Syllabus |  |
| Certified Retirement Financial Advisor (CRFA) Training Syllabus - An Accredited Course Accredited by MidAmerica Christian University
| | This syllabus is used in all training programs but modified as to presentation based on the format of the program. | | Check the Search option on the left if you would like to speak to a member of our Society. |
DAY 1- Retiree Financial and Tax Issues 7:00am - 8:00am | Continental Breakfast and Registration | 8:00am - 9:45am | Retirees' Financial and Tax Issues - How to read a tax return and spot unique opportunities for retirees to save money
- Learn how to calculate and reduce income taxes on Social Security benefits
- How to determine the impact of an annuity on Social Security taxation
- Find out how to present the before-and-after-tax impact of your recommendations
- Understanding the Alternative Minimum Tax
- How to read investment statements
| 9:45am - 10:00am | Break | 10:00am - 11:45am | Retiree Financial and Tax Issues (continued) - How to calculate the exclusion ratio on immediate annuities and the taxable equivalent yield
- Most preferred share dividends are not subject to the 15% tax
- Discussion of tax-qualified and non-tax qualified LTC plans
- Who can deduct long-term care premiums and who can't
- Why LTC benefits are usually tax free-tax qualified policy or no
| 11:45am - 1:00pm | Lunch | 1:00pm - 2:30pm | Asset Protection and Time Horizon - How do retirees view time?
- How long should retirees plan on protecting their assets?
- How to help clients understand the importance of long-term care planning
- Learn what to look for in homeowners and car policies, and asset titling
| 2:30pm - 2:45pm | Break | 2:45pm - 4:15pm | Medicaid Planning - Medicare vs. Medicaid
- Should you ever propose Medicaid planning?
- Non-countable assets
- Half-a-Loaf Plan
- What should clients do with their home?
- How to use trusts to protect assets
- Divorce as an option
| 4:15pm - 4:30pm | Break | 4:30pm - 6:00pm | How to Construct Retirees' Portfolios - What do clients want from their investments after they retire?
- Review: TIPS, preferred shares, bonds, fixed annuities, mutual funds vs. individual instruments, GNMA, FNMA, and FHLMC
- Real estate investment trusts
- Find out what the Morningstar numbers mean
- Learn how to structure portfolio withdrawal rates for retirees
- How to make the most of technology
- Four ways to avoid capital gains tax
- Discover how to calculate the optimal balance between fixed-rate investments for income and investments in stocks for growth
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DAY 2 - Investment and Estate Planning 7:00am - 8:00am | Continental Breakfast | 8:00am - 9:45am | How to Construct Retirees' Portfolios (continued) - Learn how to use the Dow Dividend Strategy
- Understand the Value Line Ranking system
- An introduction to Monte Carlo simulation
- Asset allocation
- The Grangaard Strategy
- S&P Model portfolio
| 9:45am - 10:00am | Break | 10:00am - 11:45am | Annuities and Income Sources - What is the true cost of the guarantees in today's variable annuities?
- EIAs-How they have really performed and which structures have been the best?
- Is there a difference among the insurance rating companies?
- How to reduce the risk of fluctuating interest rates
- Create dependable income for retirees that will let them sleep at night
- Reverse mortgages
- What to do with old life insurance policies
| 11:45am - 1:00pm | Lunch | 1:00pm -2:30pm | Health Insurance - HMO vs. Medigap Insurance
- Why would retirees want Medigap insurance?
- The basic benefits in all (10) standardized plans
- How to select the best plan for your clients
- What can early retirees do for health insurance before Medicare kicks in?
| 2:30pm - 2:45pm | Break | 2:45pm - 4:15pm | Estate Planning and Asset Preservation - How to identify seniors who are most at risk
- Will your clients' biggest asset lose 90% when they die?
- IRAs-The missing link in many seniors' estate plans
- Uncover potential tax problems that the estate attorney or accountant may have missed
- Why clients should be concerned even if the estate tax disappears
- Beneficiary designations
- Learn how to use future tax dollars to finance solution
| 4:15pm - 4:30pm | Break | 4:30pm - 6:00pm | Estate Planning and Asset Preservation(continued) - Revocable living trusts
- Irrevocable living trusts
- Crummy provisions
- Spendthrift clauses
- QTIP trusts
- Perpetuity
- Advance directives
- Special-needs beneficiaries
- Private annuity trusts
- Choosing an executor
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DAY 3 - Retirement Plans and Survivor Planning 7:00am - 8:00am | Continental Breakfast | 8:00am - 9:45am | Retirement Plans - Review how the 2003 Tax Law can determine what assets retirees should own in their retirement plans to obtain the lowest lifetime taxes
- Over 4000 people turn 70 1/2 each day-become up-to-date on the latest distribution and estate tax rules on retirement plans
- How to handle pre-tax and after-tax retirement plan contributions
- When should you recommend a Roth conversion?
- How to calculate the savings on a Roth-review the estate advantages and surviving spouse advantage
| 9:45am - 10:00am | Break | 10:00am - 11:45am | Retirement Plans (continued) - Why it's not only those over 70 1/2 who are at risk
- How to leave a spouse tax-free money
- How to calculate Section 72 distributions
- IRA asset wills
- Should clients ever name a trust as an IRA beneficiary?
- Creditor protection-what's safe-IRAs, annuities, Keoghs?
- Special tax provisions for company stock (NUA)
- Prohibited IRA investments
| 11:45am - 1:00pm | Lunch | 1:00pm - 2:30pm | Post-death Issues - Stretch IRAs
- Titling of inherited IRAs
- Should a beneficiary ever disclaim an inheritance?
- Changing beneficiaries after death
- What should you know to help a surviving spouse?
- How to work with non-spouse beneficiaries
| 2:30pm - 2:45pm | Break | 2:45pm - 4:15pm | Funding Grandchildren's Education - Financial aid considerations
- UTMA/UGMA
- Coverdell education savings
- 529 Plans
- Life insurance
- Annuities
- Roth IRAs
- Educational trusts
| 4:15pm - 4:30pm | Break | 4:30pm - 6:00pm | Charitable Giving - Donor advised funds
- Community foundations
- Charitable lead trusts
- Charitable remainder trusts
- How to gift a home and still live in it
- Using land easements for clients who are property rich and cash poor
- Private foundations
- Maximum tax deduction
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