Wealth management

Structured products are wending their way into portfolios, with investors recently sucking up half a billion dollars on just three new issues of the vehicles - three of some 67 offerings of structured products launched this year.

* N.J. ATTORNEY GENERAL BUSTS AMEX FINANCIAL ADVISORS: American Express Financial Advisors Inc. will pay New Jersey $5 million and implement company-wide reforms to address allegations that it failed to reasonably supervise its financial advisors.

Ask any reputable financial planner how to secure a decent retirement, and you might just get a laundry list of what you should or should not do. Most represent pretty good thoughts.

The 10 percent penalty tax on withdrawals from an IRA before age 59-1/2 does not apply to distributions from either a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA to the extent that the amount withdrawn is used to pay qualified higher education expenses. The qualified higher education expenses may be incurred by the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or any child or grandchild of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse.

The Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. - the nonprofit umbrella organization that manages the CFP certification program outside the U.S. and its territories - is now seeking nominations from the U.S. for a three-year position on the FPSB board, with terms beginning Jan. 1, 2006.

The administrators of a Utah college savings plan have settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission for issuing false and misleading information, though the fund's former director will be charged with misappropriating funds.

* INVESTORS WANT MORE IN DC PLANS: Investors today want more options and advice in their defined-contribution plans, according to a survey of plan sponsors.The number of investment choices in defined-contribution plans now averages 16, down from 20 in 2001. That compares with an average of 11 investment choices in 1998, according to a triennial survey of plan sponsors by institutional investment consulting firm Callan Associates. The survey polled 95 plan sponsors with more than $100 billion in total assets and 1.1 million participants.

Question: What do tax season and the family scrapbook both have in common?Answer: They are both keys to growing your firm's financial planning practice.

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 provides that the amount of a deduction for charitable donations after 2004 of qualified vehicles where the claimed value is more than $500 depends on the charity's use of the donated vehicle.Qualified vehicles include motor vehicles, boats and planes that aren't inventory or held for sale in the ordinary course of business. The Internal Revenue Service has issued Notice 2005-44 to provide detailed guidance on the charitable contribution rules that apply to qualified vehicles that are donated after 2004.

In a divisive 3-2 vote, the Securities and Exchange Commission amended and re-approved a proposed rule requiring the directors of mutual funds to be independent that had been ruled against by a federal court in a lawsuit a little more than a week before.

Already with a lengthy to-do list before adjourning for its August recess, reports have Congress moving to address the future of the estate tax soon.

Republican leaders have said that movement on President Bush's plans to overhaul Social Security is unlikely to happen until after Congress' August recess.

The American Institute of CPAs has received a 2005 Summit Award from the American Society of Association Executives for its national 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy program.

The U.S. Department of Labor reached an agreement Monday to set aside $356 million from the sale of Enron's assets to cover some of the bankrupt energy company's retirement and pension plan benefits.

The executive stock option settlement initiative launched in February has received a strong turnout, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The initiative provided corporate executives and their companies a means to resolve an abusive tax transaction involving the transfer of stock options to family controlled partnerships.

Courts look unkindly at CPAs who advise clients beyond their qualifications - for instance, by dispensing legal advice (if they're not attorneys as well). Knowing where to stop and refer clients to other professionals, as well as how to manage the other specialists in a client's financial life, are critical skills for effective investment advisors.

* FIRM UNVEILS FINANCIAL CONCIERGE PROGRAM FOR PRO ATHLETES: Piascik & Associates, a Richmond, Va.-based CPA and financial planning firm, has rolled out a financial concierge program for its professional athlete clients. The program is designed to keep professional athletes on a managed budget with automatic, on-time bill payment and advice on making high-dollar purchasing decisions on tangibles such as cars, jewelry and houses.

Do you know the best ways you as an investor can get cheated?

Assets in Section 529 college savings plans rose to an estimated $55.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, according to data released by the nonprofit College Savings Foundation. The quarterly asset total was up 6 percent from an estimated $52.3 billion at the end of 2004, and up 38.6 percent from the first quarter 2004 total of $40.0 billion.

Chief financial officers' optimism about the economy and their own companies' prospects is the lowest it has been during the past 12 months, according to a survey of Financial Executives International members.