Financial Planning Course Descriptions
FP 200 Fundamentals of Financial Planning
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: none. Offered Fall Semester. This course 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. The student will gain an understanding of the role and responsibilities of a financial planner along with some analytical skills to aid in financial decision-making. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 300 national exam administered by the American College.
FP 323 Life Insurance
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, IRM 221, FP 200, MTH 232; BUS 212 recommended. Offered Fall Semester. This course describes how to determine an individual’s needs for economic security, the techniques to provide for those needs, and life insurance company operations and regulation. Techniques to be studied will include life insurance, and annuities. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 323 national examination administered by the American College.
FP 324 Insurance Code – LH License
One semester hour. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, IRM 221, FP 323. Offered Spring Semester. This course examines The Michigan Insurance Code as it relates to the general provision of insurance regulation and laws pertaining to life and health insurance. Topics include a review of statutes on Licensing, Unfair Trade Practices, and Insurers’ Authority to write business in the State of Michigan, and the Michigan Guarantee Fund. This course will also help students prepare for the State of Michigan Life and Health Insurance Agents Licensing Examination.
FP 328 Investments (HS 328)
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, FP 200. Offered Fall Semester. 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, as well as of 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. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 328 national exam administered by the American College.
FP 350 Prospecting & Meeting Client Needs (FA 200 & 202)
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, FP 200, FP 323, IRM 221. Offered Spring Semester. This course offers an introduction to the life insurance sales career and the sales/planning process in the personal market. This course also examines industry proven methods for successfully identifying, selecting, and approaching prospects for financial products and services. The course will conclude with a simulated client presentation judged by professional financial planners. This course will also help students prepare for the FA 200 and FA 202 national exams administered by the American College.
FP 351 Health & Long-Term Care Financing (HS 351)
Two semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, FP 200. Offered Spring Semester. This course provides a thorough analysis of the alternatives available for senior clients to finance medical and long-term care, including private resources, government programs, and private insurance. Emphasizes the need for care, the settings in which health care services are provided, and the types of resources available to finance them. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 351 national exam administered by the American College.
FP 421 Income Taxation
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, FP 200. Offered Fall Semester. This course examines the federal income tax system with particular reference to the taxation of individuals. Covers such items as items of gross income, exclusions from gross income, deductions, tax credits, capital gains and losses, taxation of life insurance and annuities, income taxation of partners, partnerships, corporations, and shareholders. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 321 national exam administered by the American College.
FP 425 Employee Benefits
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, FP 200, IRM 221. Offered Spring Semester. This course analyzes group insurance benefits including the governmental environment, contract provisions, marketing, underwriting, rate making, plan design, cost containment, and alternative funding methods. Covers the various private programs related to the economic problems of death, old age, and disability. Discusses cafeteria plans. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 325 national exam administered by the American College.
FP 426 Planning for Retirement
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, FP 200. Offered Spring Semester. This course focuses on retirement planning for the business, the business owner, and the individual. Covers qualified plans, nonqualified plans, and IRAs; the second part deals with retirement needs for individual clients. Emphasizes the practical knowledge needed for choosing the best retirement plan and designing a plan that will meet a client’s needs. Discusses personal retirement planning and retirement distribution planning. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 326 national exam administered by the American College.
FP 430 Fundamentals of Estate Planning
Three semester hours. Prerequisites: 3.0 or better GPA, FP 200. Offered Spring Semester. This course 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. This course will also help students prepare for the HS 330 national exam administered by the American College.