that are designed to (legally) minimize the amount of taxes paid by an individual.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the October blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Automated Tax-Loss Harvesting Technology: Is The Value Overstated?, Add Value To Client Relationships And Uncover New Goals By Asking: “What’s Possible Now?”, and Why The Value Of A Roth Conversion Is Calculated Using (True) Marginal Tax Rates

1. Explain the three categories of tax planning gaps that represent the types of information missed by automated tax-loss harvesting systems.
2. Discuss how advisors can add value to their client relationships by encouraging them to consider new goals.
3. Explain why asking clients to consider new goals is best done when the client is feeling financially stable and is not working through any major financial planning issues.
4. Explain why an analysis of Roth conversions examining tax brackets alone can be insufficient to determine whether a taxpayer should choose to make a Roth conversion or not.
5. Describe the add-on effects of Roth conversions and how a taxpayer’s total tax liability can be impacted by these effects.

-CFP/IWI: Intermediate 

-NASBA: Basic 

• CFP: General Principles Of Financial Planning, Professional Conduct & Regulation, Psychology of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: Quality and accuracy of communications with clients and prospect, Sufficiency and accuracy of financial report

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 2.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 1.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Tactical Tax-Loss Harvesting – Tax-loss harvesting strategy that focuses on identifying when the investor’s tax circumstances make it likely that they will realize significant value from doing so, capturing only the losses that will benefit the strategy and leaving alone all the losses that won’t impact the strategy.

Automated Tax-Loss Harvesting – Technology-dependent processes using algorithms to detect tax-loss-harvesting opportunities and making the subsequent trades without any human review.

Arrival Fallacy – the often misconstrued idea that reaching a desired outcome is more enjoyable than the process involved in progressing toward the outcome, as the process along the way is often more enjoyable than the final outcome.

Roth Conversion – The transfer of assets from a traditional IRA, SEP IRA, or SIMPLE IRA into a Roth IRA. Taxes are due on the amount in the year the assets are converted, but can grow tax-free in the Roth account after conversion.

Tax Equivalency Principle – The principle that the value of tax-free growth in a Roth account is equivalent to the value of the upfront tax deduction taken for a contribution to a traditional retirement account, assuming that tax rates stay the same over time.

Marginal Tax Rate – The tax rate that applies only to each additional dollar earned as income.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning
• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the September blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles:

Tax-Loss Harvesting Best Practices (And How To Scale It Across A Client Base), Asking The Toughest Kinder Question: How To Help Clients Explore Regret Productively And Take Action, Why Checklist-Style Financial Planning Works: What Advisors Can Learn From Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, and The Most Tax-Friendly States For Retirees: How To Compare State Income Tax Options For Retiring Clients.

1. Discuss some of the factors to consider to determine when tax-loss harvesting for a client would make sense.
2. Explain how George Kinder’s 3rd Life Planning question is used to help clients explore their regrets in a productive way to identify goals.
3. Describe some of the benefits for clients when using a checklist-style approach to financial planning.
4. Identify the four categories that are used to describe the tax friendliness of U.S. states.
5. Describe how financial advisors could systematically assess state income tax options for their retiring clients.

-CFP/IWI: Intermediate 

-NASBA: Basic 

• CFP: General Principles Of Financial Planning, Professional Conduct & Regulation, Psychology of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: Quality and accuracy of communications with clients and prospect, Sufficiency and accuracy of financial reports

• 2.0 CFP hours
• 3.0 NASBA hours
• 2.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 2.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

Wash Sale – sale that occurs when a security is sold for a loss, and a purchase is made for a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the sale.

Wash Sale Rules – IRS rules that prevent taxpayers from claiming any tax deductions for losses arising from wash sales.

Tax-Loss Harvesting – a strategy that relies on the deliberate sale of securities resulting in a capital loss so that capital gains (or to some extent, ordinary income) taxes can be reduced.

Tax-Bracket Arbitrage – strategies that rely on transactions that leverage the spread between tax rates.

George Kinder – founded the Kinder Institute of Life Planning and the Life Planning process for financial planners.

Life Planning – method used by financial advisors in which a financial plan is created based on an exploratory process involving 3 specific questions to help client’s evaluate their most essential goals

Unconditional Positive Regard – principle of client-centered therapy developed by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow based on “respecting the client as a human being with [their] own free will and operating under the assumption that [they are] doing the best they can.”

Tax Credit – amounts that reduce a taxpayer’s tax liability. Nonrefundable credits do not offer credit beyond the taxpayer’s liability (i.e., they may reduce the tax due to zero, but will not result in a refund). However, refundable credits can result in a refund payment if the credit exceeds the tax due.

Tax Deduction – amounts that reduce a taxpayer’s income. Above-the-line deductions reduce Adjusted Gross Income (AGI); below-the line deductions subtract from AGI to calculate taxable income

Tax Exemption – an above-the-line allowance that permits certain amounts of certain types of income to be excluded from taxation.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning
• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the August blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles:

Title: Why Childfree People Require A Unique Financial Planning Process, How To Manage Strong Emotions When Asking Clients Kinder Life Planning Questions,  Advisory Agreement Statutory Requirements: What Advisors Need To Know To Stay Compliant, and Drafting RIA Advisory Agreements: Best Practices And Essential Elements To Include

1. Explain the difference between Childfree and childless individuals, and understand the unique needs of Childfree financial planning clients.
2. Understand how the second Kinder Life Planning question helps clients contemplate future goals by exploring their values and priorities.
3. Understand the statutory requirements for RIA advisory agreements and what to include in the agreement when describing an RIA’s services and fees.
4. Describe the essential elements of an advisory agreements, including how to identify the client and effective date of the agreement.
5. Explain disclosure responsibilities for the RIA and client and the language around both parties’ rights and responsibilities in the event of a dispute.

