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RICP®

Designation at a Glance

Tuition

$2,450

Timing

Complete in 12 months or less

Format

100% online, self-study

Learning Outcomes

Evaluate and address 18 major risks clients face in retirement, including:

  • Strategies for Social Security claiming in an increasingly uncertain entitlement environment
  • Medicare, Medicaid, and other health insurance choices to help your senior clients who will need long-term care
  • Estate and legacy planning for families and small business owners who want to pass on their success to the next generation
  • Choosing the right retirement savings solution as 401(k)s and other vehicles continue to expand and change
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What is the RICP® Designation?

The purpose of retirement financial planner is to help individuals who are at or near retirement build a plan to ensure they meet their retirement income and other financial goals throughout their nonworking years and manage the many risks they may face. As coordinated planning and better decision making can improve retirement security, retirement income planning is a very rewarding area within financial planning.  Research has shown that better decisions can make a big difference in retirement income, and with a retirement income planning certification like the RICP®, you can help your clients do well by doing good.

 

Why Choose The RICP®?

RICP® designation holders report having more confidence in their ability to serve senior clients as retirement financial planners, a broader perspective of the field, and the ability to immediately use what they learn to give retirement financial advice in their professional roles.

Our retirement financial planning program enables you to make better, more informed decisions regarding your clients’ retirement income. Demand for retirement expertise in this day and age is strong: as retirement age in the U.S. slowly edges up, current projections indicate that 10,000 Baby Boomers retire daily. This is a trend expected to continue through 2030 and changing laws and corporate cultures have more people than ever thinking about their retirement financial plan.

 

"As the Managing Director, I encouraged many of our advisors to earn the RICP® designation. Our firm's life and investment revenue increased by 50% as a result of this course of instruction."

What You’ll Learn

The RICP® designation provides comprehensive instruction on building integrated and comprehensive retirement financial plans. A key focus is understanding, choosing, and executing a sustainable retirement income strategy from available resources—whether that means using systematic withdrawals from a portfolio, building an retirement income floor with bonds or annuities, or using a bucket strategy.

The program, developed by more than 45 of the nation’s top financial retirement advisors, provides students with best practices in areas including:

  • Social Security claiming
  • Evaluating and addressing risks faced in retirement financial planning
  • Choosing distributions from employer sponsored retirement financial plans
  • Medicare and other health insurance choices
  • Planning for long-term care needs
  • Choosing appropriate housing
  • Retirement income tax and legacy planning

Who Can Benefit from the RICP® Designation?

  • Experienced and credentialed (i.e. CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®) financial advisors wanting to learn from the nation’s top thought leaders in retirement income planning   
  • Financial advisors looking to learn a comprehensive, systematic approach to building an efficient retirement financial plan for older clients
  • Annuity wholesalers, call center employees, and professionals who support financial planners and retirement income advisors
  • Lawyers, accountants, and bankers who handle retirement financial planning
  • Individuals looking for a deeper understanding of retirement financial planning and retirement income for their own planning or for other personal or professional reasons

Program Delivery

Designed for the working professional.

The RICP® is an online, self-study program, which allows you to move through lessons at your own pace. Course materials include:

  • ​Video lectures on retirement income and retirement financial planning
  • Expert interviews with retirement financial planners
  • Practice exams
  • Assessment questions
  • Faculty-led webinars
  • Detailed course outlines

A four-month testing window gives you ample time to prepare for your final exam. Plan to spend approximately 45-60 hours per course.

Tuition & Fees

  • Individual course: $950
REDUCED TUITION OPTIONS
  • Three-course package: $2,450 (savings of $400)

Tuition includes all required study materials, access to on-demand online learning tools, and your examinations. RICP® does not include or require any physical textbooks.

