Approved IAR CE Courses

In this continuing education session, learners will review 2 Nerd’s Eye View blog articles: Why Clients Hire “Human” Advisors In The Age Of AI: How Advisors Can Positively Influence Clients’ Emotional States and 10 Charts To Address Client Concerns On 2026 Geopolitical Conflict, Rising Oil Prices, Tariffs, Inflation, And More.

In the first article, Ben Henry-Moreland explains why human financial advisors remain valuable in an era of advancing AI, emphasizing that clients seek emotional connection, trust, and behavioral support beyond technical advice. In the second article, James Liu explains how financial advisors can help address client concerns about the current political and economic climate with data-driven talking points and charts.

As the landscape of college funding continues to evolve, financial advisors must adapt to a new set of rules shaped by regulatory changes, shifting student loan dynamics, and the growing influence of AI in higher education. What was once a relatively stable planning domain is now a moving target, creating both uncertainty for families and opportunities for advisors who are prepared to serve as trusted experts in this space.
In this webinar, Joe Messinger explores policy changes that affect college planning strategies for 2026 and beyond, focusing on how advisors can deliver more proactive, high-value guidance. The session examines practical approaches to optimizing college funding outcomes, including strategies for navigating complex family situations (such as divorced households under new aid rules), maximizing the expanded flexibility of 529 plans, and implementing more tax-efficient distribution strategies.
To highlight key decision points in the college planning process, Joe uses case studies to illustrate when to prioritize need-based versus merit-based aid, how to reduce a family’s Student Aid Index (SAI), and how advanced techniques can be applied for high-net-worth families and business owners to improve tax efficiency and cash flow.

This month, we review October blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Helping Nervous Clients Understand The (True) State Of The Social Security System And What It Means For Their Retirement, Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Planning After TCJA Sunset: Preparing Clients To (Re)Encounter AMT After 2025, and Why Advertising 'Conflict-Free' Advice Could Violate The SEC's Marketing Rule.

In this session, learners will take a deep dive into the IRS's Finalized Regulations through an article written by Jeffrey Levine, CPA/PFS, CFP, AIF, CWS, MSA, and Ben Henry-Moreland. In this session, Jeff and Ben highlight the impact of the finalized regulations on eligible and non-eligible designated beneficiaries. The authors go on to detail the implications of the Finalized Regulations on required minimum distributions, trusts, and annuities. The article concludes with a summary of proposed IRS regulations and the clarifications that advisors can glean from the latest IRS communications.

Sometimes there are situations where individuals need access to funds in their tax-deferred retirement accounts sooner than the rules allow. In fact, except for a narrow range of 'emergency' situations, the only way most individuals can access these funds without incurring a 10% early withdrawal penalty tax is by setting up 'Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SEPP)', otherwise known as 72(t) payments. To do so, however, taxpayers must adhere to several rules that have been provided by the IRS or risk paying significant penalties. Join us at the August Kitces Monthly webinar where expert guest, Jeffrey Levine, will discuss the rules to consider and strategies to apply when helping clients who may need early access to their retirement funds.

Financial planners are often working to adapt estate plans to consider client concerns over legislative changes. However, proposed legislative changes may or may not come to pass, leaving financial planners with the option of changing client estate plans with limited information or potentially leaving clients exposed to the consequences of future tax law. Neither of these outcomes is ideal. This leaves the question of how to properly create estate plans that meet client needs and are flexible enough to remain effective in uncertain times. In this webinar, David Haughton, JD, CPWA', explains how to create flexible estate plans with trusts that go beyond the traditional AB trust structure. He also details how a 'kitchen sink' power of attorney, IRA beneficiary designations, and donor-advised funds can be utilized for flexible wealth transfers.

In the session, we will review two blog articles: Utilizing Swap Powers In Irrevocable Trusts To Add Flexibility And Income Tax Efficiency and Why Pre-Tax Retirement Contributions Are Better Than Roth In Peak Earning Years (Even If Tax Rates Increase). In the first article, Anna Pfaehler, CFP, AEP, illustrates how advisors can recognize when swap powers in irrevocable trusts can be used to make irrevocable trusts more flexible and allow for greater tax efficiency to account for changing grantor circumstances. In the second article, Ben Henry-Moreland explains the debate over pre-tax retirement accounts as potential "tax time bombs" while considering historical changes in marginal tax rates and modern tax reform. Through this analysis of the tax time-bomb debate, Ben explains the benefits of utilizing pre-tax retirement accounts and how to determine when they would benefit client retirement portfolios.

In this continuing education session, learners will review How Financial Planners Actually Do Financial Planning, the fourth report in a biannual series by Kitces Research that explores the factors that drive advisor productivity. This report examines four key domains of the financial planning landscape: time, process, technology, and pricing.

In recent years, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been especially active in updating 'old' regulatory rules to modernize them, leading to an ongoing wave of compliance changes for financial advisors. And the regulators don't appear to be done yet, which means financial advisors may want to start preparing now for what could come next! In this session, we will discuss the regulatory (and legislative) developments that are emerging in Washington, which may affect financial planners such as the proposed changes to the Custody Rule, potential new Cybersecurity regulation, new rules on oversight of vendors when Outsourcing, and more.