Approved IAR CE Courses

This one-credit course helps IARs, CFP®, CIMA, and CPA financial advice professionals explain the May 2026 economy, markets, and investment strategy clearly to clients. The class connects geopolitical risk, oil prices, recession concerns, PMIs, jobs data, inflation, Fed policy, fiscal spending, earnings, and valuations to everyday advisory conversations. Participants learn how to distinguish durable fundamental signals from headlines so clients receive context rather than emotion-driven analysis. The program emphasizes fiduciary communication, showing advisers how to frame opinions, data, and forecasts without overstating certainty. By the end, professionals can use economic and market evidence to support rebalancing, risk tolerance reviews, retirement spending discussions, and disciplined client decision-making.

Education funding is one of the most consequential long-term financial planning decisions families face, yet it is also one of the areas where clients are most likely to be underserved by generic, product-first guidance. This course provides investment adviser representatives (IARs), CFP professionals, and other financial planning practitioners with a comprehensive, client-centered framework for evaluating, recommending, and monitoring education savings vehicles — including 529 college savings plans, 529 ABLE accounts, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), custodial accounts (UGMA/UTMA), Roth IRAs used for education funding, U.S. savings bonds, and employer-sponsored tuition assistance programs.

The course addresses the full planning lifecycle: goal-setting and funding projections, account ownership and beneficiary considerations, federal and state tax treatment, financial aid implications (including FAFSA methodology), investment option selection, account aggregation across multiple vehicles, and the regulatory and fiduciary obligations applicable to IARs and CFP professionals advising clients on education planning. The course also addresses recent and pending legislative changes affecting education savings, including SECURE 2.0 Act provisions that expanded the utility of 529 plans.

Developed in alignment with the NASAA IAR Model Rule competency framework (Products & Practice) and the CFP Board's Principal Knowledge Topics (Education Planning), this course equips practitioners to navigate the tradeoffs across vehicle types, conduct needs-based analyses, communicate recommendations clearly to clients, and document their advice in a manner consistent with their fiduciary obligations.

Few advantages are as sought after by parents for their children than an education that will enable them to grow professionally and enjoy the benefits such an education can help bestow. The federal government supports and encourages their efforts to provide that education through various programs and income tax incentives.This course will examine the programs, credits, deductions and federal income tax treatment of various items that affect saving for and financing an individual's education. In so doing, it will consider:' Qualified tuition programs;' Coverdell education savings accounts;' The education savings bond program;' Federal tax credits for education;' The federal tax treatment of scholarships, fellowships, grants and tuition reductions; and' Deductions available for student loan interest, tuition and fees.

As a professional, why is it important to study ethics? The answer lies in the moral requirement that we serve our clients not only with the best products and expert knowledge, but in a manner that serves the client, our own interests, and our community at the highest possible level. This course goes beyond typical courses on communications, because it focuses on a comprehensive set of knowledge and skills that will enable professionals to better communicate with senior clients. These recommendations will allow you to serve your senior clients even more ethically. 

This month, we review November blog articles. This quiz includes the following articles: Effective Implementation Of A Backdoor Roth Strategy: Detailed Nuances, IRS Form 8606 (And When It's Even Worth Doing); Anatomy Of An RIA Sale, Merger Or Acquisition: 5 Important Legal & Compliance Steps; and Advice Engagement Tools For A More Dynamic VIP (Visualization, Interaction, and Process) Planning Experience.

Within every financial advisor's practice, certain tasks have always been time-consuming, thereby constraining the efficiency of other essential duties. These include preparing for client meetings, constructing financial planning proposals, and addressing general client inquiries. As these tasks continue to grow rapidly, they become not only a drain on time but also a financial burden. While various technologies have aimed to streamline financial advising processes, from notetaking to managing client compliance, the demands of the profession have persisted. Despite improvements, advisors find themselves increasingly inundated with tasks such as email drafting and blog writing, detracting from their ability to focus on their most important task of all, meeting with clients. Now, with the advent of cutting-edge generative AI, particularly exemplified by ChatGPT, advisors can experience a significant acceleration in efficiency. This webinar aims to showcase practical examples of how ChatGPT can revolutionize advisors' practices, expanding their capabilities and enhancing the efficiencies that ultimately benefit their clients.

Financial advisors who serve the senior market have the responsibility not only to recognize and understand the issue of elder financial abuse, but to advocate for their senior clients with knowledge and skills that can help keep their clients from falling victim to such abuse or exploitation. This course provides an understanding of the nature of elder financial abuse: why it is so prevalent, the factors that contribute to the risk, common perpetrators and common schemes and scams. The course then reviews a number of ways in which advisors can fight to recognize and prevent the abuse to safeguard elders' futures.

This course examines how fees and governance influence investor outcomes in private real estate and alternative investments. Participants will examine common sponsor fee structures, governance rights, and due diligence practices used to evaluate private investment opportunities. Through practical examples and case studies, the course demonstrates how economic terms and governance provisions can significantly affect net investor returns. Attendees will also learn a structured framework for comparing sponsors, assessing risks, and documenting investment recommendations. By the end of the course, participants will be better prepared to evaluate private investments using a consistent and defensible due diligence process.