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Boston University Online Program for Financial Planners


Course Outline


The entire Boston University Online Program for Financial Planners is comprised of six individual courses.

Introduction to Financial Planning

Access: 18 months
Practice Questions: Over 550

Required Books:

  1. Tools & Techniques of Financial Planning, by Stephan R. Leimberg
  2. Keir's Guide to Your Financial Calculator, by Robert Crowe

This course is designed especially for students in the Online Program, and provides tools to complete future coursework. This introductory course includes content related to Foundations of Business and Financial Planning Basics. It focuses on the time value of money, accounting, statistics, and economics, and provides a broad look at the entire financial planning process. It offers an overview of the personal income tax planning, risk management and insurance, investment planning, retirement planning and estate planning. Students entering the Online Program for Financial Planners must begin with this course. Modules included in this course are:

Financial Planning Basics

  • Introduction to the Financial Planning Process
  • Life Cycle Planning
  • Time Value of Money
  • Personal Financial Statements and Budgeting
  • Emergency Fund Planning
  • Credit and Debt Management
  • Buying vs. Leasing
  • Educational Funding
  • Financial Planning for Monetary Settlements and Special Circumstances
  • CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Practice Standards
  • CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures

Foundations of Business

  • Basic Economic Concepts
  • Characteristics of Various Business Entities
  • Business Law
  • Function, Purpose and Regulation of Financial Institutions
  • Financial Services Industry Regulation Requirements

This course introduces methods of gathering client data and teaches students how to work with clients to set goals. Students learn how to process and analyze information, construct personal financial statements, and understand a written comprehensive financial plan, including implementing, monitoring, and reviewing the plan. The course also covers communication skills, the regulatory environment, time value of money tools, and other financial planning economic concepts.

Risk Management

Access: 18 months
Practice Questions: Over 380

Required Book:

  • Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance, by Emmett J. Vaughan, Therese M. Vaughan

This course addresses life, disability, and medical insurance, including how insurance rates are developed, what types of contracts are available, how to read insurance proposals, and how life insurance is used in financial planning. Students also learn about property and casualty insurance, including homeowners', liability, and auto insurance. Other topics include group life and health insurance plans. Modules included in this course are:

  • Principles of insurance
  • Analysis and evaluation of risk exposures
  • Legal aspects of insurance
  • Property and casualty insurance (individual and business)
  • General business liability
  • Health insurance (individual)
  • Long-term care insurance (individual and joint)
  • Life insurance
  • Viatical settlements
  • Insurance needs analysis and rationale
  • Taxation of life, disability and long-term care insurance
  • Insurance policy selection
  • Insurance company selection and due diligence

Investments

Access: 18 months
Practice Questions: Over 480

Required Book:

  • Investments, by Herbert B. Mayo

This course explores the securities market, sources of information, risk/return, debt and equities, stocks, bonds, options, futures, and security analysis, and culminates in portfolio construction and analysis. The course is designed to help students understand, among other things, how money and capital markets operate, how to conduct investment and financial research, and how to evaluate the risks and rates of return for various types of investment vehicles. Modules included in this course are:

  • Introduction to Fixed Income Securities
  • Introduction to Stocks
  • Introduction to Pooled Investments
  • Derivatives, Insurance Securities and Other Investments
  • Investment Risks
  • Measures of Investment Returns
  • Time Influence on Valuation
  • Valuation of Stocks and Bonds
  • Portfolio Management and Measurements
  • Formula Investing and Investment Strategies
  • Asset allocation and portfolio diversification
  • Efficient Market Theory (EMT)
  • Asset pricing models
  • Buying and Selling Securities
  • Hedging and option strategies
  • Tax efficient investing
  • Investment strategies in tax-advantaged accounts
  • Taxation of investment vehicles

Tax Planning

Access: 18 months
Practice Questions: Over 430

Required Book:

  • Federal Taxation: Principles, by Thomas R. Pope, Kenneth E. Anderson and John L. Kramer.

