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Student Question of the Week: Fundamentals – Calculator
Student Question from: Susan M.Course: Fundamentals – Calculator Student Question: In example 3 (shown below), why do we use monthly instead of annual for the interest and period of time? Example 3: Bill wants to purchase enough life insurance to provide his family with an inflation-hedged income of $4,000 per month for 25 years. You…
CFP® Practice Question of the Week: Transfer Tax
A client, Tom, informs a CFP® professional that his daughter, Susie, graduated from college last month and landed her first job. Tom wants to establish a Roth IRA for Susie. Tom wants to make a $5,000 contribution for Susie and explains that she does not know about investing and probably would not have the money…
Good to Know: Financial Advisor is 6th Best Job in America
According to CNN Money being a financial advisor is the 6thbest job in the United States. That is no surprise to people already in the industry, but may come as a surprise to those who aren’t familiar with the normal duties of a financial advisor. So what makes it such a great job? Primarily, it’s the satisfaction…
Good to Know: A Whole New Look
We are very excited to announce the re-launch of our CFP® Certification Education Programs blog. The goal of this new look and feel is to make the blog more relevant to you, the student. To that end, we have come up with a number of categories under which we will post information. We will also…
Student Question of the Week: Insurance
Student Question from: Jacky ACourse: Insurance Student Question: It says here that “Most policies will guarantee that the death benefit will never go below the face amount.” I thought that the death benefit and face amount are interchangeable terms. Is the death benefit equal to the face amount plus the cash value? Instructor Response: Very…
CFP® Practice Question of the Week – Transfer Tax
Assuming no deaths in the intervening generations, which of the following is a skip person to Bill for the purpose of generation-skipping transfer taxes if Bill is currently 44 years old? A – Bill’s 4-year-old neighbor B – Bill’s 4-year-old nephew C – Bill’s 40-year-old work colleague D – Bill’s 8-year-old granddaughter by a previous…
Student Question of the Week: Income Tax
Student Question from: Rachael GCourse: Income Tax Student Question: I had a couple questions in regards to tax filing penalties. 1) Since the penalty is calculated from net tax due, what happens when a taxpayer overpaid taxes and gets a refund? How is the penalty calculated? 2) Is the minimum penalty after 60 days on…
Student Question of the Week: Estate Planning – Gift Tax
Student Question: Question: What would happen if a person used the maximum lifetime gift exclusion of $5,120,000 in the year 2012. But the person dies in the year 2015 assuming the limit dropped to a lower amount like 1 or 2 million? The lifetime amount gifted would be higher than the current limit. Instructor Response: Answer: …
CFP Board Issues Compliance Checklist for Standards of Professional Conduct
It is no secret that the CFP Board has placed greater and greater emphasis on the Standards of Professional Conduct required of certified financial planners. Evidence of this can be seen in the most recent national Board exams, where greater emphasis has been given to testing knowledge and compliance of these standards. To assist CFP® professionals in complying…