Not All Sunsets Are Beautiful

Good to Know Income taxes and transfer taxes will rise—in some cases painfully—after December 31, 2025. Transfer taxes include gift, estate, and generation-skipping taxes. Income tax rates will increase and transfer taxes may rise as taxpayer friendly provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expire (sunset) for years beginning on or after January…

Read More

Defining Basis Points

Course: Investment PlanningLesson 15: Fundamentals of Derivatives – Futures and Options Student Question: Can you please explain what Basis points are and how/why they are generally used? Instructor Response: There are 100 basis points in 1%.  Basis points are merely a common method of measuring investment fees or returns.   An exchanged traded fund may charge a…

Read More

529 To Roth IRA Rollover

Good to Know Your prospect started saving for their child’s college education early and consistently. Fast forward to when the child graduates from college. Now it’s obvious there’s $35,000 in the 529 plan that will not be needed for college.  When they turn to you for advice, how do you advise them? Here’s an interesting…

Read More

Recognition on Installment Notes

Course: Estate PlanningLesson 12: Valuation and Freeze Techniques to Reduce Estate Tax Liability Student Question: I’m not sure how gains are spread out over the course of the note if these are typically structured “as interest only with a balloon payment at the end”.  Here’s the language from the lesson: Instead of an outright sale, an…

Read More

CFP® Certification—A Competitive Edge

CFP® Certificants in the News According to CFP Board, “more than 10,000 firms across the U.S. are employers of CFP® professionals, and with good reason.” The chart below testifies to the explosive growth of clients that prefer working with a CFP® Certificant in 2023, rising dramatically to over eight of every ten clients from only two…

Read More

Interest Rate Risk in a Bond

Course: Investment PlanningLesson 10: Fixed Income Securities Analysis Student Question: I’m not clear why holders of long-term bonds are subject to interest rate risk. If a 20-year bond is purchased at par with a coupon rate of 6.25% ($62.50/year), it seems to me that the investor would still receive $62.50 a year regardless of interest rate changes. What…

Read More

Student Loan Forgiveness Fraud

Good to Know The Federal Trade Commission cautions that “scammers might try and tell you they can help you avoid repayments, lower your payments, or get your loans forgiven — for a price.” That sage advice could not be more timely. Whenever there’s confusion over student loans and dishonest money to be had, scammers flock…

Read More

Interest Rate Risk in a Bond

Course: Investment PlanningLesson 10: Fixed Income Securities Analysis Student Question: I’m not clear why holders of long-term bonds are subject to interest rate risk. If a 20-year bond is purchased at par with a coupon rate of 6.25% ($62.50/year), it seems to me that the investor would still receive $62.50 a year regardless of interest rate changes. What…

Read More

Relationships, Psychology, and Financial Issues

Good to Know CFP Board’s focus on the psychology of financial planning led to a new domain topic— The Psychology of Financial Planning. Our focus in today’s article is on financial tensions in relationships. According to The Practitioner Resource Guide (Guide) offered by CFP Board, three common relationship tensions include Financial Enabling, Financial Control, and,…

Read More

CFP Board Supports Expansion of Fiduciary Duty

CFP® Certificants in the News The Employee Retirement Investment Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) pioneered desperately needed reforms for employer provided retirement plans. As just one example of pre-ERISA abuses, some employers required lengthy vesting requirements and—in a flagrantly deplorable practice—terminated employees before they became vested to avoid paying pensions. Fifty years ago, ERISA rode…

Read More