Personal Financial Planning

Mathematics provides the foundation for the analysis, forecasting and management necessary for today's sophisticated business practices. If you are a business decision-maker who needs to manage the numbers in order to run the business, this intensive two-day refresher course allows you to master the mathematic skills you need to do your job. Gain the competitive edge with the financial analysis, budgeting and return on investment (ROI) evaluations that are part of your daily activities. Since all problems are linked to real-life situations, you will acquire practical knowledge of the mathematics of asset valuation, pricing, cash flow, real estate financing, financial statement analysis, forecasting and ROI analysis.

The value of all investments is the present value of all the cash flows, which will accrue to the investor, discounted at an acceptable rate. This course teaches the student how to measure and evaluate cash flows from a wide variety of investment situations involving annuities, stocks, bonds, real estate, mortgages, promissory notes, personal and real property leases. This course prepares the future financial professional with the skills needed to plan, construct and evaluate annuities such as retirement, savings, education and other special purpose funds intended for future use. Covers applied concepts involving present & future values, net present values, internal rates of return, discounted cash flow analysis, risk analysis, mortgage analysis and common indices of financial performance. Skills taught are those required in the syllabus of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standard. Practical, real-world oriented.

The complexities of our uncertain financial world are causing people to seek the help of a qualified financial advisor. This introductory course provides an overview of how each element of our financial lives impacts the whole and leads to a successful financial plan. You will learn how to identify and quantify financial objectives, assess strengths and weaknesses, avoid costly mistakes and develop possible solutions to troubling financial issues. Gain a basic understanding of cash flow, college funding, insurance, taxation, investment analysis, employment benefits, retirement and estate planning. Then apply these concepts in a comprehensive approach to case studies that mimic real life. In addition we will explore the professional dimensions of financial planning such as ethics, state and federal regulations and compliance, consumer protection laws, monetary, fiscal policy and the business cycle as well as client communications. If you are interested in a career in this growing profession or in updating your knowledge, this course is a must.

Assessing and managing risk competently and accurately is a basic tenant of insurance management. Learn how to apply the process of corporate risk management to an individual's personal financial plan. This course provides you with the risk management tools and techniques you need to manage risks covered by private insurers in the areas of life, annuity, disability, and medical long term care, homeowners, auto and umbrella liability insurance policies, as well as risks covered by public insurance programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Gain an insider's grasp of how to identify risks that could adversely affect an individual's financial plan, measure and effectively communicate each risk's financial consequences, develop cost effective strategies that mitigate or eliminate the risks, and implement and monitor those strategies. You will also expand your knowledge of income, estate and gift taxation laws as related to insurance premiums and benefits; alternative methods of financing insurance premiums and; and the role of insurance in estate, retirement and savings planning.

As a personal financial practitioner, you are required to have expertise in a broad range of investment categories. This course gives you an in-depth, working knowledge of the investments essential to your job, including security laws and regulations, time value of money, risk analysis, common stock valuation, expected rates of return, market indicators, monetary policy, fundamental and technical analysis, bonds, yield curves, preferred stock, convertible bonds, options, warrants, futures, mortgages, mutual funds, portfolio construction and management and capital theory. Whether you are joining the profession, or a practitioner interested in advancing your career, this course is vital.

Navigating the complexities of income taxation is a basic tenant of personal financial planning. A skillful and successful personal financial planning professional knows how to recognize and take advantage of income tax planning opportunities, as well as how to steer clear of the pitfalls. In this class, you will unravel the complexities of income tax theory and law by understanding the interrelation of the more common rules, regulations and planning techniques applicable to individuals and business entities. You will expand your knowledge of income, deductions, rates, credits, sales, and exchanges; tax favored investments, passive activity rules and basic limitations. Real-life class problems will enable you to gain practical experience in selecting and coordinating the planning techniques which best meet your client's financial objectives. Students will actively solve tax problems through computer research. Whether you are new to the field or a veteran updating your knowledge, this course will give you the most current and relevant information available.

A basic element at the foundation of a well designed financial plan is retirement planning. Find out how to do a comprehensive retirement needs analysis. Learn how to use retirement benefits skillfully as part of a business benefit package or individual investment portfolio. Explore and compare the advantages and disadvantages of the various plans and options available for business clients, including benefits provided to their employees and significant planning opportunities for tax deferral and capital accumulation. This course gives you proficiency in using all of your financial planning tools, including stock options, non-qualified deferred compensation plans and other non-pension-related benefits; tax favored corporate retirement plans, including pension and profit-sharing plans, SIMPLEs and SEPs; and non-corporate retirement plans, such as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and TSAs. You will gain new insight into the fiduciary responsibility requirements in connection with retirement plans and the taxation of benefits received, while learning to evaluate your alternatives and make the most beneficial choice.

Learn how to guide your clients in protecting and transferring their wealth. If you are a trust officer, attorney, life insurance underwriter or financial planner, this course gives you the fundamental background of what you need to know in proactively meeting your clients' estate planning needs. Gain an insider's grasp of tax objectives, wills and living trusts, the unlimited marital deduction and saving the "second tax," while exploring the most advanced concepts and methods relating to lifetime gifts and trusts, holding title to property, life insurance and annuities, business interest, post-death tax and legal problems. You will also update your knowledge by reviewing recent tax law changes.

