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: 904.632.3272

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
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.

The CFP Board of Standards CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER Guide to CFP® Certification

• The CFP Board of Standards CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER Guide to CFP® Certification is available in pdf format
• Download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free

IV. Class Schedule and Assignments

Orientation
Session 1:	Financial Planning Process
	Introduction, Process of Financial Planning
	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 Behavorial Characteristics of Clients
	Keir: Assignment 1. The Financial Planning Process
Session 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
Session 3:	Financial Needs Analysis
	Leimberg: Chapter 10. Education Funding
	Keir: Assignment 15. Analyzing the Client's Financial Situation and Planning for Special Needs
Session 4:	Economic Environment
	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.
Session 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 Leimberg: Chapter 11. Investment Advisors: Regulation and Registration
	CFP Board: Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility
	CFP Board: Course Material: Marks Use
	Keir: Assignment 2. Regulatory and Ethical Issues for Financial Planners
Session 6:	Time Value of Money
	Leimberg: Chapter 20, pages 271-278. Time Value of Money and Quantitative Analysis
	Keir: Assignment 11. The Time Value of Money
Session 7:	Time Value of Money
	Inflation Adjustment Calculations
	Period Adjustment Calculations
	Education Funding Calculations
Session 8:	Time Value of Money
	Leimberg: Chapter 20, pages 278-289. Time Value of Money and Rate of Return Computations
	Keir: Assignment 12. Advanced Time Value of Money Applications
Session 9:	Course Review
	Review
	Practice Examination Problems
Session 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.