What topics will be presented?

The Certificate in Personal Financial Planning requires the successful completion of the following six courses. The courses may be taken in any order except for 506, which should be taken last. Students may also want to consider a final on-line review exam preparation course, described in more detail below.

501: Fundamentals and Insurance -This course provides an introduction to the financial planning process and provides background information necessary to succeed in financial planning. This includes coverage of regulatory and ethical requirements, the economic environment, budgeting and personal use asset management. The course also covers insurance planning from a financial planning orientation, including life insurance, health insurance and property insurance.

502: Income Tax Planning - Examines the impact of federal income taxation on personal financial planning. The focus is on conceptual issues and tax planning. Text materials are supplemented with tax articles from business publications such as The Wall Street Journal.

503: Employee Benefit and Retirements Planning - Emphasizes the fundamentals of employee benefit and retirement plans from a personal financial perspective. The class will cover group insurance, other employee benefit plans and retirement. By course’s end, students should be able to evaluate the benefit and retirement needs of an individual and recommend appropriate plans.

504: Investment Planning - This course covers investments from a financial planning perspective. The course covers the investment planning process including allocation, stock investments, fixed income investments, derivatives and indirect investments such as mutual funds. At the end of this course you should be able to construct a portfolio of investments that matches a client’s objectives, investment horizon and risk tolerance.

505: Estate and Gift Tax Planning - Focuses on estate and gift tax planning with particular emphasis on personal financial planning aspects of estate, gift and income tax practice. Includes coverage of how retirement insurance, investment and estate planning issues are interrelated.

506: Comprehensive Financial Planning - Emphasizes the provision of comprehensive financial planning services to individuals. Discussions of collection of client information, preparation of personal financial statements, identifying client needs, cash management, income tax planning, retirement planning, estate tax planning, insurance planning, investment planning and planning for college funding. At the end of this course, students should be able to identify the major issues in each of the above areas and prepare a comprehensive financial plan.