AICPA Personal Financial Planning (PFP)

Learn about the advantages of life insurance in qualified plans for business owners, key person insurance rules, and the ins and outs of buy-sell agreements. Discover how split dollar provides benefits for family business succession planning. Find resources on tax traps in life insurance planning, strategies for individuals, and tools for evaluating life insurance policies.

This is part 2 of the PFP Section podcast that marks our CPA financial planning history and celebrates the journey of where we’ve been to take us into the future. We once again invited other AICPA volunteer leaders into the discussion to help us share our story. In this episode, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, Andrea Millar, CPA/PFS, and other CPA financial planners discuss: What are the investment adviser regulatory issues that CPAs need to understand? Why should we all consider embracing calling these services personal financial planning? The purpose behind The Statement on Standards in Personal Financial Planning Services and how this elevates CPAs Why having personal financial planning on the CPA exam will be a game changer? The education that supports the CPA way of providing these services What is the coach approach and why is it so crucial?   What are the attributes you need to flourish into the future? What you get back by being involved in your CPA financial planning profession? Why we all need to come together to leave a legacy? Access resources related to this podcast: Note: If you’re using a podcast app that does not hyperlink to the resources, visit Libsyn (PFP) to access show notes with direct links. The Statement on Standards in Personal Financial Planning Services. The CPA’s guide to investment advisory business models and related decision chart and case study.  The evolution of the CPA exam. The education created in the CPA way, including the fundamentals and the certificates. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.    

As with any profession, it’s important to understand how we got to where we are today to take us into a successful future. In this 25th episode of the Deeper CPA Financial Planner Connections podcast series, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, and Andrea Millar, CPA/PFS discuss how the CPA financial profession got started and led to building a thriving community and resources from there. They also invited other AICPA volunteer leaders to this episode to share their perspectives. The conversation includes: How have CPAs played the role of trusted adviser to individuals since the creation of the accounting profession in 1887? How were personal financial planning services formalized within AICPA to provide robust resources for members? Why was it so important to create the PFP Section in 1986 and add the PFS credential in 1987? Why is the advanced PFP conference a critical aspect of the AICPA PFP community and their learning? Celebration of the incredible member volunteers who have gotten us to where we are and why passionate members are so crucial to our success  We have laid a great foundation with the best of the best resources and learning, authoritative PFP standards, financial planning on the CPA exam, an incomparable community of committed professionals, to name a few. Where do we go from here? Access resources related to this podcast: Note: If you’re using a podcast app that does not hyperlink to the resources, visit Libsyn (PFP) to access show notes with direct links. Sid Kess was invited to be a part of this episode. Sadly, he passed away before the recording took place. Sid prepared this dictation, graciously shared by his children, in preparation for the podcast. He focuses on the importance of a holistic approach in personal financial planning and how that also applies in the medical field.  Learn more about the PFP Division history in our 25th anniversary celebration document. Listen to other episodes in this series.  Save the date for ENGAGE 2024 where you will find the most technically advanced learning in personal financial planning, including tax, estate, retirement, risk management, and investment planning.  Save the date for How to create your CPA personal financial planning practice at ENGAGE on June 2nd (for CPAs who need guidance on building their financial planning practice) Save the date for PFS Live! at ENGAGE on June 2nd (for experienced CPA financial planners who qualify for the experienced PFS track) This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.  

In July, California Governor Newsome signed legislation that disallows the incomplete gift non-grantor trusts (INGs) as a way to avoid CA state tax income. The law is retroactive to January 1, 2023. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews CA attorney, Kirsten Wolff, to guide CPAs on how to proactively plan with this new legislation. Bob poses the following questions to Kirsten: Do all ING trusts now trigger CA tax? Say more about the exception for charitable trusts. What types of trusts are not impacted by the new legislation? How do the throwback rules apply? How should CPAs plan for their CA clients who had ING trusts that received income or incurred capital gain before the law took effect? What should be done with ING trusts as a result of the new rules? For more resources related to this episode: Tune in to Steve Oshins and Bob Keebler as they dive deeper into the CA ING trust issue.  Find Bob’s decisions charts in our Proactive Planning Toolkit. Find Steve Oshins decision charts.  This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.  

Learn strategies for life insurance planning, including using the lifetime exemption, conducting insurance audits, and utilizing life insurance trusts. Discover the benefits of split dollar policies and how they can benefit clients. Find out ways to meet charitable goals through life insurance planning. Explore topics such as gifting, designating beneficiaries, premium financing, and borrowing for insurance premiums.

IRC Sections 1202 and 1045 are becoming more popular in recent years due to the tax favorability and private investing being more attractive overall. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews experts Caleb Powers and William Beckett to refresh us on what this is all about. They discuss: What are the criteria to qualify? How do you receive IRC Section 1202 treatment? What happens if you don’t hold the QSBS for 5 years? How does IRC Section 1045 come into play? What should employees with 1202 stock options do? How does this apply to estate planning? For more resources related to this episode: Find Bob’s decisions charts in our Proactive Planning Toolkit. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.      

