I am never ceased to be amazed at the misinterpretations of what a certain financial planner does or how the planner acts in conjunction with the client. Let me explain. For one, there is the definition of commission-based and fee-based. Actually, there are three aspects here. A fee-only planner is one who is paid based on a set hourly rate, a project rate, an annual retainer, a percentage of assts under management, or some combination. The planner does not receive any compensation contingent on the sale or purchase or a financial product. A commission-based planner may include brokers who receive compensation based upon commissions paid by the client or by the mutual fund company or insurance company, or other product provider, each time the client is sold a security. A fee-based compensation is not to be confused with fee-only. This indicates that compensation occurs by way of both fees and/or commissions. Now as to those artful terms of advisor, planner, et al, consider this. The term investment advisor describes a rather wide range of people who are in the business of giving advice about securities and they may use a variety of titles such as investment manager, investment counsel, asset manager, wealth manager, or portfolio manager. An investment advisor then provides ongoing management of investments based on the client’s objectives. The terms broker and broker-dealer refer to firms who are in the business of buying and selling securities on behalf of customers. Individual salespeople employed by brokerage firms are usually called stockbrokers and are officially referred to as registered representatives of the brokerage firm. They may also use other titles such as financial consultant, financial advisor, and investment consultant. A financial planner, unlike an investment advisor and broker, is not a legally defined term and it usually refers to providers who develop, and may also implement, comprehensive financial plans for clients based on their long-term goals, or who may prepare plans to address specific issues their clients may face such as retirement income planning, funding of educational expenses, and the like. When you talk about a comprehensive financial plan, you can turn to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors who defines comprehensive financial planning advice as the coordinated consideration of each of the following areas for a client: income tax, cash flow, retirement planning, estate planning, investments, risk management, and any special needs planning.

Ernst & Young has settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $2.9 million alleging a conflict of interest in its audits of three companies.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a revised exposure draft of a proposed standard on earnings per share, along with a staff position on endowments for nonprofit organizations.

The National Small Business Association has debuted a Web site intended to educate small-business owners about what it calls "the myriad harmful proposals being promoted by the IRS and Congress to raise revenue."

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have issued a ruling to discourage companies from transferring pension plans to unrelated firms.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a warning about the use of 401(k) debit cards that allow employees at some companies to borrow money from their retirement plans.

Admissions of material weaknesses in internal controls have declined in the filings of large U.S. companies in the past two years, showing the positive effects of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, according to a newly released analysis.

The European Commission has decided to cut some of the red tape to allow audit firms from other countries, including the U.S., to operate in Europe.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a guide sheet for organizations that maintain donor-advised funds to help safeguard against abuses.

One of the speakers at the New York State Society of CPAs’ ethics conference last week told a series of alarming stories about accountants who had been sued by their own clients for not doing more to warn them about their own risky financial activities.

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The Institute of Internal Auditors has published a pair of Global Technology Audit Guides discussing business continuity management and information technology audit plans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission held a roundtable discussion on the performance of International Financial Reporting Standards and U.S. generally accepted accounting principles during the subprime crisis.

When I am a loss for the subject of a column, all I have to do is go to the Internet and I quickly find something to write about. What I found is a SEC press release that states the SEC has charged a mutual fund manager with violating socially responsible investing restrictions in socially responsible mutual funds that investors were told would not contain securities issued by companies involved with producing weapons, alcohol, tobacco, or gambling products.

Retirement management may be a classic win-win scenario.A fast-growing segment of the population urgently needs sound retirement advice and related services, while the accountants who provide them can derive considerable economic (and emotional) rewards for doing so.

MAXXAM JETTISONS DELOITTE

This fourth of four columns on mythbusting is aimed at an old chestnut that has been repeated so often that virtually no one ever casts a wary eye in its direction. Here is a quote from a standard intermediate textbook (italics in the original): "Cost has an important advantage over other valuations: It is reliable."

As the life settlement industry grows at an accelerating pace, an increasing number of life insurance producers are opting to transact directly with life settlement providers -- companies that actively purchase life insurance policies in the secondary market.While executing life settlement transactions through a specialized life settlement broker is beneficial for life insurance producers who do not have the know-how, resources or desire to transact directly with life settlement providers, producers who do elect to work directly with life settlement providers may benefit from the significant opportunity to execute more efficient transactions, while raising the level of the total policy sale consideration for their clients.

CFP BOARD DELAYS NEW STANDARDS

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting has released a draft of its final report.The draft report updates a progress report released in February. Among the committee’s proposals are putting executive summaries at the beginning of annual and quarterly financial reports. The committee also wants to increase investor representation on the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Foundation. The committee proposes creating a Financial Reporting Forum to coordinate the efforts of FASB with the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, investors, auditors and other parties.