Tax Essentials & Retirement planning

About the Personal Financial Planning Certificate Program

The SECURE Act is the first major legislation to revamp retirement plans in over a decade. The provisions and planning strategies to help your clients avoid unintended tax consequences on their estate and retirement plans have been implemented into this learning program.

The Personal Financial Planning Certificate Program is a series of certificates covering the core areas of personal financial planning (PFP), including retirement, estate, risk management and insurance, and investment planning, and how tax planning relates to each area. This certificate program is a combination of education and a certificate exam that gives you the opportunity to enhance your knowledge and demonstrate competence in that specific discipline.

Bundle exam + education and save!

This PFP certificate program offers three different options:

• Certificate: You can display your competence and understanding in one or more core areas with a digital badge awarded upon completion of each certificate exam, an online proctored exam taken from the convenience of your home or office. This certificate offers optional online education to provide a thorough comprehension of the material in preparation for the exam.
• Education: If CPE is your goal, you can purchase the education, without the certificate exam, and simply earn CPE credit for your CPA license, PFS credential, and/or CFP® credential. If you hold the PFS credential, there is no need to take the certificate exam because your PFS credential exam tests this material.
• Credential: If you are an active CPA who wants to obtain the PFS credential, the certificate program provides an alternative pathway for meeting the exam and education requirements. See aicpa.org/pfs for details.

The Retirement Planning Certificate Program

The Retirement Planning Certificate Program is an informative and engaging learning experience that will enhance your knowledge in retirement planning. Part of the Personal Financial Planning Certificate Program, this certificate program includes six dynamic courses covering critical steps in the retirement planning life cycle, including unique planning for aging and chronically ill clients.

This certificate includes the following courses:

• The Retirement Planning Process
• Governmental and Employer Retirement Plans
• Personal Retirement Investments, Income, and Expenses
• Analyzing Client Retirement Data
• Creating, Implementing, and Monitoring the Retirement Plan
• Elder and Special Needs Planning

CPA, PFS, and CFP Continuing Education

These courses meet the CPE requirements for the CPA license and PFS credential. In addition, it qualifies for CFP board CE credits. The AICPA will report CE credits to the CFP Board every two weeks on a rolling basis as courses are completed. To have your CE reported please complete the following steps as there is not an automated feed to the CFP Board: Send an email to CFPReporting@aicpa-cima.com with the following information: Name, CFP Number, Copy of Certificate of completion and number of CE hours requested to be reported.

Build comprehensive skills in individual taxation

Establish a strong set of core skills necessary for all areas of individual client service, including how to use concepts during tax planning to reduce taxes for individual clients.

Learn about basic and intermediate individual client services, including these areas of focus:

• Income
• Deductions
• Credits
• Passive losses
• AMT
• Estimated payments

Learn to maximize tax benefits in areas such as:

• Sales of capital gain assets
• Stock options
• IRA conversions
• Divorces
• Self-employment
• College planning

Courses included in this series:

• Individual Tax Fundamentals
• Intermediate Individual Taxation
• Individual Tax Planning

Tax Staff Essentials is a comprehensive, integrated curriculum that provides tax training for four different experience levels and is available in four different formats: Online, On-site, Tax Schools, and Webcasts.

Who Will Benefit

• Tax professionals seeking in-depth training on individual income taxes

Key Topics

• Medicare surtax on net investment income
• Dividends, interest, and planning opportunities
• Compensation issues, deferred plans, and fringe benefits
• Distributions from IRAs and other qualified plans
• Gross income exclusions
• Passive losses
• Travel and entertainment
• Depreciation and amortization
• Gain and loss recognition and basis rules
• Property transactions — capital vs. ordinary income
• Itemized deductions
• Tax computations and tax credits
• Maximizing tax benefits for sales of capital gain assets and real property
• Planning for employer stock options, employer stock held in retirement accounts, and restricted stock
• Roth IRA conversions, withdrawals, retirement planning, and estate planning
• Maximizing tax benefits for personal residence transactions
• Tax planning opportunities with vacation homes, timeshares, and co-ownership arrangements
• Tax planning for marital splits and married same-sex couples
• Self-employed planning to reduce Social Security and Medicare taxes
• Self-employed health benefits strategies
• Tax-smart college financing for middle-class clients and high-income clients and procrastinators

Learning Outcomes

• Identify how to apply the latest changes when preparing federal individual income tax returns.
• Recognize how to advise individual clients on new developments and tax-saving ideas.
• Determine when selling capital assets, business assets, and real estate are to a client’s advantage.
• Recognize like-kind exchange rules under Section 1031.
• Identify ways to advise clients on how to minimize taxes on employer stock options and employer stock held in qualified retirement plan accounts.
• Differentiate between incentive stock options (ISOs) and nonqualified stock options (NQSOs).
• Determine ways to help clients obtain maximum tax savings from vacation home and timeshare properties.
• Differentiate between the rules for “regular” vacation homes, timeshares, and co-ownership deals.
• Determine appropriate federal income tax advice for clients who are separated, divorcing, or divorced.
• Recall ways to help middle-class clients identify college financing tax breaks.
• Identify tax-saving college financing maneuvers for higher-income clients who are ineligible for the well-known education tax breaks.
• Identify strategies of husband-wife businesses that will reduce Social Security and Medicare taxes.
• Identify strategies for how parents can employ their children through their closely held business.