-CFP/IMCA: Intermediate 

-NASBA: Basic 

• CFP: General Principles Of Financial Planning, Professional Conduct & Regulation, Psychology of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: Quality and accuracy of communications with clients and prospects

• 2.0 CFP hours
• 3.0 NASBA hours
• 2.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 2.0 IAR PP Hours

Childfree – not currently having children and not ever planning on having children.

George Kinder – founded the Kinder Institutute of Life Planning and the Life Planning process for financial planners.

Life Planning – method used by financial advisors in which a financial plan is created based on an exploratory process involving 3 specific questions to help client’s evaluate their most essential goals

Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“the Advisers Act”) – law that places certain requirements and restrictions on investment advisers pertaining to registration, compensation, and creation of advisory agreements.

Section 205 of the Advisers Act – Section that deals with investment advisory contracts, with a focus on charging performance-based fees, client consent to the assignment of agreement, and partnership change notifications.

Advisory Agreement – The legal contract between an advisor and a client that usually outlines (among other things) the scope and nature of the relationship, advisory fees charged, disclosure responsibilities, and steps for resolving disputes

Performance-Based Fee – An investment advisory fee that represents a share of the investment return on the client’s portfolio, and which is generally prohibited unless the client meets specific qualification criteria

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning
• Nerd's Eye View

This month we review the July blog articles in two quizzes. This quiz includes the following articles: Sabbatical Financial Planning: How To Help Clients Maximize Opportunities And Minimize Risks, and How To Use George Kinder’s 3 Life Planning Questions With Financial Planning Clients

1. Determine the impact that a planned extended period of time off from work would have on a client’s long-term financial future
2. Identify financial planning opportunities for when a client plans to take an extended sabbatical
3. Describe the purpose for asking clients George Kinder’s ‘Dream of Freedom’ question
4. Define what a socially constructed goal is and how it can be used to help clients better define and understand their goals
5. Illustrate strategies to prepare clients for unexpected or emotional questions

-CFP/IMCA: Intermediate 

-NASBA: Basic 

• CFP: General Principles Of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: Quality and accuracy of communications with clients and prospects

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Sabbatical – a period of time in which a person takes an extended break from work, lasting anywhere from 1 to 12 months (or longer)

Straight-line cash flow projections – A multiyear financial projection that assumes a single, constant rate of return on investments (along with a constant rate of increase for income and expenses)

Roth Conversion – when funds from a pre-tax retirement account such as a Traditional IRA are transferred into a Roth account. Any tax-deferred amounts that are converted are treated as taxable income and are subject to ordinary income tax

Life Planning – A style of financial planning that focuses on discovering the client’s deepest and most profound life goals, as pioneered by George Kinder and taught by the Kinder Institute of Life Planning

Dream Of Freedom Question – A question asked by advisors as part of the Life Planning process that asks how the client’s life would change if they had enough money to take care of all their current and future needs

Socially Constructed Goal – A goal that is developed through dialogue between two people (e.g., an advisor and client) that creates a shared understanding of the goal between both parties

Stickiness – The tendency of a client to stay loyal to a particular advisor on account of the client’s trust in the advisor and the value they get from the relationship

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Client Trust & Communication
• Ethics

This program is not applicable to CFP Ethics requirements. Completion will award general CE hours for CFP.

This program reviews the articles Why XYPN Is Petitioning The SEC To Implement Title Reform Under Section 208(c) and Why Series 7 Brokers Legally CAN’T Be Client Fiduciaries Without DoL Fiduciary. This course addresses how the Investment Advisers Act oversees the roles of investment advisers and sales representatives, and how the Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule applies to different investment professionals.

LO #1: Have a basic understanding of the history of financial planning legislation.
LO #2: Describe the differences between an investment adviser and broker-dealer.
LO #3: Discuss the purpose of Regulation Best Interest.
LO#4: Explain why a Series 7 licensee can’t technically be a fiduciary.
LO#5: Understand the purpose of the Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• IWI: Ethics
• NASBA: Regulatory Ethics
• NASAA: Ethics, Professional Responsibility

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

6/7/2022

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic 

N/A

Why XYPN Is Petitioning The SEC To Implement Title Reform Under Section 208(c)

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This program is not applicable to CFP Ethics requirements. Completion will award general CE hours for CFP.

This program reviews the articles Virtual Staff Cybersecurity Requirements: Compliance Issues When Adding New Employees Or Contractors and  Are The Accredited Investor Rules Unfairly Limiting Access To Good Investment Opportunities?

LO #1: Understand what an investment adviser representative is.
LO #2: Define an access person.
LO #3: Understand the definition and requirements for accredited investors.
LO#4: Discuss the purpose of accredited investor rules that businesses must follow.
LO#5: Assess how accredited investor rules can be improved.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• IWI: Ethics
• NASBA: Regulatory Ethics
• NASAA: Ethics, Professional Responsibility

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

6/7/2022

N/A

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic 

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This program is not applicable to CFP Ethics requirements. Completion will award general CE hours for CFP.

This quiz includes articles from July of 2020 and August of 2017: (1) How Rising ETF Investing By RIAs Triggers The SEC’s 13F Reporting Requirements, and (2) The New Custody Rule Requirements For Advisors With Third-Party SLOA Authority. The SEC’s 13(f) ruling was put in place to 1) create uniform reporting standards and a central repository of historical and current data about the investment activities of institutional investment managers, and 2) inform public policymakers regarding the influence and impact of institutional investment mangers on the securities market. As such, understanding how and why to correctly report this information is key for the industry and professional responsibility.

