Institute for Financial Studies

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^™ Certification Education Program

Fundamentals of Financial Planning
FP I - MED0100

Instructor

Ronald W. Allen, MSFS, CAP™, AEP, CFP^®

Ron Allen is founding director of Florida Community College at Jacksonville Institute for Financial Studies and is an instructor for the Institute's financial planning certificate program, which is designed to fulfill the education requirement to sit for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification examination. Mr. Allen has a Master of Science degree in Financial Services and is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional as well as a Registered Investment Advisor.

He also holds the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy and Accredited Estate Planner designations. Ron specializes in small business, personal financial planning and philanthropic advisement. He has served as president of the Jacksonville Society of the Institute of Certified Financial Planners and chairman of the Financial Planning Association of Jacksonville. He was selected by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. to serve their national organization in three capacities. He is a member of the Exam Content Specialist Committee; the CFP Board's Financial Planning Curriculum Review Team for the National Academy of Finance and was selected to serve as a Media Relations contact to assist the CFP Board in responding to local and national media requests for expert financial advice. Mr. Allen serves on Duval County's School Board's Wolfson Career Academy of Finance Advisory Board.

In addition to educating students and professionals, Ron is dedicated to educating consumers in personal financial planning. Ron regularly participates in seminars, workshops and presentations that are open to the public or provided to groups through contract with employers, clubs and other organizations. Consumer education is further provided through media appearances, including his four years of weekly commentary on National Public Radio's "Jacksonville Exchange" program aired locally on 89.9 FM. Ron is currently host of a Saturday morning program "The Money Safari" aired in Northeast Florida on 1320 AM and does a monthly commentary on "In Context" aired locally on NPR affiliate 89.9 FM. Mr. Allen's contact information follows:

Florida Community College at Jacksonville: 904.381.3771

Cell: 904.334.2683

E-mail: rwallen@fccj.edu

I. Course Description
This course introduces students to the fundamental issues of personal financial planning. The course construct is based on the learning objectives specified by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. with emphasis on the process of financial planning. This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the concepts of the financial planning process, the economic environment, the time value of money, the legal environment, financial analysis, and ethical and professional considerations in financial planning. This course is intended to be first of a series of six courses in a preparatory program for the CFP® Certification Examination and is designed to meet the educational requirements for certification in fundamentals of financial planning.

II.Grading
Your grade will be determined on the basis of points scored on a three-hour comprehensive final exam.

Letter grades will be based upon the following scale:

90 to 100		A
80 to 89		B
70 to 79		C
Below 70		F

III. Class Preparation and Attendance
Students are expected to have read all assigned materials prior to class in order to participate in classroom discussions. To receive credit for this course, you must attend at least 80 percent of the classes. Attendance at the final exam is mandatory. The instructor is to be notified before the exam begins if an extreme emergency arises and you are unable to attend on the exam date. A make-up exam will be scheduled at the convenience of the Instructor.

IV.  Textbooks and Required Materials

Textbooks should be ordered by the student from the publisher in sufficient time to read the first assignment prior to Module 1. The text book is ordered online through the publisher and the workbooks are ordered by phone. 

Required Text Books:

Order the following book directly from Klista Zimmerman, National Underwriter, 800.543.0874, ext. 2207, 512.260.3030, e-mail: kzimmerman@nuco.com:

The Tools and Techniques of Financial Planning, 8th Edition, Leimberg, ISBN #0-978-0-87218-932-4, National Underwriter.   

Order the following two books directly from Mary Grace Caudill, Keir Publishing, at 800-795-5347, ext. 101, e-mail mcaudill@keirsuccess.com:

• Keir’s Introduction to Financial Planning, Revised February 2009,
• Jack C. Keir, Inc.
• Keir’s Financial Planning Case Study, March 2009, Jack C. Keir, Inc.

Required Course Material:

Financial Calculator, HP-12C

V. Class Assignments

Orientation
Module 1:	Financial Planning Process
	Orientation, Financial Planning Process
	Leimberg: Chapter 1. What is a Financial Planner?
	Leimberg: Chapter 2. Who is a Financial Planner?
	Leimberg: Chapter 3. Steps in the Financial Planning Process
	Leimberg: Chapter 4. Tools in the Financial Planning Process
	Leimberg: Chapter 5. Attitudes and Behavioral Characteristics of Clients
	Keir: Assignment 1. The Financial Planning Process
Module 2:	Financial Analysis
	Leimberg: Chapter 15. Budgeting and Cash Management
	Leimberg: Chapter 9. Financial Goals - Current Lifestyle
	Leimberg: Chapter 16. Personal Financial Statements
	Keir: Assignment 13. Gathering Client Data and Constructing Personal Financial Statements
	Keir: Assignment 14. Budgeting and Debt Management
Module 3:	Financial Needs Analysis
	Leimberg: Chapter 10. Education Funding (pages 105-108, 113, 117-147)
	Leimberg: Chapter 12. Special Circumstances
	Leimberg: Chapter 13. Special Needs
	Leimberg: Chapter 22. Business Entities
	Leimberg: Chapter 23. Ownership of Property
	Leimberg: Chapter 24. Business Law
	Keir: Assignment 15. Analyzing the Client’s Financial Situation and Planning for Special Needs
Module 4:	Economic Environment
	Leimberg: Chapter 19. Economic Concepts
	Keir: Assignment 8. The Business Cycle, Monetary Policy, and Fiscal Policy
	Keir: Assignment 9. Measures of Economic Activity.
	Keir: Assignment 10. Leading and Other Economic Indicators.
Module 5:	Ethical and Professional Considerations
	Leimberg: Chapter 6. Financial Services Industry Regulations
	Leimberg: Chapter 7. Ethics and Disciplinary Rules
	Leimberg: Chapter 8. Financial Planning Practice Standards
	CFP Board: Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility
	CFP Board: Course Material: Marks Use
	Keir: Assignment 2. Regulatory and Ethical Issues for Financial Planners
Module 6:	Time Value of Money
	Leimberg: Chapter 20, pages 285-292. Time Value of Money and Quantitative Analysis
	Keir: Assignment 11. The Time Value of Money
Module 7:	Time Value of Money
	Inflation Adjustment Calculations
	Period Adjustment Calculations
	Education Funding Calculations
Module 8:	Time Value of Money
	Leimberg: Chapter 20, pages 292-303. Time Value of Money and Quantitative Analysis
	Keir: Assignment 12. Advanced Time Value of Money Applications
Module 9:	Course Review
	Review
	Practice Examination Problems
Module 10:	Examination
	Examination, Fundamentals of Financial Planning

Florida Community College at Jacksonville does not certify individuals to use the CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP(with flame logo)® certification marks. CFP certification is granted only by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. to those persons who, in addition to completing and educational requirement such as this CFP Board-Registered Program, have met its ethics, experience and examination requirements. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and CFP (with flame logo)®, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete initial and ongoing certification requirements.