Program Faculty

Adjunct Professor Steve Parrish
Steve Parrish

Adjunct Professor of Advanced Planning

Co-Director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income

READ BIO >
Professor Wade Pfau
Wade D. Pfau

Professor of Retirement Income

RICP® Program Director

Co-Director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income

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Colin Slabach
Colin Slabach

Assistant Professor of Retirement

Assistant Director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income

READ BIO >
Details

Required RICP® Courses:

HS 353 Retirement Income Process, Strategies and Solutions

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

  • Understand the steps in creating an effective retirement income plan
  • Identify retirement income needs, objectives, and goals by evaluating the clients current situation
  • Determine how to choose the appropriate retirement income strategy for your clients
  • Evaluate income tax, estate issues, retirement risks, and other threats to an effective retirement income plan
  • Integrate risk management tools, products, and strategies to create an effective retirement income plan

HS 354 Sources of Retirement Income

The second of the program's three courses explores sources of retirement income in depth. After completion, you should be able to:
  • Recommend the optimal age to claim Social Security benefits as appropriate for each client's situation
  • Help the client evaluate the factors to consider when determining an appropriate retirement age
  • Understand the role of annuities in a retirement income plan
  • Have a better understanding of how executive benefits and retirement benefits for federal and military employees fit into the plan
  • Understand the different ways that life insurance can be used in planning and how to address the retirement needs of the small business owner
  • Understand how to build a retirement income portfolio
  • Become more familiar with the latest research on strategies for ensuring that retirement assets last a lifetime

HS 355 Managing the Retirement Income Plan

The third course in the RICP® series focuses on initial and ongoing retirement income plan management. This knowledge will help you:
  • Choose the appropriate tax-efficient distribution options from a retirement plan
  • Help a client create a health expense budget and navigate the many decisions regarding Medicare and other health care options
  • Help a client prepare for their long-term care needs
  • Navigate retirement housing decisions and address home equity strategies
  • Identify the key ethical issues in retirement income planning
  • Create and manage retirement income portfolios appropriate for each clients situation

To receive a Huebner School designation (including ChFC®, CLF®, CLU®, RICP®, and WMCP®), you must successfully complete all courses in your selected program, meet experience requirements and ethics standards, and agree to comply with The American College Code of Ethics and Procedures. 

Experience

Three years of full-time business experience is required for all Huebner School designations, including a retirement income planning certification. The three-year period must be within the five years preceding the date of the award. An undergraduate or graduate degree from an accredited educational institution qualifies as one year of business experience. Part-time qualifying business experience is credited toward the three-year requirement on an hourly basis, with 2,000 hours representing the equivalent of one year of full-time experience. The following activities meet the required business experience qualifications included in the retirement income planning certification process.

       Insurance and health care

  • Field underwriting and management, including sales and service activities, supervision and management of persons involved in sales or services, or staff support of persons in these activities.
  • Company management and operations in positions involving substantial responsibility.

       Financial services and employee benefits

  • Client service and related management, including direct contact with clients, supervision and management of persons involved directly in the process of providing financial services or employee benefits, or staff support of persons in these activities.
  • Financial institution management and operations in positions involving substantial responsibility.

       Other

  • University or college teaching of subjects related to the Huebner School curriculum on a full-time basis at an accredited institution of higher education.
  • Government regulatory service in a responsible administrative, supervisory, or operational capacity.
  • Activities directly or indirectly related to the protection, accumulation, conservation, or distribution of the economic value of human life; these include the work of actuaries, attorneys, CPAs, investment advisers, real estate investment advisers, stockbrokers, trust officers, or persons in other similar occupations.
Learn More About Designation Requirements >

See the Student Resources and Policies page for comprehensive details on refund policies, learning policies, recertification information, and more.

Learn More >

Retirement Income Planning Resources

Programs
Ed Slott & Company's IRA Success
Young student studying
White Paper
What You Need to Know About IRAs in 2021
Download
The end of social security as we know it
Shield Holder
Visit
The American College Center For Retirement Income

Get Started With RICP®

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