The following individual courses are available with four months of access upon enrollment:
- Introduction to Financial Planning
- Risk Management
- Investments
- Tax Planning
- Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits
- Estate Planning
- BU Capstone in Financial Planning
Introduction to Financial Planning
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 personal income tax planning, risk management and insurance, investment planning, retirement planning and estate planning. Students entering the CFP certification program must begin with this course.
Additionally, 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.
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
Risk Management
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
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
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
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
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)
Boston University Capstone in Financial Planning
This final course integrates financial planning topics learned in the previous six courses and demonstrates how to apply this knowledge to the development of a comprehensive financial plan. Students will learn how to construct a plan according to CFP Board’s Financial Planning Practice Standards and client objectives. Instructors will guide students through the online course material pertaining to the final assignment. For the final project, students will prepare and orally present (taped) a comprehensive plan to the faculty. For additional information, please consult the CFP Board’s website.
