for Retirement Income
for Women and Financial Services
Financial Education for Securities, Banking,
& Insurance Professionals.
& Insurance Professionals.
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ChFC®Chartered Financial Consultant®9 Courses: 7 Required / 2 Elective |
The Most Complete Financial Planning Program
Reach Your Career Goals with this Program
The Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) program prepares you to meet the advanced financial planning needs of individuals, professionals and small business owners. You'll gain a sustainable advantage in this competitive field with in-depth coverage of the key financial planning disciplines, including insurance, income taxation, retirement planning, investments and estate planning.
Earn the ChFC® Your Way:
The comprehensive core of ChFC® knowledge is supplemented by a broad selection of elective courses, allowing you to customize the program to the dynamics of your individual practice. Complete your program as fast as you like with leading edge texts and access to extensive online study aides at no additional charge, including:
- Supplemental readings
- Online discussion with course professors
- Sample questions
- Practice exams
Designed specifically for independent and self-funded professionals, Accelerated Success is the most convenient and affordable way to complete the ChFC® program.
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Attend live, instructor-led classes from your home or office PC. These interactive classes offer a convenient, time-saving way to participate in classes without needing to travel.
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Horizons is an advanced learning system incorporating video lectures assigned by various chapters or topics for selected courses. These video segments are ideal tools for enhanced self-study or for holding classes right in your office, all at no additional cost!
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ChFC® Curriculum
Course Name
Course #
Required
Provides an overview of the financial planning process, including communication techniques, ethics, risk tolerance, time-value-of-money concepts, financial planning applications, regulatory issues and the legal and economic environment for financial planning. Offers an understanding of the role and responsibilities of a financial planner, along with some analytical skills to aid in financial decision making.
Focuses on the role of planning for insurance needs. Covers basic concepts in risk management and insurance, insurance industry operations, legal principles pertaining to this industry, and regulation of insurers. Examines social insurance, life insurance and annuities, medical and disability income insurance, long-term care insurance and personal property and liability insurance. Concludes with an overview of commercial property and liability insurance and a case study.
Examines the federal income tax system with particular reference to the taxation of individuals. Covers such concepts as gross income, exclusions from gross income, deductions, tax credits, capital gains and losses, taxation of life insurance and annuities and income taxation of partners, partnerships, corporations and shareholders.
Focuses on selecting the right retirement plan for the business and on individual retirement planning. Covers qualified plans, SEPs, SIMPLEs and 403(b) plans and nonqualified deferredcompensation plans. Emphasizes the 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. Also covers individual retirement planning including IRAs and Roth IRAs, Social Security benefits, saving for retirement and planning for retirement plan distributions.
Covers various aspects of the principles of investments and their application to financial planning. Discusses risk analysis and risk and return computations. Looks at stocks, bonds, investment companies, options and futures contracts. Includes an extended discussion of tax issues in investing and issues in the practice of portfolio management, including strategic and tactical asset allocation. Provides many examples of ethical and practical issues in managing a client’s portfolio.
Covers various aspects of estate and gift tax planning, including the nature, valuation, transfer, administration and taxation of property. Provides a basic understanding of the estate and gift tax system, including strategies of estate planning. Discusses gratuitous transfers of property outright or with trusts, wills and powers of appointment; use of the marital deduction; valuation of assets; and buy-sell agreements. Covers the client interview, fact finding, ethical standards and development of personal estate plans.
Uses case analysis to integrate planning techniques, tools and products covered in prior courses. Provides practical experience in analyzing and solving realistic financial problems of individuals and businesses. Includes cases that range from simple fact patterns and basic documents to complex situations involving not only personal financial problems, but also financial problems associated with businesses, business ownership and estate planning.
Presents an overview of the global financial system and its influence on the financial services industry. Examines financial markets, their principal institutions and their economic functions, products and services. Examines the rapidly changing regulatory and competitive environment and major trends that shape the industry.
Covers estate and gift tax principles with an emphasis on life insurance planning applications. Discusses forecasting the gross estate, life insurance trusts, valuation principles, the use of charitable contributions as an estate planning technique, planning opportunities stemming from the marital relationship, the taxation of trusts, implications of employee benefits and estate freezes. Includes a case study reflecting procedural aspects of estate planning.
Analyzes the many types of programs used to provide benefits for executives of business firms. Discusses plan design and installation and reviews ERISA, tax and other compliance issues that apply to each type of program. The course includes cash-compensation planning, nonqualified deferred-compensation plans, funded deferred compensation and restricted property plans, stock options, split-dollar life insurance plans, disability income benefits, executive fringe benefits, health reimbursement arrangements and limits on golden parachute payments.
