Students will be able to:
- Objective 1- Retirement needs analysis
- Identify and evaluate the assumptions used in analyzing retirement needs including:
age at retirement, cash inflows and outflows in various stages of retirement, goal
priority and importance, longevity, rate of investment return, market volatility,
and effects of inflation.
- Recognize the potential sources of income during retirement including social security,
employer plan benefits, personal savings and investments, individual retirement plans,
and employment income.
- Calculate an appropriate savings plan to meet funding needs and communicate the importance
of having a well-funded retirement plan.
- Recommend a plan for maximizing the probability of achieving the client’s goals and
mitigating longevity risk.
- Use statistical and probability techniques in calculating retirement funding and income
distribution plans.
- Explain various patterns of work-to-retirement transitions and phased retirement.
- Objective 2 - Social Security and Medicare
- Provide an overview of the Social Security system
- Advise clients in consideration of proposed program reforms
- Explain how a client may qualify for Social Security benefits, given their payroll
taxes and available benefits structure.
- Explain the computation of the averaged indexed monthly earnings (AIME), the primary
insurance amount (PIA), and disability, survivors, and maximum family benefits.
- Assist a client in selecting the optimal date to begin receiving Social Security retirement
benefits and the impact of the earnings test.
- Explain the windfall elimination and the government pension offset on retirement benefits.
- Describe the taxation of each type of Social Security benefits.
- Provide an overview of the Medicare program, including the payroll taxes and eligibility
structure.
- Identify the four parts of Medicare coverage, the benefits provided by each, common
out-of-pocket costs required for insured individuals, and alternative insurance options
to cover the gaps associated with Medicare.
- Assist a client in selecting proper Medicare coverage and any supplemental coverage
with careful attention to appropriate deadlines.
- Objective 3 - Medicaid
- Describe the Medicaid program structure and funding sources.
- Explain common eligibility requirements, how assets are treated in determining eligibility,
and how asset transfers may be subject to a look back period.
- Differentiate between mandatory benefits and optional benefits that may apply depending
on the state.
- Identify planning strategies, in accordance with Medicaid regulations, to maximize
client benefits and available resources.
- Explain estate recovery implications for Medicaid recipients.
- Objective 4 - Types of retirement plans
- Distinguish between qualified, government, non-qualified, and private tax-advantaged
retirement plans.
- Describe the characteristics of the various types of defined benefit, defined contribution
and individual retirement accounts.
- Objective 5 - Qualified plan rules and options
- Explain the tax implications of qualified plans to the employer and employee.
- Explain the rules of qualified retirement plans including eligibility, coverage and
discrimination, funding and contribution, distribution, vesting, and termination of
plans.
- Explain the fiduciary responsibilities of employers with respect to the investments
in their firm’s qualified plan under ERISA.
- Objective 6 - Other tax-advantaged retirement plans
- Differentiate between the various types of Individual Retirement
- Arrangements (IRAs) including traditional, rollover, Roth, SEP and SIMPLE plans, including
the tax treatment of contributions and distributions
- Recommend an appropriate IRA for a client’s needs.
- Objective 7 - Regulatory considerations
- Describe the plan protections provided by ERISA, the PBGC, Department of Labor policies
and other applicable regulations.
- Objective 8 - Key factors affecting plan selection for businesses
- Identify the factors that will affect the selection of a retirement plan for a business.
- Recommend a qualified or non-qualified retirement plan given a business owner’s goals
and objectives.
- Objective 9 - Distribution rules and taxation
- Explain the rules and penalties regarding retirement plan distributions.
- Describe the circumstances under which early distributions are allowed from tax-advantaged
retirement plans without penalty including the Substantially Equal Periodic Payment
and Qualified Domestic Relations Orders rules.
- Compare the taxation of normal distributions with Roth conversions, lump sums and
net unrealized appreciation withdrawals.
- Objective 10 - Retirement income and distribution strategies
- Select suitable investments for both funding and retirement distribution purposes,
considering the time horizon and risk tolerance of plan owners and beneficiaries.
- Construct well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios that minimize retirement income
risk.
- Explain the use of life insurance products in retirement plan portfolios.
- Objective 11 - Business succession planning
- Describe why business succession planning is complex and challenging.
- Identify factors a business owner should consider when creating a succession plan,
including the ability and motivation of a successor and the degree of idiosyncrasy
in the business.
- Describe the purpose of a buy-sell agreement as a business succession planning tool.
- Illustrate how a buy-sell agreement can be designed and implemented.