LO #1: Examine the intricacies of the 13F reporting requirements and SEC law.
LO #2: Identify expectations for 13F reporting requirements.
LO #3: Identify strategies to mitigate the difficulty of the reporting process.
LO #4: Understand what it means to have SLOA authority – standing letter of authorization and the historical context surrounding the ethics of this issue.
LO #5: Identify the conditions in which advisors who have SLOA authority would be required to have an annual surprise exam conducted.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• IWI: Ethics
• NASBA: Regulatory Ethics
• NASAA: Ethics, Professional Responsibility

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

6/7/2022

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic 

N/A

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This program is not applicable to CFP Ethics requirements. Completion will award general CE hours for CFP.

This quiz includes articles from August of 2019 and March of 2017: (1) Fee Severability: The Next Big Issue in The Regulation Of Financial Planner Compensation And (2) On the Bleeding Edge of Financial Planning Fee-For-Service Regulation. As part of ethics as well as professional responsibility there are few things more important to the financial advisor and consumer relationship than being able to describe fees and have a confident fee discussion. Financial planners need to be able to describe their fees and the work associated with those fees in order to inform clients and create transparency and simplicity for the client as it concerns the fees and the way that they are charged to the consumer.

– LO #1: Identify the key regulatory distinction between a retainer fee and a fixed fee.

-LO #2: Identify the ways in which both severability and saliency can play a role in consumer protection regulation.

-LO #3: Understand what reverse churning is and its impact on fees and service models.

-LO #4: Understand the fee severability rules related to timing, fees, and service expectations.

-LO #5: Understand how consumers are impacted psychologically by different types of fee models as it relates to salience of fees.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• IWI: Ethics
• NASBA: Regulatory Ethics
• NASAA: Ethics, Professional Responsibility

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

6/7/2022

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic 

N/A

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This program is not applicable to CFP Ethics requirements. Completion will award general CE hours for CFP.

This quiz includes articles from August 2021 and November 2021: Navigating Minimum Net Capital And Surety Bond Requirements For State-Registered RIAs and How Financial Advisor Titles Shape Consumer Perceptions. The course’s content addresses ethics and professional responsibility as it pertains to an advisor’s responsibility to remain financially solvent in accordance with state regulations and to accurately portray their services and duties to their clients in their titles and disclosures.

-LO #1: Discuss the requirements for many state-registered investment advisers to ensure a minimum level of assets available in the event of a legal claim from the RIA’s clients.

-LO #2: Understand the difference between minimum net capital and surety bond requirements.

-LO #3: Learn about what empirical research demonstrates about the effects of advisor titles and disclosures on consumers’ perception of the roles and obligations of financial professionals

-LO #4: Discusses how various regulatory approaches to advisor titles might improve consumer clarity

-LO #5: Understand several proposed Federal and state regulations of financial advisor titles.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• IWI: Ethics
• NASBA: Regulatory Ethics
• NASAA: Ethics, Professional Responsibility

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

6/7/2022

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic 

N/A

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

N/A

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This program is not applicable to CFP Ethics requirements. Completion will award general CE hours for CFP.

This quiz includes the following article from June of 2019: Advisor’s Guide To The SEC’s Final Regulation Best Interest And Form CRS. The course’s content addresses ethics and professional responsibility as it pertains to an advisor’s responsibility to avoid or disclose conflicts of interest and remain compliant with SEC regulations (and those of any states that choose to adopt the Federal regulations).

-LO #1: Learn the obligations for broker-dealers to act in the best interests of their client when making investment recommendations under the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest rule.

-LO #2: Understand the requirements for the new Form CRS that broker-dealers and SEC-registered RIAs are required to provide to potential clients.

-LO#3: Explain the clarification of RIAs’ fiduciary duty to clients that was released alongside the Regulation Best Interest rule.

-LO#4: Understand the SEC’s re-interpretation of the “solely incidental advice” exemption for broker-dealers to provide advice without needing to register as an investment adviser.

-LO#5: Explain an advisor’s responsibility to avoid or disclose conflicts of interest and remain compliant with SEC regulations.

• CFP/IMCA: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Ethics
• Nerd's Eye View

This program is not applicable to CFP Ethics requirements. Completion will award general CE hours for CFP.

This program reviews the article Advertising With Testimonials And Endorsements Under The New SEC Marketing Rule. The article covers the the SEC’s new marketing rule and its implications for financial advisors, including what is defined as an “advertisement” under the rule, the enumerated prohibitions on RIA advertising, the new regulations applicable to testimonials and endorsements under the new rule, and the rule’s provisions regarding advertisement of third-party ratings. The session addresses ethics as pertains to remaining compliant with Federal and state securities laws and avoiding false or misleading statements in communications and advertising.

LO #1: Understand the new rules for advisor marketing.

LO #2: Examine the implications of the new marketing rules for advisors who want to use endorsements or advertising.

LO #3: Understand the vocabulary associated with the new advertising rules.

LO #4: Understand the seven general violations to avoid with RIA advertising compliance under the new rules.

LO #5: Learn the required disclosures for an RIA promoter providing a testimonial or endorsement.

• CFP/IMCA: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 1.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 1.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 0.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning
• Investments
• Retirement Planning

This month we review the April blog articles in two quizzes. This quiz includes the following articles: Simplifying Retirement Income Planning Visualization Using The ‘Spending Risk Curve’ and The RISA Framework: A Systematized Approach To Personalizing Retirement Income Strategies For Clients. 

