Mar 28, 2024  
2019 - 2020 Saint Joseph’s College Online Catalog 
    
2019 - 2020 Saint Joseph’s College Online Catalog [Archived Catalog]

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CFP 305 - Retirement Savings & Income Planning


This course educates students on how to conduct a retirement needs analysis for individuals and to recognize the key factors that affect retirement plan selection for business owners. Students will be able to evaluate and compare the characteristics of various retirement plans and recommend which plan is appropriate in a given situation. The course covers tax-deferred retirement plans, IRAs, nonqualified plans, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, distribution strategies, taxation of distributions, and regulatory considerations. 

Online Course Modules included in this course: 

  • Retirement Needs Analysis 
  • Qualified Retirement Plans 
  • Nonqualified Retirement Plans 
  • Government Plans (457) 
  • Other Tax-Advantaged Retirement Plans 
  • Retirement Income and Distribution Strategies 
  • Distribution Rules, Alternatives, and Taxation 
  • Plan Selection for Businesses 
  • Employee Benefit Plans 
  • Employer-Employee Insurance Arrangements 
  • Social Security 
  • Medicare and Medicaid 
  • Regulatory Considerations


Prerequisites & Notes
Sophomore status within student’s current baccalaureate program at home institution. 

Assignment Overview
For this 8-week course, students will engage in various weekly asynchronous activities on Brightspace (projects, videos, threaded discussions) and cooperative peer-project activities at a minimum of 6-hours weekly asynchronous engagement (48hrs).  Students should expect to devote 12 additional hours per week reading, writing, collaborating, and preparing assignments for this 8-week accelerated course (96hrs).

Course Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to: 

Understand various individual, employee, and self-employed plans, including the flexibility and limitations of each

  • Understand a client’s retirement goals and objectives, and the various strategies for financing retirement to meet these goals
  • Understand the importance of retirement planning during the pre-retirement accumulation phase and the post-retirement asset-drawdown phase
  • Explain important provisions of Social Security and Medicare coverage
  • Incorporate employee benefits into financial planning recommendations
  • Understand the potential tax implications of different employee benefit programs
  • Determine legal and tax requirements for a retirement plan to be considered qualified for income tax purposes; understand the parameters necessary for the plan to maintain the qualified tax status
  • Determine mandatory withdrawals from specific accounts
  • Explain types of defined contribution and defined benefit qualified retirement plans
  • Compare employer-sponsored and personal savings plans used in the retirement planning process
  • Understand the flexibility and limitations of different plans in the event the client dies


Credits: This course meets the requirements for a 3-credit undergraduate course delivered over an 8-week period of time.



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