Master of Science in Financial Services

One of the industry’s most pragmatic elite degrees.

MS650 - Retirement Plans and Employee Benefits

Individual and employer-sponsored retirement plans.

A graduate level program with practical examples that meets the CFP Board-Register requirements. Everything you need to succeed.

You'll begin the course by learning about retirement funding and its common traits.

Including:

  • Pension
  • Profit sharing
  • Stock bonus
  • Employee stock ownership
  • 403(b)
  • 457 and SIMPLEs

You'll then learn about distributions, installation, administration and termination, SEP's, traditional Roth IRAs and Social Security retirement benefits.

The course material covers the following:

Retirement Planning

  • Introduction
  • Interested Parties

Retirement Funding

  • Factors Affecting Retirement Planning
  • Remaining Work Life Expectancy
  • Retirement Life Expectancy
  • Savings and Investment Issues
  • Retirement Need Analysis
  • Wage Replacement Ratio
  • Sources of Retirement Income
  • Qualitative Factors in Retirement
  • Advising Clients
  • Risks to Financial Independence
  • Capital Needs Analysis

Qualified Plan Overview

  • Pension and Profit Sharing Plans
  • Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution
  • Advantages of Qualified Plans
  • Qualification Requirements
  • Leased Employees and Controlled Groups
  • Affiliated Service Groups
  • Separate Line of Business
  • Break in Service Rules

Qualified Pension Plans

  • Pension Plan Characteristics
  • Defined Benefit Plans
  • Defined Contribution Plans
  • Cash Balance Plans
  • Money Purchase Plans
  • Target Benefit Plans

Profit Sharing Plans

  • Contributions and Deductions
  • Allocations and Eligibility
  • Vesting and Distributions
  • 401(k) Plans

Stock Bonus Plans

  • Advantages of Stock Bonus Plans
  • Disadvantages of Stock Bonus
  • Stock Bonus vs. Profit Sharing
  • The ESOP Transaction
  • Voting
  • Contributions to ESOPs
  • Distributions
  • Diversification Issues
  • Put Options
  • ESOP Trustee and Inherent Conflicts
  • S Corporation as ESOP Owner

Qualified Plan Distributions

  • Distribution Options and Taxation
  • Distributions Prior to 59 ½
  • Minimum Distributions

Installation and Termination

  • Qualified Plan Selection
  • Establishing and Operating a Qualified Plan
  • Prohibited Transactions
  • ERISA and Filing Requirements
  • Amendments and Termination

Medical Insurance

  • Traditional Plans
  • Managed Care Plans
  • Comparison of Medical Expense Plans
  • Consumer-Directed Plans
  • Benefit Carve-Outs
  • Plan Provisions
  • Dental Insurance
  • Additional Benefits for Executives
  • Federal Tax Treatments

IRAs and SEPs

  • Traditional IRAs
  • IRA Annuity vs. IRA Accounts
  • Roth vs. Traditional
  • SEP Establishment and Participation
  • SEP Contributions and Deductions
  • Vesting and Withdrawals

SIMPLE, 403(b) and 457s

  • Establishing a SIMPLE
  • SIMPLE IRAs and 401(k) Plans
  • 403(b) and 457 Plans
  • ERISA Applicability
  • Eligibility
  • Employer and Employee Contributions
  • Investment Choices and Limitations
  • Rollovers, Distributions and Loans
  • Benefits and Disadvantages

Social Security

  • Taxes and Contributions
  • Benefits, Calculations and Eligibility
  • Disability Benefits
  • Family and Survivor Benefits
  • Maximum Family Benefit
  • Medicare Benefit
  • Supplemental Income Benefits
  • Filing Claims
  • Effects of Marriage and Divorce
  • Leaving the United States

Non-Qualified Plans

  • Wage Replacement Ratio
  • IRC Section 409A
  • Deferred Executive Compensation
  • Income Tax Issues
  • Nonqualified Deferred Plans
  • Funding Arrangements
  • Employer Options and Stock Plans

Homeowners Insurance

  • Homeowners Policies
  • Other Homeowners Forms
  • Homeowners Endorsements: Tailoring the Policy
  • Other Residential Forms
  • Flood Insurance
  • Hard-to-Insure Residential Property
  • High-Value Residential Property
  • Floater Policies
  • Title Insurance

Fringe Benefits

  • Fringe Benefits Defined
  • Taxation of Fringe Benefits
  • Nondiscrimination of Fringe Benefits
  • Benefiting Individuals
  • Types of Fringe Benefits
  • Valuation Rules

Group Benefits

  • Medical Plans
  • Group Term Life and Disability Insurance
  • Cafeteria Plans
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Other Employee Benefits

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