1. Understand why visualizations are important tools for communicating information to clients 
2. Learn how spending risk curves work and how to use them in the planning process 
3. Identify the style factors used to determine client retirement income preferences 
4. Learn methods for assessing client retirement income preferences 
5. Understand how to identify suitable retirement solutions based on retirement income style preferences 

• CFP/IMCA: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: Retirement Savings and Income Planning 
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning
• Investments
• Retirement Planning

This month we review the April blog articles in two quizzes. This quiz includes the following articles: Questions Advisors Can Ask To Help Their Clients Take Action By Exploring Their Money Memories and 8 Inflation Conversations To Have With Clients 

1. Describe why money memory conversations can be a valuable tool for understanding a client’s financial behavior and psychology. 
2. Understand how advisors can best engage in money memory conversations with clients. 
3. Learn how to help clients calculate their own personal inflation rate. 
4. Describe ways advisors can help protect their savings for retirement and other long-term goals against inflation. 
5. Learn about insurance and tax planning opportunities related to dealing with inflation. 

• CFP/IMCA: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Client Trust & Communication
• General Planning
• Investments
• Taxes

This month we review the March blog articles in two quizzes. This quiz includes the following articles: The Impact Of New IRS Proposed Regulations On The SECURE Act: RMDs, Eligible Designated Beneficiaries, Trusts, And More! and Strategies For Maximizing (Or Minimizing!) Rule 72(t) Early Distribution Payments Using IRS Notice 2022-6. 

LO #1. Understand the proposed changes to the SECURE Act’s 10-year rule for inherited IRAs

LO #2. Explain how the proposed regulations would affect who qualifies as an Eligible Designated Beneficiary

LO #3. Discuss how trust beneficiaries of retirement accounts would be affected by the proposed regulations

LO #4. Understand how recent IRS guidance affects the calculations of 72(t) payments

LO #5. Discuss what type of clients would benefit most from 72(t) payments and how best to implement the strategy

• CFP/IMCA: Intermediate  
• NASBA: Basic  

• CFP: Tax Planning 
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 1.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Client Trust & Communication
• General Planning
• Investments

This month we review the March blog articles in two quizzes. This quiz includes the following articles: Asking ‘Have You Worked With An Advisor Before?’ To Uncover What Prospects Really Value Most, The 30-Minute Prospect Meeting: A Framework And Agenda That Convert By Focusing On The Prospect’s (Immediate) Problem, and The ‘Yield-Split’ Method Of Asset Location To Improve Tax Efficiency Of Index Funds 

LO #1. Understand why it is valuable to learn about a prospect’s previous relationships with financial professionals.

LO #2. Describe why asking prospects about their personal memories and attitudes could make them nervous or defensive.

LO #3. Explain what an advisor can do in the initial meeting to help prospects understand how the advisor can solve their problems.

LO #4. Describe how implementing an asset location strategy can be valuable for financial planning clients

LO #5. Explain how a yield-split asset location strategy can add tax efficiency to a client’s portfolio

• CFP/IMCA: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning / Investment Planning / Retirement Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Client Trust & Communication
• Debt & Liabilities
• General Planning

This month we review the January blog articles in two quizzes. This quiz includes the following articles: Credit Card Rewards Strategies: How To Maximize Benefits And Add Client Value and Reducing Digital Miscommunication By Setting Clear Expectations And Appropriate Tone

LO #1. Identify advantages and disadvantages of different types of credit card reward strategies.

LO #2. Understand how to compare different credit card reward programs.

LO #3. Discuss how spending habits can be assessed to help select appropriate credit card reward strategies.

LO #4. Explain the unique challenges of digital communication that are not an issue with verbal communication.

LO #5. Discuss the importance of tone and expectation when communicating through digital media.

Egocentrism: The tendency to consider one’s own point of view to be universally shared by others. This makes it difficult for individuals to clearly understand another person’s point of view unless it is clearly communicated.

Tone: With respect to digital communication, this is the attitude of the sender towards the recipient and the topic of the message, as implicitly expressed through the use of the language used in the message.

Emoji: Small digital images representing faces, animals, foods, activities, etc. that can be inserted into inline text to express ideas and emotions, often used to provide emotional cues and tonal context to messages.

Credit Card Rewards Program: Incentive programs offered by many credit card companies to encourage consumer spending and provide credit card users with benefits for their spending.

Cash Back Rewards: A credit card reward program that offers cash back, often in the form of statement credits, to credit card users for spending with their credit card.

Travel Point/Mile Rewards: A credit card reward program that offers points or ‘miles’ for spending, for users to redeem toward airfare, lodging, and related expenses incurred with certain carriers/hotels.

Transferrable Point Rewards: A credit card reward program that offers points that can be redeemed for a variety of uses, including cash back credit, travel expenses, or other particular offers.

• CFP / IMCA: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning / Investment Planning / Retirement Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New & emerging issues and/or products for the IAR to navigate.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.5 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Retirement Planning

Monte Carlo simulations have become the dominant method for conducting financial planning analyses for clients. They are a feature of most comprehensive financial planning software programs, and advisors often use this data point as the centerpiece when they present a financial plan. However, a Monte Carlo simulation ultimately captures an outrageous spectrum of outcomes, then puts a probability of success number on a client’s plan which is supposed to help them make sense of that outrageous spectrum, but doesn’t necessarily leave them with a true peace of mind. Further, most advisors don’t really understand how to best interpret a Monte Carlo simulation, let alone communicate the analysis to clients in a way that creates the peace of mind they’re looking for. As an alternate strategy, advisors use guardrails, which are guidelines to increase or decrease spending when portfolio withdrawal rates reach certain levels. Yet, most retirees do not spend at the constant distribution rates assumed . So what is available to the advisor who wants to provide an effective retirement analysis to clients that reflects how dynamic retired life can be?

