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What will you learn about?

  • Describe the different types of trusts and explain their application in wealth management.
  • Describe strategies that minimize or defer clients’ income tax before and after death to reduce their estate’s tax burden.
  • Recognize general issues to consider for estate planning.
  • Explain the benefits of the integrated approach to personal risk management for both advisors and clients.
  • Identify what risk-related information you need to create a personal risk management plan for clients and their families.
  • Explain the different ways risk is characterized.
  • Describe various measures of risk.
  • Explain the connected risks underlying family assets, including those related to human capital, pension plans, and the family home.
  • Apply the concept of the family life cycle to personal risk management and strategic wealth preservation.
  • Identify the main steps in the personal risk management process.
  • State what clients should discuss with their family members.
  • Identify issues in the transfer of wealth within a family.
  • Explain the three-phase approach used by some advisors in discussions with clients and their families.
  • Identify specific family-related wealth transfer issues when dealing with clients.
  • Explain how alternative relationships and family law issues affect wealth transfer arrangements.
  • Identify the professionals with whom clients should consult for the development and implementation of a wealth transfer plan.
  • Discuss potential family conflicts.
  • Explain the importance of having a will when creating an estate plan.
  • Define the different forms of a will and the components and clauses in a will.
  • Explain the factors that one should consider when making a will.
  • Describe the process of probating a will.
  • Describe the concepts of power of attorney and living wills within the context of estate planning.

How will you learn?

CSI’s online learning system helps you meet your study goals. You’ll benefit from:

  • Learning objectives and goals that keep you focused
  • Interactive tools to help you evaluate and apply course material
  • Course updates
  • Assistance from CSI’s academic support specialists

What is the course syllabus?

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Module 1 – Personal Risk Management Process CIRO CE PD Credits: 2

In this module, we explain the concept of personal risk management as part of a fully integrated wealth management plan. We describe the different characterizations of risk and what they mean to both advisors and clients. We also explain the different methods that analysts use to measure risk. Finally, we provide a process for creating a personal risk management plan that can be used throughout the client’s life cycle.

Topics covered in this module:

  • Strategic Wealth Preservation: The Big Picture
  • Risk in the Context of Strategic Wealth Management
  • Measuring Risk
  • Identifying Risk within a Client’s Net Worth
  • The Family Life Cycle
  • The Personal Risk Management Process

Module 2 – Planning to Pass on the Estate CIRO CE PD Credits: 2

In this module, you will learn about estate planning – more specifically, will planning – under Canadian law, including common law in most of Canada and the Civil Code of Quebec. We explain how the probate process works and provide some strategies that clients can use to reduce the costs associated with the probate process and potential probate fees. Later in the module, you will learn why clients should arrange a power of attorney for personal care (or a living will) and an enduring power of attorney for property as a substitute decision maker in the event of incapacity.

Topics covered in this module:

  • Passing on the Estate
  • Other Factors to Consider when Making a Will
  • Probate Procedures to Validate a Will
  • Powers of Attorney and Living Wills (Advance Health Care Directives)

Module 3 – Wealth Transfer Plans and the Family CIRO CE PD Credits: 3

In this module, we talk about the issues that clients should discuss with their families regarding the transfer of their wealth, either before or after death. We provide a three-stage approach to your own discussion with clients, and we identify the family-related issues you should address. You will learn how various family law issues can affect wealth transfer arrangements and the importance of having a team of professionals you can rely on to provide advice to clients in this regard. You will also learn how to deal with potential family conflicts during the family conference. Finally, you will learn the importance of having a structure in place to deal with potential issues of mental or physical incapacity in the future.

Topics covered in this module:

  • Getting the Family Involved
  • Simple Rules
  • Starting a Discussion on Family Issues
  • Specific Family Wealth Transfer Planning Issues
  • Family Law Issues That Could Affect the Transfer of Wealth
  • The Wealth Transfer Team
  • The Family Conference

Module 4 – Estate Planning Strategies CIRO CE PD Credits: 3

In this module, you will learn about the different types of trusts and their specific roles in estate planning. We also explain how to reduce an estate’s income tax burden, both before and after death. Later in the module, we end by providing a checklist of issues you and your clients should consider when preparing an estate plan.

Topics covered in this module:

  • Trusts
  • Taxation
  • General Issues to Consider for Estate Planning

Module and Course Completion

Upon successfully completing each course module (by completing the module’s online quiz), you will earn multi-jurisdictional continuing education (CE) credits as shown in the table below. Thus, you will earn CE credits incrementally as you progress through the course.

Once you complete all modules in this course, you will have completed the full course. You can then download a Notice of Course Completion through your student profile. This notice will remain on your profile as formal confirmation of your course completion.