Approved IAR CE Courses

This presentation introduces a simple 4-step retirement income plan that helps advisors gain a deeper understanding of the client's attitudes toward lifestyle and legacy goals. Goal-based retirement planning provides a client-driven process that matches investment risk and financial product selection to spending. Moving beyond a traditional withdrawal strategy and failure rates demonstrates the need for spending adjustments and provides a framework for discussing products that reduce longevity risk. Through a better understanding of client preferences and a deliberate discussion of objectives and income tradeoffs, the goal-based income plan provides retirees with a deeper and more realistic understanding of how their investments relate to how they spend in retirement.. At this webinar, Professor of Wealth Management at The American College of Financial Services, Michael Finke, explains the practical implementation of a simple 4-step retirement income plan designed to help financial planners gain a deeper understanding of their clients' attitudes toward lifestyle and legacy goals.

Creating a stable income from retirement savings can be counterintuitive, as advisors must ensure income stability while navigating market volatility and sequence-of-returns risk, which can significantly impact a client’s portfolio and increase exposure to longevity risk. In this webinar, Michael Finke explains how advisors can align investment strategies with specific retirement spending goals by differentiating between essential and discretionary expenses. He then outlines 3 strategies for using fixed income to meet essential spending needs: withdrawals from bond funds, building Treasury bond ladders to match future liabilities, and transferring longevity risk through annuities. Together, these approaches provide a framework for creating a more stable and predictable retirement income plan while balancing tradeoffs among risk, flexibility, and guarantees.

In this session, learners will review two estate planning articles from the Nerd's Eye View blog by David Haughton, JD, CPWA: Creating Incentive Trusts To Foster Beneficiary Legacies Without Spoiling The Kids and Making Estate Planning More Tax Efficient And Equitable For Beneficiaries By NOT Just Splitting The Assets Evenly. Both articles examine how inherited assets may impact beneficiaries and how clients, with the assistance of their advisors, can be proactive by planning for the realities of future inheritances. In the first article, Haughton walks through the common ways decedents transfer assets to beneficiaries and explains how incentive trusts can be used to incentivize (or disincentivize) behaviors in accordance with their values, such as personal responsibility, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy. In the second article, Haughton discusses how clients commonly leave their beneficiaries equal amounts of each asset to be distributed as a way to split assets tax-efficiently and equitably. But Haughton suggests an alternative asset-by-asset approach that can be more effective, which considers the beneficiary's unique financial circumstances and that may result in a more equitable split of assets. This article explains the approach, its advantages and disadvantages, and when it may be a useful strategy for clients to adopt.

An important aspect of creating retirement efficiencies is to make sound decisions with respect to their tax implications. When should taxes be paid to generate the most after-tax spending and legacy for a given asset base? Answering this question requires digging into the intricacies and nonlinearities of our progressive tax system. In this presentation, renowned retirement income expert Wade Pfau will consider the different tax advantages available in the tax code and how to create tax diversification as a foundation for retirement. Then Wade will describe asset location, or how to position assets between these different types of accounts. Wade will also discuss how to obtain tax advantages for taxable assets that go beyond the space available in tax-deferred or tax-exempt retirement plans. Then Wade delves into tax-efficient retirement distributions, including effective marginal tax rate management with strategic Roth conversions. Wade also covers pitfalls with generating more taxable income, including the Social Security tax torpedo, increased Medicare premiums, and the impacts of tax-preferential sources of income. Wade will finish with a detailed example to show how more tax-efficient retirement distributions using strategic Roth conversions can significantly extend retirement portfolio longevity.

The Presenters will discuss SEC Marketing Rule examination sweeps, and return to the basics of the SEC's marketing rule surrounding general advertisements, newsletters, testimonials and endorsements, third party ratings and rankings, and performance advertising.

For many people, retirement looks very different than it did for their parent's generation-people are living longer and are less likely to be able to rely on pensions to fund their retirement goals. Now, more than ever, individuals must closely examine their future financial and health care needs and determine how to best plan for these needs while protecting their financial well-being. This course is intended to help insurance and financial professionals understand and introduce retirement planning options to clients. Considerations and concerns include the need for supplemental income, future health care needs, and the potential need for long-term care.

Crypto Custody and Fiduciary Duty examines how the safekeeping of digital assets challenges traditional investment-adviser standards of care. This course explores the evolving regulatory framework surrounding custody of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets under SEC Rule 206(4)-2, pending Safeguarding Rule proposals, and state interpretations. Participants learn to distinguish between qualified and non-qualified custodians, evaluate due diligence and disclosurerequirements, and identify operational and cybersecurity risks unique to blockchain-based custody. Through real-world case studies'including the FTX collapse and SDIRA parallels'advisers gain practical tools for assessing custodian integrity, structuring compliant disclosures, and managing emerging risks such as quantum computing and DeFi exposure. Designed for state-registered IARs, the course emphasizes translating complex custody arrangements into plain-language client communication. Advisers complete the program equipped to uphold fiduciary, ethical, and regulatory whileduties while navigating a rapidly changing digital-asset landscape.