At this Kitces Monthly Webinar, Derek Tharp, Lead Researcher at Kitces.com, discusses risk-based guardrails as a way to better guide flexible income planning for retirees, and the levers that can be adjusted in setting proper (risk-based) guardrails for retirement income.

– LO #1: Define the risk-based guardrail approach and its advantages.

-LO #2: Examine how guardrail strategies perform in the real world.

– LO #3: Understand which levers really matter in a risk-based guardrails plan.

– LO #4: Examine the impact of different risk-based guardrail parameters.

– LO #5: Identify practical considerations of using risk-based guardrail parameters.

• CFP: Retirement Savings and Income Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Taxes

Over the past few decades, higher education costs have increased at a pace far exceeding inflation. In an effort to help save for such costs, many families have turned to 529 plans. While the basic mechanics of such plans are well understood by most advisors, 529 planning can become surprisingly complex, especially when planning for multiple (generations of) potential students, or when 529 plan funds are used for purposes other than higher education. Join Lead Financial Planning Nerd, Jeff Levine, at the July Kitces Monthly webinar, where you’ll explore many of these complexities and take a deep dive into some of the more challenging aspects of 529 planning.

• An overview of key 529 plan rules
• Tax consequences of changing 529 plan owners and/or beneficiaries
• The impact of ownership decisions on student aid
• Trust-owned 529 plans considerations and the “Dynasty 529 Plan”
• State tax complications created by recent changes to the Federal tax rules
• SECURE 2.0’s 529-to-Roth IRA transfers and the “Sweet 16 Roth IRA”

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Taxes

IAR CE applied for, but reporting may be delayed.

With the end of an extended period of relatively low mortgage rates, today’s homebuyers are facing a challenging combination of higher financing costs and continued elevated home prices, which together can make purchasing a home an expensive proposition. This creates a dilemma for clients looking to buy a home – should they buy now or wait in the hope that home prices and/or rates will drop in the near future? And clients who are current homeowners are not immune to these dynamics as well, as changes in home prices can affect the value of what is often their largest single asset and elevated mortgage rates could make a future move less attractive. With these factors in mind, advisors can add value to their clients by helping them understand the drivers of home prices and mortgage rates as well as by offering strategies that can help them make the most of their home buying and selling decisions.

LO1: Review the current home price and interest rate environments

LO2: Understand how home prices and interest rates tend to act during recessions

LO3: Describe recent trends in residential housing markets

LO4: Describe and review demographics of home purchases as well as current and projected inventory levels

LO5: Identify mortgage planning strategies to use in elevated interest rate environments

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Taxes

The transition from employer insurance to Medicare is fraught with confusion. Clients turning 65 or leaving employment must leave the safety and simplicity of their pre-selected and subsidized employer plan to the wild world of Medicare, with all its parts, multiple enrollment periods, and private insurance options to fill the coverage gaps. This session will cover health insurance in retirement: how Medicare works, how to choose private insurance to go with Medicare, and how to establish a health care budget.

LO1: Review Medicare coverage options and enrollment deadlines

LO2: Describe how advisors can help working clients coordinate their work-provided health insurance coverage with Medicare coverage once they reach age 65

LO3: Describe how enrollment in Medicare affects how a client can use their Health Savings Accounts

LO4: Understand the differences between and potential pros/cons of Medigap and Medicare Advantage coverage

LO5: Identify how to estimate total client health care costs in retirement

• CFP: Insurance
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• Taxes

S Corporations, and their taxation, are of interest for financial planners as much as they are for financial planning clients. For instance, what is “reasonable compensation”? Or how is the health insurance premium handled? – These are questions financial planners have to answer for clients as well as sometimes for themselves. This month’s webinar will arm financial advisors with the benefits, limitations, and strategies for S-Corps that they can share with clients and use for themselves.

• LO #1: Review basic S Corp rules and definitions, such as the taxation of S Corp profits.
• LO #2: Review recent tax law changes as they relate to S Corps.
• LO #3: Identify the benefits of S Corps, such as liability protection and the transferability of ownership interests.
• LO #4: Identify the limitations of S Corps, such as the number of allowed shareholders.
• LO #5: Identify strategies S Corp owners can consider to reduce their tax liability.

• CFP: Taxation
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 1.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning

Helping clients to figure out how to spend their money in retirement is a large part of advisor’s work and no easy task. Clients can get confused about strategies. And strategies themselves become more and more complex given the complexity of the client (is the client a couple, high-income, business owner, have inheritance or giving goals). Yet, one unifying principle is that advisors and clients both want as much income in their hands as possible and this brings taxes and tax efficiencies front and center. Join us and learn not only about efficient strategies, but rules of thumb that can be taken back to practice and ease client-advisor conversations about planning and spending complexities in and through retirement.

• LO #1: Understand the taxation of different accounts and investments.
• LO #2: Examine the impact of changing marginal tax rates.
• LO #3: Review the planning considerations and outcomes of different types of accounts and investments.
• LO #4: Review net return rules for exempt and deferred tax accounts.
• LO #5: Outline the retirement withdrawal implications and rule of thumb for spending in retirement.

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning / Investment Planning / Retirement Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

Gross Return: Total return before accounting for fees, taxes, commissions, or expenses.

Net Returns: The amount of return after fees, tax, commissions or expenses are deducted. What the client would actually receive at the end of the day for spending/use.

Goal-Based Investing: Building an investing strategy that funds a spending goal with highest net return for a given level of risk.

Marginal tax rate: This is the tax rate paid on the last dollar of taxable income. Or sometimes defined as the amount of additional tax paid for every additional dollar earned as income.

