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Interactive Tutorials
Interactive tutorials provide a multimedia experience for visitors to your Web site. Our tutorials combine voice-over technology with compelling content in a format that users can review at their own pace. Topics range from mutual fund investing and investment risk, to company-sponsored retirement plans and estate planning. Each tutorial takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and no advanced technical knowledge is required.
All in the Family: Estate Planning and the Small-Business Owner
An effective estate plan can allow a small-business owner to preserve wealth, protect the business, transfer assets, and safeguard the financial security of heirs. This tutorial examines the different elements of estate plans for small-business owners, including trusts, family limited partnerships, annuities, and insurance.
Asset Allocation: A Strategy for Life
This tutorial acquaints - or reacquaints - investors with the crucial concept of asset allocation, which is the term used to describe a portfolio's strategic mix of investments. The lesson describes the role of stocks, bonds, and cash in an asset allocation; how to identify and calculate your financial goals; how to gauge your risk tolerance; and how to manage your asset allocation over time. It also includes sample allocations for conservative, moderate, and aggressive investors.
Bond Investing
Where do bonds fit in your portfolio? While they may not make headlines the way stocks do, bonds may play a variety of roles in your investment strategy. This tutorial will introduce you to different types of bonds and explore their potential benefits and risks.
Building a Better Portfolio With Exchange-Traded Funds
The growing appeal of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is likely a result of the fact that ETFs combine the real-time trading flexibility of stocks with the diversity and professional management of mutual funds. This tutorial explains how ETFs work, highlights the different types of ETFs on the market, explains their risks and potential benefits, and describes different ETF investment strategies.
Estate Planning Basics
This tutorial is aimed at individuals who seek to establish an estate plan and need to understand the fundamental tools and available options in planning an estate. The module reviews planning tools such as wills and different types of trusts, and also touches on estate taxes. Also covered are beneficiary designations, probate issues, executors, and conservatorships.
Exiting Your Small Business
Whether your exit strategy involves leaving your small business in the hands of family members, employees, or outside parties, your strategy should take into account a wide range of important personal and financial considerations. In order to provide tips for developing an exit strategy, this tutorial discusses the importance of family arrangements, purchase agreements, managing the proceeds of a sale, and implementing an appropriate estate plan.
Harvesting Retirement Plan Rollovers
Financial advisors eager to grow their practices and add value to existing client relationships should consider focusing on the benefits of "harvesting" rollover IRA assets. This tutorial examines the challenges associated with convincing clients to bring you their rollover business, and it discusses the benefits of consolidating retirement assets in a single account. It also examines common issues faced by different types of rollover clients and offers suggestions for customizing their portfolios to meet their needs.
Investing in Retirement
This tutorial examines the risks, strategies and other unique considerations of investors who are in or nearing retirement.
Investment Risk - Don't Avoid It, Manage It!
Investing entails some degree of risk, but if fear of risk is driving your investment decisions, you could be reducing the potential of your portfolio. Learn about the different types of investment risk and the steps you can take to minimize them.
IRA Opportunities
This tutorial discusses how an individual retirement account can help users pursue their retirement savings goals. It reviews the different types of IRAs that are available, the tax treatment of IRA contributions and withdrawals, as well as required IRA distribution rules.
Make the Most of Your Retirement Plan
This tutorial seeks to educate current and prospective plan participants on 401(k)s and other company-sponsored retirement plans. The module covers how to determine how much you will need in retirement; features of company-sponsored retirement plans; tax benefits of such plans; and employer matching. It then goes on to coach users on choosing investments within their plans; how different asset allocations suit different needs; and how to gauge one's risk tolerance level.
Managing Debt and Credit
This tutorial aims to help users control their use of credit by educating them on the different types and uses of credit. It also reviews different tools for managing credit as well as strategies for paying down debt.
Nonqualified Plans for Key Employees
Offering nonqualified retirement benefits gives small business owners the opportunity to provide customized deferred compensation to select employees and to compensate high-income workers who have limited access to traditional benefits. This tutorial will explain different types of nonqualified benefits and will demonstrate why they are often the best way to compensate key individuals.
Picture It Now! - Enrollment Kit
In the retirement enrollment arena, success depends on high-quality educational materials paired with details about key plan features. Standard & Poor's retirement planning guide, Picture It Now: Your Financial Future, provides the cornerstone plan sponsors need to build a successful enrollment campaign.
Retirement Income Planning
Income planning in retirement is critical if you are to make ends meet today and throughout your retirement. This tutorial offers guidance on the steps involved with retirement income planning and will help you create a working blueprint for effectively managing your finances once you've retired.
Retirement Plan Rollover Options
What you choose to do with the money from your employer-sponsored retirement plan could have a significant impact on your ability to meet your long-term financial goals. Targeted at retirees and job changers, this tutorial carefully weighs the merits of each option — leaving the money in the plan, cashing out, opening a rollover IRA, etc. — to help you make the best selection for your assets.
Small-Business Retirement Plans
When choosing a retirement plan for employees, small-business owners have a host of different options to consider. This tutorial examines the different plans available, their different features, and how they compare to one another.
Social Security, Medicare, and Retirement
Targeted at preretirees, this tutorial educates users on Social Security and Medicare — how the programs work, what benefits to expect, and how to supplement these programs with tax-deferred retirement accounts. Subtopics include the status of both programs and current funding proposals; benefit timing and options; medical insurance; IRAs and other retirement savings vehicles.
Starting a Business
Launching a business is a big decision that involves careful consideration. This tutorial examines the organizational, structural, financial, legal, and other aspects of starting a business that any entrepreneur will want to consider.
Understanding 529 College Savings Plans
Thanks to recent changes in tax rules, distributions from 529 plans are now tax free — making them a very attractive option for college savings. This tutorial discusses what 529 plans are, how they work, and how they may differ from plan to plan. It then reviews several different state plans, their positives and negatives, and how 529 plans may also be used for estate planning.
Understanding Mutual Funds
In recent years, mutual funds have become the investment of choice for millions of Americans. If you are still mystified by these vehicles, learn how they work, how they are managed, and how they can fit into your financial plan.
Understanding the Stock Market
This general introduction to the stock market covers fundamental concepts, and rules and practices for first-time investors looking to invest in stocks. The session covers how stock markets work, the different types and categories of stock, trading mechanisms, the role of brokers, commissions, and regulations. It also looks at how stocks differ from other investments, where to get information on stocks, and ways to measure stock performance.
Your Online Guide to the Roth 401(k)
This tutorial walks participants through the features of new Roth 401(k) plans, their tax advantages, their rules and restrictions, and a comparison with traditional 401(k)s.
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