Canadian Financial Planning, Administration, and Investing Program

Working with Advisors lays the groundwork for beneficiaries to have positive working relationships with advisors. The content reviews communication, hiring, compensation, and onboarding as well as transitioning to a new advisor or terminating an advisor relationship. The course ties relevant concepts into an animated case study that demonstrates the importance of working with advisors proactively.

• Module 1 - Working within the Advisor Ecosystem

Personal Finance Fundamentals Module 1 sheds light on the purpose of financial plans – the why, what, and how – as well as how to set goals considering a beneficiary’s needs, wants, and wishes. The five basic building blocks of financial planning are explored in detail. These financial planning building blocks include saving, spending, giving, income, and budgeting. Risk management and long-term factors are reviewed. Finally, the module concludes with an applied learning exercise which gives students the opportunity to create their own basic budgets.

Estimated Completion Time: 3 hours

Featured Resources:

     Videos

• Podcast with Octavian Pilati entitled, Managing Succession in Crisis
• Podcast with Jazmin Aguilera entitled, The Cut-How Do I Deal With My Rich Friends
• Podcast with Fernando Pou and Rino Schena entitled, Thinking Outside the Box: Insurance Solutions for Families
• Podcast with Ron Cordes entitled, Moving to 100% Impact: The Cordes Family Story
• Podcast with Christina Burroughs and Will Froelich entitled, Capital Sufficiency

     Articles/Links

• Family Retirement Goals Calculator
• Education Goals Calculator
• Wealth Workbook

Personal Finance Fundamentals Module 2 introduces various financial statements including income statements, balance sheets, and statement of cash flows. Students learn the fundamentals of how to read and analyze these statements. Financial statement subtotal measures such as gross margin, operating income, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) are reviewed.  Finally, measures and ratios that reveal financial performance are detailed including working capital, current ratio, quick ratio, earning per share, debt-equity ratio, and return on equity.

Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours

Featured Resources: 

    Articles/Books

• "How to Read Apple's Balance Sheet" by the Investopedia Team
• Historical Financial Ratios by Industry IBS World
• Create a Financial Report by Industry

Module 3 of the Personal Finance Basics course introduces two cases to expand student’s understanding of personal financial planning, personal financial statements, and how these statements are used in business. This module delves into the process of setting short-term and long-term goals, evaluating one’s options for achieving them, and ultimately putting a plan in place to achieve them. Students also learn how financial statements reveal the overall performance of a business and how the details of these statements help diagnose areas of strength and areas that require attention.

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour

Module 1 of Trust Administration Fundamentals builds the foundational understanding of how a trust is administered. This module explores the essential questions to ask to understand how a trust is administered, as well as the key duties of the trustee relative to trust administration. Students learn the four steps of trust administration which include:

1. Assuming control
2. Administering the trust
3. Understanding the trust parties
4. Reviewing the trust

Module 1 contains applied learning exercises for trust administration and concludes with a trust administration overview from the perspective of the beneficiary.

Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours

Featured Resources: 

     Articles/Books

• "Punitive Damages and More: The Consequences of Estate Trustees' Egregious Conduct" by Andrea Tratnik
• Sample Trust Agreement
• Estate & Trust Administration for Dummies, 2nd Edition Chapter 12, "Investing the Trusts Assets and Paying the Expenses" by Margaret Atkins, EA & Kathryn A. Murphy, Esq.

Module 1 of Investing Fundamentals builds the foundational understanding of how a trust is invested. The module focuses on common practices for investing in a trust, the more common asset classes that a trust may typically hold, and the investment considerations for those common asset classes. This module explores the concept of compounding, portfolio construction, time horizons, and risk and return.  It concludes with an overview of annual asset class performance and the factors that can influence performance.

Estimated Completion Time: 2 hours

Featured Resources: 
      Articles/Books

• StackTrack.com Personal Trading Simulator
• Bond Yield to Maturity Calculator
• Interactive Compounding Interest Worksheet
• Compound Interest Calculator 
• Wealth Wisdom Chapter 13, "How Can You Make Sure Your Portfolio Lines Up With Your Actual Costs" by Tom McCullough & Keith Whitaker

     Videos

• Podcast with David McCombie entitled, Private Equity Perils and Pearls
• Podcast with Jenna Arnold entitled, Impact Investing
• Scott Peppet's Financial Capital Series, "Compound Interest"
• Tharawat Magazine, "The Future of Family Offices"
• The Quilt Map

Module 2 of Investing Fundamentals covers investment goals and strategy, the investment process, and different approaches to investing such as Modern Portfolio Theory and Goals-Based Investing. This module explores investment governance that may be associated with a trust, including having an investment philosophy, investment policy statement, investment charter and/or an investment committee. Finally, this module ends with how to interpret a sample investment statement.

Estimated Completion Time: 2 hours

Featured Resources: 

    Articles/Books

• Investment Policy Statement Sample
• "Elements of an Investment Policy Statement for Individual Investors" by the CFA Institute
• Investment Committee Charter Example
• Performance Report Sample

    Videos

• Podcast with Jeremy Langlois entitled, Consolidated Reporting 101
• Podcast with Ronen Schwarman entitled, Asset Allocation

Module 3 of Investing Fundamentals progresses through a real-life case study and provides insights into how trust investing may have different guidelines and parameters than a simple brokerage or investment account. The module applies the insights learned from investment basics in module 1 and the process, approach, and governance to investing covered in module 2. The final module provides a useful investment case study that also ties in the broader estate planning, financial planning, and wealth transfer concepts covered in earlier lessons.

Estimated Completion Time: 30 minutes

Featured Resources:

• FINRA: Rules & Guidelines
• IIROC Rules