Net Investment Income Tax: This is an imposed tax, an additional 3.8%, on certain net investment income of individuals, estates, and trusts that have income above the statutory threshold amounts.

Asset location: A strategy for minimizing taxation by placing certain types of investments in different types of accounts (e.g., taxable, tax free, or tax deferred).

Tax Bracket Management: A strategy of realizing income to fill up tax bracket ‘buckets’ to avoid paying a higher tax rate in the future.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning

Ongoing monitoring meetings get boring. Advisors and clients alike are not thrilled to be having the same meeting again and again where there is nothing new or exciting to report. Yet, when clients hit the “fine” phase of the client-advisor relationship, this can be the perfect time to start having “flourish” conversations and bring some fun back to the client-advisor relationship and transform the boring monitoring meetings. Join us and learn about thinking of the three phases of the client advisor relationship as fix, fine, flourish and the questions to ask clients that move them from fine to flourish which ends up brining the advisors back to where they are happiest, at fix.

• LO #1: Examine on-going monitoring meetings and what makes them boring and how to know when clients are bored too.
• LO #2: Understand the fix, fine, flourish cycle to client advisor relationships.
• LO #3: Define flourish and identify the flourish components.
• LO #4: Review questions and meeting process for having flourish conversations.
• LO #5: Identify how to start having flourish-based meetings.

• CFP: Financial Planning Process
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning

• CFP: General Principles of Financial Planning / Investment Planning / Retirement Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

Fix: The early phase of the client-advisor relationship where there are clear financial issues or goals that need to be addressed. Transitions can also reignite fix.

Fine: The middle phase of the client-advisor relationship where clients and advisors alike mainly describe their interaction as fine. These are useful times for rest, but they can also get boring and end out with unsatisfying meetings.

Flourish: A third phase of the client advisor relationship where new goals related to growth and self-worth, and purpose, meaning, autonomy and relationships are explored with greater depth that would not have been possible before, earlier in a fix or fine phase.

Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs: Developed by Abraham Maslow, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was meant to explain motivation and provide insight into the human condition to meet both basic physical and emotional needs as well as complex physical and emotional needs. Human needs are broken into 5 categories: physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

End Of History Illusion: The psychological phenomena describing how a person will describe their current self compared to their younger self as totally different and yet asked to describe the future self, persons will default to saying future self is much like the current self. In a sense, they describe an end of history as though they will stop changing.

Arrival Fallacy: The psychological phenomena describing how people often enjoy the pursuit of a goal more than they enjoy actually achieving the goal. Humans tend to be happier striving toward success than they do achieving success.

Positive Psychology: A movement spawned by Dr. Martin Seligman that focuses on studying individuals that are doing well, have strengths, and want to have more full lives in contrast to focusing on the study of disorders and maladaptive behavior.

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning

Jeff Levine, CPA/PFS, CFP® and Director of Advisor Education at Kitces.com, will give an in-depth breakdown of the SECURE 2.0 Act that has been passed by both houses of Congress and is expected to be signed into law before the end of 2022. In this breaking-news webinar, Jeff will go over the numerous provisions of SECURE 2.0 that will be relevant for advisors and their clients, including the legislation’s gradual pushing back of the RMD age from 73 to 75, the expansion of opportunities to make Roth contributions (including new SEP and SIMPLE Roth IRAs), and the elimination of RMDs on Roth-style employer retirement accounts; along with the ability to transfer 529 plan assets to a Roth IRA, expanded catch-up contribution limits, new exceptions to early-withdrawal penalties, and more. Advisors will walk away with information on how their clients will potentially be affected by the new law, as well as ideas on how to take advantage of some of the new planning opportunities it opens up.

– LO #1: Identify when individuals will be required to begin RMDs under the new law
– LO #2: Explain how SECURE 2.0 affects Roth savings in employer-sponsored retirement plans
– LO #3: Describe the new catch-up contribution rules for employer retirement plans and IRAs
– LO #4: State the new methods that employees can use to take advantage of employer matching contributions under SECURE 2.0
– LO #5: Describe the new rules that apply to transferring 529 assets to Roth IRAs.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: Taxation
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

529 Account: A state-agency-sponsored tax-advantaged account established for education savings intended to be used for college expenses (tuition, books, and other qualified expenses), K-12 tuition, certain apprenticeship costs, and some student loan repayments.

529A Account (aka ABLE Account): Also known as an ABLE account, created in 2014 as part of the “Achieving a Better Life Experience” (ABLE) Act.  This account allows families to save and invest funds for the care of a disabled family member while maintaining eligibility for public benefits such as Social Security, Medicaid, and public housing.

Age 50 Public Safety Worker Exception: Exception to the 10% early withdrawal penalty for certain public safety workers (e.g., firefighters, corrections officers, forensic security employees, et al.) who separate from service in the year they turn 50 or older.

Long-Term Care Insurance: insurance policy that is designed to help with the cost of long-term care services.

Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs): These are single retirement plans that are maintained for the benefit of two or more unrelated employers.

One Bad Apple Rule: A rule imposed by the IRS that results in the disqualification of an entire MEP if an impermissible action – or the failure to take a required action – is carried out by a single employer participating in the MEP. In other words, if just one employer in the MEP (of many participating employers) didn’t properly complete all the required steps of 401(k) plan administration, the entire plan – for all participating employers – would be disqualified.

Qualified Charitable Contribution: An above-the-line charitable contribution established by the CARES Act to support charitable giving.

Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC): A deferred annuity, in contrast to an immediate annuity, funded with an IRA or a qualified retirement plan.

Qualifying First Responders: Law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) who receive service-connected disability and retirement pensions.

Required Minimum Distribution (RMD): The amount that one must withdraw each year from qualified retirement accounts (e.g., Traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k) plans, etc.) once the owner has reached age 70½.

