self study

With the growth in 401(k) plans and the contraction of private pensions over the last 30 years, risks in retirement have slowly and almost imperceptibly transferred from institutions to individuals. Institutions peopled with actuaries and analysts are well suited to manage those risks. Individual investors may need some help.

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.

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.

Long Term Care Insurance continues to change and evolve. In this session, Bob Vandy, President of Advisors Insurance Brokers, brought us up to speed on the most recent developments in LTC planning, in both the public and private funding realms, with a focus on the various insurance-based options for that planning.

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.

Many employers offer employee stock plans as an incentive, but many clients have no idea of the value of the plans and their tax implications. Join CPA Larry Pon to learn how RSU, ESPP, and Stock Options work and how they may impact a client earnings.  

When building portfolios advisors commonly focus on the risk and return attributes of the investible asset opportunity set, primarily stocks and bonds.

Nationally recognized HSA expert, Roy Ramthun, explains health plan eligibility requirements for HSAs, how contributions and withdrawals work, the tax advantages of HSAs, portability, how HSAs work relative to Medicare, what retirement expenses can be covered by HSAs, HSA transfer rules and more.