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Elimination Period vs. Maximum Benefit Period
Course: Insurance PlanningLesson 9: Disability Income and Long-Term Care Insurance Student Question: Hi, I keep mixing up the elimination period and the maximum benefit period on disability income policies. I understand they’re both periods of time, but on a practice question I picked the wrong one when asked which period affects how soon benefits start.…
Taxation in Retirement
A CFP® professional recommends that a 52-year-old client accumulate retirement assets in taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts. What is the PRIMARY advantage of this strategy? It guarantees a lower tax bracket in retirement. It provides flexibility to manage taxable income during retirement. It eliminates required minimum distributions. It avoids taxation of Social Security benefits. CLICK…
The First 90 Days: Why Onboarding Is Your Cheapest Retention Strategy
Good to Know Ask an advisor where clients are lost, and most will point to performance or fees. The evidence points somewhere less flattering and more fixable: the first ninety days. Industry retention looks reassuring on paper – Schwab’s RIA benchmarking puts average client retention around 97%.[1] But averages hide when the leavers leave, and…
Spousal IRA Contributions and the Aggregation Rule
Course: Retirement PlanningLesson 1: Using IRAs to Build and Distribute More Retirement Income Student Question: Hi, In the review question with the couple where the husband has $84,000 of taxable compensation and the wife only has $1,000, the answer said the wife could contribute up to $7,500 total between her Traditional and Roth IRAs. I…
Year-End Planning in the First Full OBBBA Year: A Fourth-Quarter Checklist
Good to Know By September, the best year-end tax planning is already moving – and 2026 is not a year to run on autopilot. It’s the first full year every provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is in effect at once, and several of the most useful ones come with a clock.[1] The…
Asset Titling and Probate
A married couple owns the following assets: Residence titled as joint tenants with right of survivorship Individual brokerage account owned solely by the husband Husband’s IRA naming his wife as primary beneficiary Revocable living trust funded only with investment real estate The husband dies unexpectedly. Which of the following assets would generally NOT pass through…
Crummey Withdrawal Powers and the Annual Exclusion
Course: Estate PlanningLesson 5: Transfer Taxation II — Lifetime Transfers Student Question: Hi, I understand that a gift of a future interest normally does not qualify for the annual gift tax exclusion, but then the lesson says a Crummey withdrawal power turns it into a present interest gift. I’m confused because the whole point of…
Marginal vs. Average Tax Rate
A client expects to recognize an additional $20,000 of ordinary income in 2026. She asks her CFP® professional how much additional federal income tax she will owe. Which tax rate is MOST relevant in estimating the tax on the additional income? Effective tax rate Average tax rate Marginal tax rate Capital gains tax rate CLICK…
Medicare’s 2027 Reset: What the New Part D Rules Mean for Your Clients’ Plans
Good to Know Most planners treat Medicare as a box the client checks at 65 and a problem for an insurance agent after that. That’s a mistake this year. On April 2, CMS finalized its Contract Year 2027 rule for Medicare Advantage and Part D, and the changes land right in the retirement-income plans you’ve…