Financial Planning

Employer-sponsored retirement plans, including 401(k) programs, will be allowed to make loans and hardship distributions to victims of Hurricane Katrina and members of their families, the Internal Revenue Service said.

Ameriprise Financial, formerly American Express Financial Advisors, launched its first advertising campaign since announcing plans to spin off from its parent company, American Express Co.

New guidance from Securities and Exchange Commission regulators sets limits on ways to determine the cost of stock options, though the new SEC chairman said that the report was "tentative."

Although Congress has authorized tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks to help American families cope with rising college costs, millions of taxpayers are failing to cash in on this government assistance.

The Internal Revenue Service said victims of Hurricane Katrina will have until Jan. 3, 2006 to file any returns, pay any taxes, or make any deposits due -- extending an earlier announced reprieve.

The American Institute of CPAs and the Internal Revenue Service launched a partnership aimed at providing assistance to taxpayers at local disaster recovery centers established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service said that they would waive the tax-credit regulations that prohibit owners of low-income housing providing housing to victims of Hurricane Katrina who don't qualify as "low income."

U.S. TO REISSUE 30-YEAR BOND IN Q1 2006: The Bush administration said that it would resurrect the 30-year Treasury bond, a move that it said would help to finance the national debt and, at that same time, appeal to conservative investors looking for long-term options.

When CPAs add financial services to their practices, the overwhelming method of entry is to affiliate with a broker/dealer and receive commissions. For many, there is a next stage: transitioning to a model of full financial advisory with compensation from fees based on assets under management. Careful management of the rebranding can ease clients into the new way of doing business.

A number of CPA volunteers were recently recognized by CPA societies in California and New York.