Focuses on financial decisions clients face as they approach, reach and pass retirement age and on the tools and techniques financial advisors may employ to assist their clients with these decisions. The course covers source of income, retirement calculations, investment considerations both during the accumulation and distribution phases, annuities, housing decisions and estate planning concerns. Especially valuable for practitioners helping clients move retirement assets from employer sponsored to individual retirement plans. Provides perspectives on dealing with aging and retired clients and their families.
* Students who have already taken HS318 may not take HS300 or HS311 for credit toward the ChFC® designation, and must take three electives. If they have passed the CFP® certification exam you may be eligible to apply for transfer of credit if needed. Students who have taken HS 318, HS 321, HS 326, HS 328, and HS 330 with The American College as well as having passed the CFP® certification examination and does not currently hold a CLU® designation, may take two electives and apply for one transfer of credit by paying the transfer of credit fee.
Additional Information:
If you earn the ChFC® designation, you may also earn the CLU® designation by completing a minimum of three additional courses. For the CLU®, you must complete the remaining core courses and select from the electives list for that program if additional courses are still needed; electives in the ChFC® program may not be used as electives in the CLU® program.
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Cost-effective supplementary study materials, developed in partnership with Kier Educational Resources, are also available for select ChFC® courses.
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ChFC® Course Policies:
To receive the ChFC® designation, 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.
Three years of full-time business experience is required for all Huebner School designations. 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 full-time experience. The following activities meet the required business experience qualifications included in the ChFC® 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.
To underscore the importance of ethics standards for Huebner School designations, the Board of Trustees adopted a Code of Ethics in 1984. Embodied in the Code are the Professional Pledge and eight Canons.
Professional Pledge
"In all my professional relationships, I pledge myself to the following rule of ethical conduct: I shall, in light of all conditions surrounding those I serve, which I shall make every conscientious effort to ascertain and understand, render that service which, in the same circumstances, I would apply to myself."
The Canons
- Conduct yourself at all times with honor and dignity.
- Avoid practices that would bring dishonor upon your profession or The American College.
- Publicize your achievements in ways that enhance the integrity of your profession.
- Continue your studies throughout your working life so as to maintain a high level of professional competence.
- Do your utmost to attain a distinguished record of professional service.
- Support the established institutions and organizations concerned with the integrity of your profession.
- Participate in building your profession by encouraging and providing appropriate assistance to qualified persons pursuing professional studies.
- Comply with all laws and regulations, particularly as they relate to professional and business activities.
All ChFC®s who matriculated after June 30, 1989 are subject to the PACE Recertification Program. If you are a ChFC® who falls into any of the following specified categories, you are required to earn 30 hours of CE credit every two years:
- Licensed insurance agent/broker/consultant
- Licensed security representative/registered investment advisor
- Financial consultant, attorney, accountant, employee benefits specialist, and any other individual who provides insurance, employee benefits, financial planning, or estate planning advice and counsel to the public
If you have earned all 30 CE credits through The American College, you do not have to sign and file a statement of compliance. The College will record CE credits you earned at The College and notify you when you have met the requirements.
If you are a ChFC® subject to PACE but do not fall into one of the above categories, you are exempt from the CE requirements. You will be required to notify The College of your exempt status every reporting period, as long as the exemption applies.
A Recertification Fee is applied to First-Time PACE-Required Designees after February 1, 2007. A fee of $250 (recurring every two (2) years) covers multiple designations and is not retroactive for prior PACE-required designees.
*Approximately 90% of PACE recertification fees will be used for public awareness of the designations.
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All requests for refunds must be made in writing to the Office of Professional Education, The American College, 270 S. Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010. We will refund your course tuition less a $165 cancellation fee for 30 days into the quarter for which you are registered. Textbooks do not need to be returned and no refund will be given for these textbooks.
Textbooks are regularly revised to reflect recent tax code changes, new legislation, and industry trends so that you can stay current. Revised textbooks are shipped to students on the first day of the month of your selected testing quarter. Textbooks that are not under revision are shipped as soon as the registration is processed. Please contact a Professional Education counselor if you have questions about textbook revisions.
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Register Today
Online: Click Here to Begin
PDF: Mail or Fax a PDF Application
Phone: 888-263-7265
Hours: M–F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET
Tuition & Fees
Tuition: $620 (per course)
Admission Fee: $140*
Shipping: $25 (per course)
Your tuition includes all required study materials, access to convenient online learning tools, and your examination. Supplementary study materials are also available for an additional cost.
*One-time, nonrefundable fee for new enrollees at The College.
The 5-Year Rule
In order to facilitate timely completion of a student's designation and as part of The College's pledge to offer the most up-to-date material and course offerings, all courses are subject to the 5 Year Rule.
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Contact Us
Call: 888-263-7265
(M–F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET)
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