Approved IAR CE Courses

This quiz includes the following articles: Adjusting Monte Carlo Success Thresholds By Tolerance For Spending Volatility, Getting Comfortable Delaying Social Security With Six-Month 'Reversible' Delays, and Analyzing Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) Opportunities For Privately Held Company Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

This quiz includes the following articles: This quiz highlights a series of articles surrounding questions and other critical communication skills that advisors will want to consider in order to deepen and enrich client relationships through the financial planning process.

This quiz reviews the following two blog articles: Why High Equity Valuations And Low Bond Yields Won't (Necessarily) Break The 4% Rule and Maximizing The Step-Up In Basis By Gifting Assets Between Spouses.

This quiz covers questions and strategies advisors can employ with clients experiencing crisis. Crisis can include things like losing a spouse or market event, or even just being anxious around an expected financial change.

This course examines the retailization of alternative investments and the growing responsibility of investment adviser representatives to evaluate complex products, manage risks, and fulfill fiduciary obligations when recommending them to retail clients.

In this continuing education session, learners will review 2 Nerd’s Eye View blog articles: Personalizing Lifespan Assumptions For More Accurate Social Security And Retirement Withdrawal Recommendations, and 4 Alternative Retirement Paths And An Advisor's Role In Helping Clients Plan For Them. In the first article, K. Jeremy Ko, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of ShoreUp Retirement Solutions, examines how financial advicers estimate client lifespan and what changes when those estimates are personalized, documenting how heavily advicers rely on the default survival ages of 90 or 95 built into planning software and why clients' own longevity estimates are also unreliable, since younger individuals tend to underestimate their survival probabilities while older individuals tend to overestimate them. Ko then presents survival analysis showing that self-rated health, smoking status, education, race, and ethnicity together can move projected lifespan by 10 to 20 years, applies those estimates to Social Security claiming and retirement savings thresholds, and closes with a review of available lifespan calculators and conversational approaches for raising health and longevity topics that clients may otherwise find uncomfortable. In the second article, Adam Van Deusen, CFP®, Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com, explores why the 'traditional' model of working full-time into one's mid-60s and then leaving the workforce entirely may not fit every client, and how advicers can introduce alternatives that better match a client's goals. After tracing how employer pensions, Social Security, and the real estate and financial industries shaped the modern concept of retirement, Van Deusen outlines four alternative paths (financial independence, sabbaticals, Coast FIRE, and semi-retirement) along with the asset requirements, risks, and planning opportunities of each, and covers practical ways to identify interested clients, explain these paths in plain language, stress test the resulting plans, and support clients on an ongoing basis as they pursue or transition between paths. Together, the articles help advicers replace default retirement assumptions with personalized plans that reflect each client's projected lifespan, goals, and preferred path into retirement.

This two-hour program will provide financial professionals with practical strategies to improve retirement planning outcomes through enhanced retirement spending and tax optimization techniques. During the first hour, participants will examine the mathematical, behavioral, and practical limitations of using “Probability of Success” as a primary retirement planning metric and explore alternative frameworks for evaluating retirement spending plans and communicating risk to clients. During the second hour, participants will learn how to identify and evaluate tax planning opportunities for retirees and pre-retirees, including Roth conversions, tax bracket management, Medicare IRMAA considerations, Social Security taxation, required minimum distributions, and income sequencing strategies. The program is designed to help advisors develop more effective retirement income recommendations that support long-term financial sustainability, tax efficiency, and improved client understanding.

This program explores the evolving landscape of Roth IRA conversions in light of recent tax law changes introduced under the OBBB, with a focus on identifying both opportunities and hidden pitfalls. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how provisions such as SALT deduction phaseouts, QBI limitations, and new senior deductions can significantly impact marginal tax rates and conversion outcomes. Through practical strategies and real-world applications, advisors will learn how to optimize Roth conversion decisions, minimize tax exposure, and better serve clients across a variety of financial situations—including high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and special needs planning scenarios.

Monte Carlo analysis is a commonly used tool in financial planning, with the probability of success being the most common method for reporting a financial plan's results. However, this practice may be hurting clients more than helping them by creating more financial stress and a propensity for miserly financial behavior. In this webinar, Dr. Tharp explains how the use of probabilities of success is akin to the practice of bloodletting in the medical field, where professionals are commonly using a practice that is often misunderstood by professionals and clients. Through the presentation, Tharp explains what the probability of success metric truly means and its shortcomings, especially when considering ongoing planning. Tharp then explains an alternative planning method, adjustment-based guardrails, and presents practical methods to reframe retirement income planning to reduce the likelihood of underspending while helping clients enjoy their retirement fully.

The transition from employer insurance to Medicare is fraught with confusion. Clients turning 65 or leaving employment must leave the safety and simplicity of their pre-selected and subsidized employer plan to the wild world of Medicare, with all its parts, multiple enrollment periods, and private insurance options to fill the coverage gaps. This session will cover health insurance in retirement: how Medicare works, how to choose private insurance to go with Medicare, and how to establish a health care budget.