This course explores details and implications of state and Federal taxation on different types of businesses, including sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. It also provides students with an in-depth look at various tax-related aspects of investments, insurance, annuities and securities. The course also introduces students to other special tax considerations, including charitable giving, sale of assets and more. Modules included in this course are:

  • Income tax law fundamentals
  • Gross Income
  • Income tax fundamentals and calculations
  • Tax characteristics of entities
  • Basis
  • Cost-recovery concepts
  • Tax consequences of Sale of Assets
  • Like-kind exchanges and involuntary conversions
  • Income taxation of trusts and estates
  • Passive Activity
  • Charitable contributions and deductions
  • Tax implications of changing circumstances
  • Tax accounting methods
  • Tax compliance
  • Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
  • Tax management techniques

Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits

Access: 18 months
Practice Questions: Over 450

Required Book:

  • The Tools & Techniques of Employee Benefit and Retirement Planning, by Stephen R. Leimberg, John J. McFadden

This course is taught in two sections. The retirement planning section covers tax-deferred retirement plans, IRAs, and nonqualified plans. The employee benefits section covers Social Security and Medicare, civil service, group life, disability, dental, and health insurance. This course will help students learn how to plan, implement and monitor individual and business-sponsored retirement plans. It also teaches how to perform retirement needs analysis, what regulatory issues surround retirement planning and benefits, and what tax issues come into play. Modules included in this course are:

  • Retirement needs analysis
  • Social Security (OASDI)
  • Medicare
  • Types of retirement plans
  • Qualified plan rules and options
  • Other tax-advantaged retirement plans
  • Regulatory considerations
  • Plan selection for businesses
  • Investment considerations for retirement plans
  • Distribution rules, alternatives and taxation
  • Employee benefit plans
  • Employee stock options
  • Stock plans
  • Non-qualified deferred compensation
  • Employer/employee insurance arrangements

Estate Planning

Access: 18 months
Practice Questions: Over 385

Required Book:

  • Estate Planning for Financial Planners, by Michael A. Dalton & Thomas P. Langdon.

This course addresses gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes, at the state and Federal levels. It covers planning techniques used to reduce tax impacts on transfers of wealth. It explores the effects of gifts and bequests, including the limitations on income shifting imposed by the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Non-tax aspects of estate planning, including the estate planning process, wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, powers of appointment, and probate procedure are also studied. Modules included in this course are:

  • Methods of property transfer at death
  • Estate planning documents
  • Gifting strategies
  • Gift taxation and compliance
  • Incapacity planning
  • Estate tax calculation and compliance
  • Satisfying liquidity needs
  • Powers of appointment
  • Types, features and taxation of trusts
  • Qualified interest trusts
  • Charitable giving
  • Use of life insurance in estate planning
  • Valuation issues
  • Marital deduction
  • Deferral and minimization of estate taxes
  • Intra-family and other business transfer techniques
  • Disposition of estate
  • Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT)
  • Fiduciary responsibilities
  • Income in Respect of a Decedent (IRD)

Call us with questions 1-800-329-4996

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and federally registered CFP in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Boston University does not certify individuals to use the CFP, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and federally registered CFP certification marks. CFP certification is granted only by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. to those persons who, in addition to completing an educational requirement such as this CFP Board-Registered Program, have met its ethics, experience and examination requirements.

Boston University is a CFP Board approved educational institution providing the instruction leading up to the CFP Certification Examination. It does not determine individual's eligibility, qualification, or any other condition required to acquiring and maintaining the CFP Certification. Boston University is not responsible for information beyond the education program it offers. Individuals must contact CFP Board at http://www.cfp.net for all matters regarding the acquiring and maintaining of the CFP Certification. Boston University partners with the Boston Institute of Finance to bring the Boston University Financial Planner program online. All of the course content is developed and provided by Boston University.

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