Sarah Bradley, CPA/PFS, took a leap from being an employee to being a first-time business owner practicing in tax compliance and personal financial planning. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, facilitates Sarah to share her story so that you can benefit from her experiences. They discuss: How Sarah made her way to her current role as partner in a CPA financial planning firm How she decided to go from employee to business owner and to a very different role in her work What armed her with the ability to make such a bold decision and build the skills needed What got her through a pandemic the first year in business and a partner diagnosed with brain cancer in the fourth  How her firm decided their service offering, including not to provide investment advice  How she manages time for financial planning in the face of tax compliance deadlines  How coaching and mentoring has supported her along the way What she sees for the future of CPAs in financial planning  Access resources related to this podcast: Note: If you’re using a podcast app that does not hyperlink to the resources, visit Libsyn (PFP) to access show notes with direct links. Listen to other episodes in this series.  Save the date for ENGAGE 2024 where you will find the most technically advanced learning in PFP, tax, and estate planning.  Save the date for the How to build your CPA financial planning practice workshop in advance of ENGAGE on June 2nd. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.  

We often hear about the soft side of planning. As Lisa Featherngill, CPA/PFS, shares in this episode of the PFP Section podcast, this is really the hard side of planning. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews Lisa to get her thoughts on how to have important conversations that lead to whether the quantitative side of planning will be successful or not. The stakes are high and it’s important to guide clients to communicate in a way that gets underneath the numbers to the meaning of the wealth. Lisa and Bob discuss: What is the qualitative side of planning? What is the number one reason why families lose control of assets and family unity by the third generation? What can we do to encourage clients to have these conversations? Are there tools that can be used to make it more comfortable for advisors and clients? What gets in the way of having these important discussions and how can we overcome this? What does all of this have to do with AI? For more resources related to this episode: Join the January 2024 PFP Summit where we dive deeper into the soft (aka hard) side of planning for ourselves, our clients, and our businesses.  The books mentioned by Lisa are Preparing Heirs: Five Steps to a Successful Transition by Roy Williams and Vic Preisser, Strangers in Paradise by James Grubman, and Bridging Generations by Roy Williams and Amy Castoro. Find Bob’s decisions charts in our Proactive Planning Toolkit. This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.  

Investors have regained interest in investing in bonds in this higher interest rate environment. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, interviews expert Mark Fichtenbaum, JD, LLM, to guide CPA financial planners on how to give rise to interest like income while paying long term capital gain rates. They discuss: ·        How to create the economic equivalent of interest income using option strategies ·        The after-tax benefits of using option strategies versus investing in assets that create ordinary interest income ·        How to structure the option transaction to create a higher after-tax return in a safe and low risk way ·        The best scenario of using this strategy when you have clients with capital loss carry forwards ·        When this strategy may not make sense   For more resources related to this episode, access: ·        Use the slide deck to follow along with the discussion. The Proactive Planning Toolkit, exclusive to PFP Section members.        Join Bob Keebler for his year-end planning webcast on October 30th and November 13th. CPE for this webcast is included with your PFP Section membership.   This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by the CPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online at www.aicpa.org/pfp to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program.   Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.

Lisa Featherngill, CPA/PFS, is on a mission to make sure the qualitative side of planning gets as much emphasis as the quantitative aspects. In this episode of the PFP Section podcast, Lyle Benson, CPA/PFS, facilitates Lisa to share her wisdom so that you can benefit from her experiences. They discuss: How Lisa took the leap from providing tax and financial planning services in a CPA firm environment to joining a large bank What her mom shared with her that helped her make a hard career decision Why her current role is the capstone of her career, bringing all of her experiences together  Her passion for helping her family clients be successful by communicating well, especially in the estate planning area The critical role that CPA financial planners play on a team of advisors How she wants to take her knowledge of planning for the HNW to help those with lesser wealth What she sees for the future of financial planning  Access resources related to this podcast: Note: If you’re using a podcast app that does not hyperlink to the resources, visit Libsyn (PFP) to access show notes with direct links. Listen to other episodes in this series.  Save the date for ENGAGE 2024 where you will find the most technically advanced learning in PFP, tax, and estate planning.  Use Broadridge Advisor to make complex topics simple for your clients.  This episode is brought to you by the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Section, the premier provider of information, tools, advocacy, and guidance for professionals who specialize in providing tax, estate, retirement, risk management and investment planning advice. Also, by theCPA/PFS credential program, which allows CPAs to demonstrate competence and confidence in providing these services to their clients. Visit us online to join our community, gain access to valuable member-only benefits or learn about our PFP certificate program. Subscribe to the PFP Podcast channel at Libsyn to find all the latest episodes or search “AICPA Personal Financial Planning” on your favorite podcast app.