Roth Account: An account in which after-tax distributions are made and future withdrawals (including interest) are tax-free when made after age 59 1/2.

Saver’s Credit: A tax credit for eligible taxpayers who make certain contributions to retirement plans (e.g., Traditional and Roth IRAs, 401(k), 403(b) government 457(b), SARSEP, and SIMPLE plans). Amount of the credit is a percentage of the contribution (up to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for MFJ), depending on AGI.

Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act: Signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 20, 2019, this piece of legislation will have the largest direct impact on retirement accounts since the passage of the Pension Protection Act in 2006.

SECURE Act 2.0:  Part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2022, SECURE Act 2.0 made sweeping changes to various retirement savings rules, including (but not limited to) pushing back RMDs to age 73 in 2023 (with a provision to push them back again to age 75 in 2033), elimination of RMDs from Roth accounts in employer retirement plans, allowing transfers from 529 accounts to Roth IRAs.

Solo 401(k) Plan: Retirement plan similar to a traditional 401(k) plan but restricted to self-employed business owners with no employees other than themselves (with the exception of the business owner’s spouse as the only other employee). The business owner may make contributions as an employee (with an annual limit of the smaller of 100% of compensation or up to $20,500 in 2022), and as an employer (up to 25% of their compensation).

Variable Annuity: Contract between an insured and insurance company that establishes a tax-deferred investment account with insurance features that can provide a stream of income through periodic payments and a death benefit for a designated beneficiary

Variable Universal Life Insurance: Permanent life insurance policy that offers savings and investment components and flexible premium. The cash component can be invested through investment subaccounts.

N/A

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning
• Taxes

Jeff Levine, CPA/PFS, CFP® and Director of Advisor Education at Kitces.com, will be walk advisors through regular year-end planning discussions advisors will likely be having with clients as well as ‘abnormal’ discussions based on the tax, inflation, and market environment experienced in 2022. Such topics include addressing risk for near- and current retirees in the current market environment as well as changes to RMD and FSA rules. In addition, the webinar will discuss Roth conversions, Tax-Loss Harvesting, and other strategies and questions to cover with clients in order to help them think about the present as well as the future. Financial planners will walk away with greater awareness of potential changes and strategies to close out 2022 and start 2023.

– LO #1: Identify near/recent retiree conversations around sequence of return risk and how to talk to clients in those situations about tradeoffs.
– LO #2: Review Coronavirus-related legislation and their expiration dates such as coronavirus-related distributions, RMD rules, and FSA rules and how to plan moving into the future.
– LO #3: Review strategies and considerations for Roth conversions, year-end contributions, as well as both tax loss and tax gain harvesting.
– LO #4: Reviewing tax withholding considerations and how to have conversations about future tax rates
– LO #5: Review Medicare open enrollment and revisit home office deductions.
– LO #6: Identify other conversations, such as State And Local Tax (SALT) planning and beneficiary reviews, that can also bring value to end of year planning and reviews.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: Taxation
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IWI General Financial Planning hours
• 1.0 IWI Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IWI Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

FSA: Flexible Spending Accounts allow users to make pre-tax contributions to pay for certain out-of-pocket health care costs

Wash-sale: Occurs when an investor sells an investment at a loss and buys a substantially similar security within 30 days before through 30 days after the sale

Tax-Loss Harvesting: Selling an investment at a loss to capture a tax deduction while re-investing the proceeds to maintain market exposure

Capital Gains Harvesting: For those in the bottom two tax brackets, capital gains can be realized at a 0% tax rate

Section 179 Expensing: An immediate expense deduction for business owners for purchases of depreciable business equipment

Coronavirus Related Distribution: A coronavirus-related distribution is a distribution that is made from an eligible retirement plan to a qualified individual from January of 1, 2020 to December 20, 2020, up to an aggregate limit of $100,000 from all plans and IRAs

SALT: State And Local Tax deductions were capped at $10,000 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning

SLATs (Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts) are a popular estate planning tool for married clients with a net worth above the current estate planning exemption. Yet, SLATs can also be adapted for clients with $1-10 million in net worth solving for uncertainty, tax, asset protection, and aging. In this webinar advisors will review what a SLAT is and then go through tangible examples of how to turn this traditionally ultra-high net worth tool into a useful tool for a wider range of clients.

1. Define a SLAT (Spousal Lifetime Access Trust) and its common uses.
2. Identify the benefits of a SLAT for ultra-high net worth couples.
3. Identify the benefits of the SLAT for families with $1-10M in net worth.
4. Identify the considerations for how to make a SLAT appropriate for $1-10M clients.
5. Identify how insurance and beneficiaries must also be considered to make the SLAT appropriate for $1-10M clients.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: Estate Planning
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

SLAT (Spousal Lifetime Access Trust): A set of irrevocable trusts made between partners, where the other partner is the beneficiary to the other partner’s trust and vice versa.

DAPT (Domestic Asset Protection Trust): A trust in which the settlor is also named as a beneficiary.

Hybrid DAPT: A traditional irrevocable trust combined with a Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT).

SPAT (Special Power of Appointment Trust): A trust that gives someone, in a non-fiduciary capacity, a collateral power of appointment, allowing distribution of trust property to anyone in a class that includes the grantor (e.g., descendants of the grantor’s grandparents).

ILIT (Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust): An irrevocable trust that, when used properly, keeps a life insurance death benefit out of the grantor’s estate.

Step Transaction: The legal principle that a series of related steps in a transaction should be taxed based on the overall economic nature of the transaction, not just based on the separate individual steps.

