Personal Financial Planning

Program not offered in Spring 2025

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Certificate:

Personal Financial Planning - CFP®

Program Description:
This certificate provides an understanding of the finance decision-making process and insights into how financial markets function.

Courses:

Fundamentals of Financial Planning

Class Description
To understand the process of client behavior, motivation, goal setting set, financial statement analysis, risk management, education funding, investment management, and the critical influence of time value of money.  Application of the seven steps in the financial planning process, communicating, and working with clients while upholding the established standards of conduct.

Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits

Class Description
This course covers the factors of financial and employee benefit plans, focusing on the differences between plans, coverage, eligibility requirement, suitability, and social security integration.  Contribution and distribution threshold for pension, profit sharing, 401(k), 457, plans for small business owners and their employees, and the income tax impact of both employer and employee.  In addition, to examples for determining retirement goals and calculating retirement needs.

Estate Planning

Class Description:
Study of the Estate Planning Process – Controlling money movement during and after death. Topics include the six critical documents for estate planning, death taxes, the five types of property ownership, interest transfer and taxation of beneficiaries, and the probate process. The purpose of the course is to provide an understanding of the legacy process – transfer of wealth, marital deductions,  trusts, and taxation.

Investment Planning

Class Description
This course provides an understanding of investment theory and analysis, asset allocation, environment, and fundamentals of investing. Includes a review of the organization and structure of securities markets and a detailed analysis of the nature of stocks and bonds, focusing on pricing, quality, liquidity, and risk reward. Emphasis is on a practical understanding of investment alternatives as they apply to portfolio management and the relationship between behavioral finance and market efficiency.

Insurance Planning and Risk Management

Class Description
This course aims to guide you through the basics of life, health, disability insurance, long-term care, property and liability insurance, social security, and managing personal credit. This course uses examples to illustrate risk retention, avoidance, and transferring to avoid unexpected and uncovered risks. Risk Management identifies, evaluates, and manages pure risk exposure faced by individuals and businesses.

Income Tax Planning

Class Description:
Income Tax Planning is critical for individuals and businesses in achieving financial goals. Tax planning is incorporated into a financial plan to reduce tax liability using legal and ethical methods. This course covers the fundamentals of individual and business entity taxation, tax terminology, computation, regulations, and planning techniques. Discussions and analyses focus on actual cases and their planning implications.

Financial Calculator Workshop

Class Description
The Financial Calculator is an essential tool for calculations and projections in the financial planning process. This workshop aims to guide students to become proficient with the keystrokes for solving problems and their application to financial planning concepts. Students preparing for the CF P® Certification Exam should be familiar with the financial calculator.

Financial Plan Development - Dalton Capstone