self study

In the past couple of years, we have heard a great deal about the Great Resignation.

The tax proposals in 2021 should give cause for all financial planners to reconsider the estate and liquidity planning strategies for clients. These proposals, which may resurface, would have significantly impacted a number of planning strategies, to include irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs).

In this session, Larry Pon, CPA teaches how to take advantage of the various exceptions to the early distribution penalty from IRAs and retirement accounts. These exceptions may be triggered by any one of several scenarios, including: a spouse's death, total and permanent disability of the participant/IRA owner, extraordinary large medical expenses and more.

Wade Pfau shares his recent research on different reverse mortgage strategies while providing an update on the new options that allow clients as young as 55 to use a reverse mortgage. Wade's findings use historical simulations, similar to how Bill Bengen created the 4% rule.

While annuities are most often thought of for the income stream, there are optional principal protection benefits, known as living benefits, that offer clients exposure to the market's upside while protecting their account values and future income streams against the effects of a market decline. 

Annuity industry veteran Scott Stolz will provide an excellent review of fixed and indexed annuities that covers important features, understanding the typical buyer, decisions to consider when buying an indexed annuity, how caps and interest rates work and much more. This is a can't miss if you want to understand annuities.   

Simply recasting financials to find a new EBITDA and estimating a factor does not make a true valuation – even when combined with a calculation of fixed assets and goodwill.  Misunderstanding enterprise value, a lifestyle business, and/or discrete and non-discrete intangible assets often cause businesses to lose value.

Business owners often face the question of what’s next - the decision between keeping and growing the business or transitioning it.  Growing the business has its associated short-term rewards and long-term risks.  Transitioning the business has the complication of whether it is in whole or in part; internally to the family or team; or selling to the nebulous third party.

There have been several proposals to changing the FICO and credit score system. Listen to credit expert Tiffany Cross to learn the latest on the credit score landscape and best practices for you and your clients to optimize their scores.