* CCA OFFERS NEW DEFINED-BENEFIT PLAN: CCA Small Business Group LLC, a provider of retirement plans for sole proprietors and small businesses, has unveiled its new OurMax plan, a Web-enabled, high-deferral retirement plan for small business owners.The plan is a type of defined-benefit plan, which allows business owners to save up to $200,000 annually for retirement.
OurMax extends the benefits of the previously launched MyMax individual retirement plan to small businesses. Launched in November 2004, MyMax limits eligibility to self-employed individuals and other sole-owner businesses with no employees.
Among OurMax's features are:
* Interactive design sessions, allowing business owners, financial advisors and OurMax staff to view the plan design together and make changes in real-time.
* Optimal deferral opportunity, wherein the technology is designed to leverage all available defined-benefit plan tax advantages to ensure that the retirement objectives of each owner are met.
* Investment flexibility, allowing the plan to work with most investment platforms.
CCA said that OurMax can work in addition to an existing 401(k) plan, with contribution levels set to meet the needs of each business owner.
More information is available at www.ccasbg.com.
* PEOPLES INCOME TAX PROVIDES CE: Peoples Income Tax School has become a continuing education sponsor of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. Four PTS courses in basic, intermediate, advanced and small business income tax preparation have been accepted, and each program has been granted 30 hours of CE by the CFP Board. Some 49,000 certified financial planners in the United States must each complete 30 hours of CE every two years.
"Knowledge of income tax preparation enables financial planners to better serve their clients, since most financial transactions entail tax consequences," said PTS president Charles E. McCabe. "This knowledge can also provide CFPs with the opportunity to earn extra income as tax professionals and to meet prospective financial planning clients."
PTS was formed in 1989 as a division of Richmond-based Peoples Income Tax Inc., which was founded in 1987 by McCabe, who serves as president and CEO of that unit as well.
* NAPFA FETES BRADLEY WITH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors recently recognized Tom Bradley, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, with its 2006 Special Achievement Award. The award is given by NAPFA to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to consumer protection and the advancement of the financial planning profession. Past recipients of the award include New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and financial industry journalist Bob Veres.
Specifically, Bradley was commended for his strong stance in favor of strengthening regulations related to broker/dealers. TD Ameritrade was one of the few major investment firms to come out in favor of requiring that broker/dealers who claim to offer fee-based investment advice be regulated as investment advisors with respect to that activity.
* WEALTH MANAGEMENT EXPERTS FORM INSTITUTE: Financial advisors and other wealth management experts have formed a trade group for professionals who deal with affluent and high-net-worth clients. Called the Wealth Advisor Institute, the organization will be headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has already started seeking membership from financial planners, accountants, insurance agents, estate planners, attorneys and others who advise wealthy clients.
Member of the WAI board include Keith Gregg, executive vice president of Dunham & Associates; Frank Campanale, president of Campanale Consulting LLC; Chris Davis, executive director of the Money Management Institute; Jeffrey Dunham, president and chief executive of Dunham & Associates; Charlie Eisenmann, chief operating officer of Dunham & Associates; and Tom Fowler, executive publisher of Highline Media.
For more information, go to wealthadvisorinstitute.com. Membership is $300 a year.