Reciprocal Trust Doctrine: Essentially states that if Person A creates a trust for B, and B creates an identical (i.e., reciprocal) trust for A, that the courts can “uncross” the trusts and treat the situation as though each person created a trust for his/her own benefit.

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning

ETFs have become essential components of many investors’ portfolios in recent years. Their low costs, tax efficiency, and ability to provide exposure to numerous asset classes have made them a popular choice within tax-advantaged and taxable investment accounts alike. But as the number of dollars flowing into ETFs has grown, so too has the diversity and complexity of ETF products on the market – from actively-managed and leveraged products to ESG offerings to (likely in the near future) cryptocurrency funds. And so, with ETFs making up the core building blocks of many advisors’ portfolio management strategies, it is critical for advisors to understand not only the role ETFs play today, but also how they could continue to evolve and help shape the relationship between portfolio management and financial advice in the years to come.

This webinar will discuss current trends within the ETF industry (including considerations such as growth versus value, inflation, and flows into ESG or values-based ETFs), as well as areas of future research such as the role of indexing, the risks posed by shifting regulatory environments, and innovations in fixed income ETFs.

1. Describe the ETF creation and redemption process.
2. Identify the due diligence steps for advisors to select ETFs
3. Review new developments in ESG investing (and other types of investing that use environmental and social criteria)
4. Identify gaps in FinTech that impact the financial advice industry
5. Review potential upcoming client discussions around passive investing impacts and regulation for complex products.

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: Investments
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF): A type of investment company that invests in a basket of underlying securities, and whose shares are traded in real time on market exchanges

Authorized Participant: The only type of market participant who is directly involved in the creation and redemption of ETF shares; typically a market maker who exchanges the ETF’s underlying securities for shares of the ETF (and vice-versa)

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG): A broadly-defined investment framework that focuses on the environmental, social, and governance characteristics of portfolio companies.

Socially-Responsible Investing (SRI): An investment framework that focuses on the alignment of the portfolio companies with the investor’s values.

Impact Investing: An investment framework focused on having a positive effect on society via the investor’s portfolio companies

Target Date Funds: A type of investment fund comprised of multiple asset classes that automatically re-balances to a target allocation based on the time horizon until a specific date (typically defined as the target retirement date of investors in the fund).

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning

A unique element of financial planning is that client relationships can last for a very long time, with many advisors assisting clients over the course of decades as their financial planning needs evolve in step with their personal lives. Due to this aspect of the planning relationship, it is almost inevitable that an advisor will encounter a time when a client is diagnosed with a terminal illness. And while it is important for the advisor to review technical areas of the financial plan (from cash flow to estate planning) with these clients, an even more critical consideration is how to best communicate and interact with a client whose thoughts are consumed by their illness. If the advisor isn’t aware of the strategies for working with a client with a “sick brain”, all the best financial plans will be useless.

• Identify key questions and phrases to use when you communicate with a client who tells you they have a serious illness. 
• Summarize common issues for clients that come up when they are moving through the planning process when they don’t feel well 
• Identify end-of-life financial concerns around cash flow and insurance. 
• Identify end-of-life financial concerns around estate planning, tax planning, and investment planning.
• Compare and contrast case study examples and hear how different end-of-life financial planning can be addressed. 

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: Health Insurance 
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning) 
• NASAA: New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate

• 1.0 CFP hours
• 1.0 NASBA hours
• 1.0 IMCA General Financial Planning hours
• 0.0 IMCA Taxes and Regulations hours
• 0.0 IMCA Ethics hours
• 0.0 IAR EPR Hours
• 1.0 IAR PP Hours

Ethical Will: A document that passes on values, family stories, and goals from one generation to the next. 

Healthcare Directive: Legal document that provides information and direction pertaining to future medical care. 

Step-Up in Basis: This is what can happen to an inherited asset at the death of the decedent, when low basis stock or other assets are “stepped-up” to current market values, which can result in large capital gains tax savings. 

Beneficiary: The person who receives gifts or assets via a will or other legal documentation. 

Hospice: A type of care that focuses on keeping an individual comfortable emotionally, physically, and spiritually as they transition from life to death. 

Palliative care: This type of care, like hospice care, is about reducing symptoms and increasing quality of life, but palliative care can begin much sooner than hospice care and support an individual’s quality of life and even extend healthy life. 

All self-study courses will be available at least through December 31, 2023.
Live courses are only available for the scheduled date.
All of our courses are reviewed on a yearly basis and renewed or discontinued every December.

• General Planning
• Retirement Planning

Sometimes there are situations where individuals need access to funds in their tax-deferred retirement accounts sooner than the rules allow. In fact, except for a narrow range of ‘emergency’ situations, the only way most individuals can access these funds without incurring a 10% early withdrawal penalty tax is by setting up “Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SEPP)”, otherwise known as 72(t) payments.  To do so, however, taxpayers must adhere to several rules that have been provided by the IRS or risk paying significant penalties. Join us at the August Kitces Monthly webinar where expert guest, Jeffrey Levine, will discuss the rules to consider and strategies to apply when helping clients who may need early access to their retirement funds.

• Identify which critical 72(t) payment rules must be considered to avoid penalties
• Identify how to navigate IRS Notice 2022-6, which sets a new 5% ‘floor’ interest rate for calculating 72(t) payments
• Understand the special planning considerations that come up in situations of divorce or multiple accounts
• Understand the special planning considerations that come up with layering exceptions, reporting, and Roth conversions.
• Learn how to apply 72(t) strategies to a variety of client goals

• CFP/IWI: Intermediate
• NASBA: Basic

• CFP: Taxation
• NASBA: Specialized Knowledge (Personal Financial Planning)
• NASAA: New and emerging issues or products for the IAR to navigate