This capstone course gives you the opportunity to apply the knowledge you have gained from your course work to create a complete financial plan from the ground up. Beginning with client counseling and data gathering and culminating in the presentation and implementation of the plan, you will utilize the concepts and tools available to financial planners, which you have studied in your Financial Planning Program classes. You will prepare one "mini-plan" and one comprehensive plan as the final class project. Creating this plan is your ultimate "dress rehearsal" before actual field work and an excellent time to work with your instructor and peers to expand and refine your knowledge.

The stock market can be an alternative for investors who are willing to assume a greater risk. This advanced course allows you to take your knowledge of this volatile market to a higher level. Learn how to guide your clients in making more informed choices by using practical analysis to buy publicly traded businesses. You will learn methods for industry research, financial statement analysis and specific company valuation. Several case studies give you practical, hands-on experience in selecting and applying the analytical techniques appropriate for a variety of companies and industries. This course is vital for financial planning professionals who will be working with sophisticated clients and complex investment portfolios.

This course assumes little or no background in real estate. It begins by establishing a basic understanding of property, ownership, and real estate interests. It develops the methodologies for the evaluation of income-producing real estate using a number of commonly utilized indices of value such as Present Value, Capitalized Value, Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return. It also provides the student with a basic understanding of real estate taxation. Guidelines are developed for the selection of real properties to help meet pre-defined investment goals and parameters. It teaches the use of the tax-deferred exchange (S.1031) in building an investment portfolio, the valuation of partial interests in real estate, and covers investments in trust deed notes, their valuation, advantages and precautions. The student will develop his or her own after-tax investment analysis model using Excel and the principles covered in the course.

Get the practical, on-the-job experience you need to advance your career in personal financial planning. As an intern, you will be placed with a well-rounded financial planning firm. You will have the opportunity to participate and learn from such job functions as writing financial plans; investment, tax or other strategic research; marketing; client communications, using a computer for financial planning and investment management; overall methodology of providing financial services to clients and more. Financial planning organizations offering internships do so with no obligation to provide compensation to interns. However, your internship is an excellent opportunity to meet and work with professionals in the field and apply the material you have studied while acquiring valuable on-the-job experience.

Once you thought that if you were a good technical planner, serviced your client’s needs then your business would thrive - pain free. Have you ever felt that you are not working on your business; the business is working on you? Gain an insider's grasp of what it takes and how to avoid the pitfalls you might encounter along the way. Break through the entrepreneurial trap by using lessons learned from Michael Gerber’s book “The E Myth”. You'll begin by exploring the personal, professional and business requirements of growing your own business from a practical, not theoretical, real life level. Then you'll get into specifics, such as a results tracking business plan; fee vs. commission compensation; office operational costs; leveraging trade relationships; defining your personal brand; marketing and lead conversion strategies; creating a consistent quality experience for your client base; creating a virtual office with computers and the web; protecting against litigation; and building equity in your business. This course is a must for those at the helm who want to build a successful financial planning business.

An elective course in the Certificate Program in Personal Financial Planning. This course is designed for financial planners, accountants, attorneys, insurance agents, and trust officers who want to improve their skills and ability to serve their clients. This course is a "hands-on" experience using hypothetical client factual circumstances, with changing factual patterns, raising issues to which the planner must respond with the appropriate estate planning tool. Those tools, legal estate planning documents, will be extensively reviewed and analyzed. Alternative paragraphs and provisions of documents will also be used to accomplish certain other estate planning goals. Legal and practical guidance will be given to help the student understand how certain concepts are implemented.

The single most important decision in portfolio management is that of asset allocation: how much should be invested in each security to achieve a desired level of return while minimizing investment risk? Economist Harry Markowitz offered an answer with the Markowitz Efficient Portfolio. This course covers the theory of Dr. Markowitz' work, and has the students develop their own efficient portfolio models in Microsoft Excel. Along the way, the students will learn about expected values, measuring risk, correlation of returns, probability distributions, and how a portfolio of securities can have lower risk than that of any of the individual securities.

This single, in-depth course is specifically designed to provide the "Extra Step" to gain financial planning knowledge to assist you in passing the CFP® Board Standards Certification Exam. Experience a sense of accomplishment to help energize and revitalize your career by leveraging the knowledge gained through this course to serve your clients in a comprehensive fashion. This newly designed course will simulate situations students will face in the practice of financial planning. Students will acquire tools and techniques necessary to gain competence, focus, and the confidence necessary to pass the rigorous two-day Board Standards Exam. The curriculum will include case study questions, advanced calculator usage and problems, investment formula calculations, and test taking methodology. Students will solve financial problems both independently and in a group study environment to help them sharpen their test taking skills. This course is recommended in conjunction with the 6 Day Live Review Course offered through UC Irvine Extension, as a supplement to assist students during their review time. It is highly recommended that students pre-purchase their review course study materials prior to attendance.

CRPC® is a retirement course focusing on pre-and-post retirement needs of the individual. The overall course will provide students with practical knowledge and skills to address an array of client situations with up-to-date retirement information. Students will gain practical knowledge and a competitive edge by strengthening their technical skills in a growing financial planning niche. Students will acquire skills necessary to expand their business, and enhance their creditability relating to their professional practice. This course will allow students to examine the retirement planning process from start-to-finish utilizing individual real-world situations.