Required courses:
HS 311 Fundamentals of Insurance Planning:
This course focuses on the role of planning for risk management needs. The topics covered include:
- Fundamental principles of risk management
- Principles of insurance
- Human capital risk
- Liability risk
- Property risk
- Financial wealth risk
HS 323 Individual Life Insurance:
Focuses on life insurance policies and annuities available for the personal needs of individuals and their use in financial planning. Covers individual insurance products, insurance reserves regulation, and the organization, operations, and investments of insurance companies.
HS 324 Life Insurance Law:
Examines legal rights and obligations of the policy owner and the insurance company, the way disputes between the insured and insurers are resolved and general principles of the judicial process. Covers legal aspects of life insurance, including basic principles of contract law; policy provisions and the incontestable clause; assignments, ownership rights and creditor rights; beneficiary designations and disposition of proceeds; the law of agency; and advertising and privacy issues.
HS 330 Fundamentals of Estate Planning:
This course provides a basic understanding of the estate and gift tax system, including strategies of estate planning. Covers various aspects of estate and gift tax planning, including:
- Nature, valuation transfer, administration, and taxation of property
- Gratuitous transfers of property outright or with trusts, wills and powers of appointment
- Use of the marital deduction
- Valuation of assets
- Buy-sell agreements
- Client interview/fact finding
- Ethical standards
- Development of personal estate plans
HS 331 Planning for Business Owners and Professionals:
Focuses on tax and legal aspects of organizing a business; compensation planning for the business owner; business succession planning; buy-sell agreements; estate planning and estate freezing techniques; methods for transferring a family business; lifetime disposition of a business interest.
Elective courses (choose three)
HS 300 Financial Planning: Process and Environment:
This course provides an overview of the financial planning process, including the role and responsibilities of a financial planner along with analytical tools to aid in financial decision-making. Topics include:
- Communication techniques
- Ethics
- Education planning and funding
- Time-value-of-money concepts
- Financial planning applications
- Regulatory issues
- Legal and economic environment for financial planning
HS 321 Income Taxation:
The course examines the federal income tax system with particular reference to the taxation of individuals.
Concepts covered include:
- Gross income, exclusions from gross income
- Deductions
- Tax credits
- Capital gains and losses
- Taxation of life insurance
- Taxation of annuities
- Entity taxation of partnerships, LLCs, corporations, and proprietorships
HS 326 Planning for Retirement Needs:
This course focuses on selecting the right retirement plan for the business and on individual retirement planning. Covers:
- Qualified plans, SEPs, SIMPLEs and 403(b) plans
- Nonqualified deferred compensation plans
- Practical knowledge needed for choosing the best retirement plan, especially for the small business, and designing a plan that will meet a client’s needs
- Individual retirement planning including IRAs and Roth IRAs, Social Security benefits, saving for retirement and planning for retirement plan distributions
HS 328 Investments:
This course covers various aspects of the principles of investments and their application to financial planning. Topics include:
- Risk analysis, risk and return computations
- Risk reduction through diversification
- Expected returns of various investments
- Nature of securities markets and investment companies
- Tax issues in investing
- Issues in the practice of portfolio management
- Examples of ethical and practical investment considerations
HS 375 Introduction to Disability:
This course introduces students to the field of disability and provides an orientation to working with individuals with disabilities and their families. It covers philosophical approaches, legislation, special education policies and procedure, disability etiquette, and how to work collaboratively with families. Students will learn the categories of disabilities such as emotional and behavioral challenges, sensory impairments, autism, and learning disabilities. Special attention is given to the planning requirements for transition of a child with disabilities into adulthood, when many educational programs and financial supports are no longer available. It also provides videotaped interviews with families in their home settings, providing powerful testimonies to the families’ determination to assist their children to become fully integrated into society and to reach their full potential.
HS 376 Legal and Financial Issues for Special Needs Families:
This course covers unique legal techniques and tools that apply to special needs planning. Of particular importance are special needs trusts, wills, powers-of-attorney, and guardianships. The applicable issues surrounding Social Security and Medicaid are covered. In addition, special income tax topics enable financial advisors to understand and identify tax deductions and/or credits that may be available to families with special needs. It addresses some unique aspects of the medical expense deduction, the child and dependent care credit, the adoption credit, and the dependency exemption rules for families of individuals with special needs. The student will examine some potential alternative minimum tax traps that may affect many of these families. This course builds upon Introduction to Disability (HS 375) by providing the detailed legal and financial considerations crucial to the special needs environment.
