Wealth management

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has established a Jan. 1, 2009 enforcement date for its revised "Standards of Professional Conduct," allowing members more leeway before enforcement takes effect.

The Treasury Department has introduced a prepaid debit card for Social Security payments and other federal benefits.

The American Institute of CPAs has chosen Paychex as its preferred provider for administering 401(k) plans for members who participate in the AICPA's firm retirement program.

Payroll-processing service Paychex has added an auto-enrollment feature that allows employers to automatically sign up employees to participate in a 401(k) plan.

No matter how much money your client has, it's crucial to have a basic estate plan simply because such a plan will then ensure that the financial goals of the client are met after the client dies.

No matter how much money your client has, it's crucial to have a basic estate plan simply because such a plan will then ensure that the financial goals of the client are met after the client dies.

No matter how much money your client has, it's crucial to have a basic estate plan simply because such a plan will then ensure that the financial goals of the client are met after the client dies.

No matter how much money your client has, it's crucial to have a basic estate plan simply because such a plan will then ensure that the financial goals of the client are met after the client dies.

The most comprehensive cost analysis in long term care in the industry and the only one that provides comprehensive data for the past five years was released by Genworth Financial. The study found that nationwide the cost of long term care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in the home increased for the fifth consecutive year. The national average for a year in a private nursing home is now $76,460, more than one and a half times the average annual household income in the U.S. of $48,201. In short, most long term care services in this country are rising at a rate faster than inflation. In fact, for one year in a private nursing home in Miami, the cost is an astounding $91,022. Each year Genworth surveys the cost of care in more than 10,000 nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and among home care providers in all 50 states and 90 geographic regions including the District of Columbia. This year, it also included adult day health care costs for the first time. The study also reveals an imminent shortage of caregivers. In actuality, the U.S. will need to recruit 200,000 new direct-care workers each year to meet future demand among the 78 million Baby Boomers as they age. Moreover, the care-giver workforce is dwindling and faces issues of retention. “Rising long term care costs are creating significant financial planning challenges for millions of Americans and their families,” say Buck Stinson, president of Genworth Financial’s Long Term Care Insurance business. As it stands now, a private one-bedroom unit in an assisted living facility has an average annual cost of $36,090. For home care, the average rate for a non-Medicare certified, state licensed home health aide is $19.18, a cost that translates to $43,884 per year for 44 hours per week of care. As far as adult day health care is concerned, first year research findings indicate the average annual cost for five days a week in an adult day health care facility is $15,236 nationally. The survey, 2008 Cost of Care Survey, along with a research paper, “A Workforce to Care for Our Aging” is available at Genworth./com/CostofCare.

Cheshire Software has released a new version of its financial planning software program, Cheshire Wealth Manager, with a new feature for analyzing insurance-planning needs.

Adaptive Planning has added team collaboration and the sharing of best practices to the latest version of its business performance management software.

The Internal Revenue Service said that economic stimulus payments directly deposited to individual retirement accounts and other tax-favored accounts may be withdrawn tax- and penalty-free.The relief is designed to help taxpayers who may have been unaware that by choosing direct deposit for their entire regular tax refund, they were also choosing to have their stimulus payment directly deposited as well. The tax relief is available for amounts withdrawn from tax-favored accounts that are less than or equal to a taxpayer’s directly deposited stimulus payment.

There are some classes of software that simply don’t change much from year to year, and retirement planning software is one of them.In any given year, you may see tax tables updated or compatibility with new operating systems and hardware slip in, but these are, by definition, very stable applications whose core strength is that they offer reliability and a strong set of features. Nor do they need to compete with consumer applications for the beauty of their interface or use of colors. Most of the work of a good retirement planner is done in the background, with little or no reason to bother with aesthetics anywhere other than in the final client presentation.

PLANNING NICHE GROWS FOR CPASFinancial planning has helped fuel an increase in revenues at CPA firms, according to a new study by the American Institute of CPAs and CPA firm Moss Adams. The survey found an average financial planning practice size of $460,000 among the 431 CPA firms that responded, with an average yearly growth rate of 34.9 percent between 2004 and 2006. Respondents anticipated a 20.6 percent increase in assets under management in 2007.

The MetLife Mature Market Institute has available to consumers, especially those who are not in "traditional families," some tips on how to make the right choices in preparing for retirement, notwithstanding the challenges they face.

UCLA Extension has teamed up with Dalton Education to offer an online certificate program in personal financial planning.

XBRL International has appointed Gilles Maguet as secretary general of XBRL Europe, giving him the job of promoting the adoption of the Extensible Business Reporting Language in Europe.

As economic indicators continue to trend downward, Baby Boomers are feeling less confident that their retirement savings will see them through retirement. So says the results of a new research by Longevity Alliance that was conducted by Harris Interactive. Interestingly enough, the survey shows that few of these Baby Boomers really know what steps to take next. According to Longevity, 56 percent of all Boomers (adults 44-62) claim they are less confident than they were only three months ago that their retirement savings will last them through retirement. In fact, of those with such savings, seven in 10 say that were “less confident” overall, with 35 percent being “somewhat less confident,” and 36 percent indicating that they were “much less confident.” Despite the concern, few Boomers have done anything—or plan to do anything—about such flagging retirement savings. Longevity shows that only two out of five with such savings have changed or plan to change their retirement savings as a direct result of the current economic conditions. In fact, of those with such savings who have made a change (or plan to), some 43 percent say they would seek the advice of a financial advisor or retirement planning professional. Hooray! There’s hope alive here. Longevity president Steve Zaleznick says that the Boomers “know the train is coming, but they’re frozen on the tracks.” Unfortunately, he adds, too many are unsure of the best steps to take to guarantee that their money lasts. “In uncertain economic times like these, knowing what to do and when to act is critical; and seeking the advice of a professional can be extremely reassuring.” Also of interest were the distinct differences in attitudes about retirement between men and women. Among adults of all ages, men were more likely to have retirement savings although female Boomers are much more likely to say they have less confidence in their savings. Zaleznick notes that the survey shows clear consumer preferences among Boomers who plan to make changes in their retirement savings. Seeking the advice of a financial advisor or retirement planning professional was the top response followed by a reallocation of funds from stocks to more conservative investments. Other options were investing in value-priced stocks, buying long-term care insurance, and purchasing an annuity. Longevity has a Web site where you can tap into its “Five Tips for Retirement Planning” (www.longevityalliance.com). Boomers can also take the “Longevity Ready” quiz to get a better understanding of their personal preferences and planning style for a longer life.

A week after proposing requirements for public companies to start filing their financial statements with interactive data tags, the Securities and Exchange Commission wants mutual fund companies to begin filing risk and return information using the technology.

In recent months, captives have come to the forefront of the insurance industry.As a result, there has been increased interest in what they are, the benefits that they provide, and if they are a viable option for companies.