Earn Your Master’s Degree and Reach Your Financial Planning Career Goals
Invest in your financial planning career with an online master’s in personal financial planning from the College for Financial Planning®—a Kaplan Company. The program is tailored for financial planners who are interested in expanding their knowledge beyond typical financial licensing and credentials. Based on a client-centered, problem-solving method, the curriculum features case studies to give you a hands-on approach to the material.
Why Choose College for Financial Planning® for Your Master’s in Personal Financial Planning?
- Skills & Recognition: A master’s degree shows you have reached a high level of expertise. A graduate degree in personal financial planning is immediately recognizable to both clients and firms.
- Deep Knowledge to Sit for the CFP® Exam: The master’s degree is a CFP Board-approved program in personal financial planning. It automatically fulfills education requirements for CFP® certification to sit for the national CFP® exam.
- Prior Learning Credit: If you completed your required education for CFP® certification through the College, you may qualify for up to 15 hours of transfer credit toward our master’s in personal financial planning program, which could put you halfway toward earning your degree.
Pathway Options
Students accepted into the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning will select from two pathway options: the Traditional Pathway and the Client Psychology and Communication Pathway.
The Traditional Pathway allows students to select from a variety of elective courses to fulfill the program’s elective requirements.
The Client Psychology and Communication Pathway structures the elective courses to provide students with a more detailed understanding of behavioral finance, client psychology, and improved communication skills.
Program Learning Objectives
Graduates should be able to:
- Know: Demonstrate expertise in integration of personal financial planning and fiduciary duty with advanced frameworks in behavioral finance, economics, and complex issues related to client interests, aspirations, pathways, and life events.
- Apply: Apply quantitative methods and knowledge framework in personal financial planning for their clients and are able to apply advanced methods in portfolio management, preretirement planning, and complex issues in tax and estate planning as part of the financial planning process.
- Critical Analysis and Evaluation: Bring a sophisticated level of critical evaluation and analysis to consideration of client-specific scenarios.
- Communicate: Educate and communicate with clients using client-centric verbal, written, visual, and numerical presentations to engage clients throughout the financial planning process.
- Professional Practice: Employ ethical, regulatory, and legal guidelines when making financial decisions and recommendations.
- Lifelong Learning: Engage in lifelong learning to ensure competency and respond to changes in the legal and economic environments.
- Discovery: Engage in research and discovery of relevant and current topics in financial planning and allied areas, including such areas as behavioral finance as it may apply to advising clients on complex financial planning issues.
Program Curriculum
Students accepted into the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning must earn 30 semester credits with a minimum 3.00 grade point average to graduate from the program. A maximum of 21 credits may be completed through Credit for Prior Learning, which includes transfer credit, articulated credit, and alternative credit. For more information about the College’s Credit for Prior Learning opportunities, please review the College Catalog.
Core Courses
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
This course introduces students to the process of financial planning, and insurance needs and planning. The course includes a case study that students study throughout the first 5 (core) courses. The course applies the financial planning process, the time value of money, cash flow and financing strategies, education planning, and the concepts of a variety of insurance needs.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
This course introduces students to the world of investments; stocks, bonds, and related instruments, their trading markets, factors, forces, and theories; and applies those concepts in a case study. This course also demonstrates the importance of investment risk, quantitative investment concepts, and measures of investment returns.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
The course begins with a fundamental overview of the individual income tax calculation process. The course then delves into investment vehicle taxation including life insurance, annuities, and other securities. Tax reduction techniques such as charitable contributions are subsequently discussed. Next the income tax implications of various types of businesses. The self-employment tax is analyzed. Additionally, property acquisitions and dispositions are discussed in depth. Passive activity rules will be explored. Finally, several compliance and tax penalty issues are evaluated.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
In this course, students analyze a wide range of issues facing individuals preparing for retirement. Through the course case study, students will learn how to create comprehensive retirement plans tailored to clients’ needs. Qualified ERISA plans, IRAs, non-qualified plans, and and Social Security retirement benefits will all be covered.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
Basic estate planning concepts and techniques are covered in this course. Subjects include the estate planning process, client interaction about estate planning, basic legal estate planning documents, trusts, lifetime transfers, gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxation, life insurance planning, and charitable giving.
Advanced Courses
3 credits Prerequisites: PFPL510 and PFPL540, or equivalent
Students will get the chance to apply their knowledge to a case study of a hypothetical couple seeking retirement in 15 to 20 years. Students will be expected to show how they would assist clients and help resolve their retirement issues. Research and writing skills are learned and used in the weekly assignments.
3 credits Prerequisite: PFPL520
The course covers the theory of investment management, security valuation, and portfolio management, including the analysis of investment risk, return, and portfolio performance evaluation. There are two case studies analyzed, and investment policy statements are created for those hypothetical clients. Short-answer and calculations are required on the weekly assignments.
3 credits Prerequisites: PFPL510, PFPL520, PFPL530, PFPL540, PFPL550, or equivalent
Students use their knowledge to analyze the situations, to create a financial plan for several hypothetical families in this course. A comprehensive Excel file is filled in and analyzed throughout the course (completed in the final week) and weekly short-answer assignments and quizzes are due weekly.
Electives
3 credits Prerequisite(s): PFPL510 or PFPL520
This course covers financial statement analysis starting with the origin of financial data and uses of financial reporting. Topical coverage includes revenue recognition, income determination with in-depth analysis of the income statement. Coverage also includes applied financial statement investigation including cause-of-change, common-size, and trend analyses.
Prerequisite(s): ACCT545
Building on financial statement analysis tools and techniques covered in ACCT545, this course provides advanced analysis of the asset side of the balance sheet, including receivables, inventory, and long-lived assets. Additional coverage includes using financial information in making decisions associated with credit analysis, contracting, and valuation, as well as in-depth study of the sources and uses of cash as identified in the statement of cash flows (operations, investing, and financing).
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
This course covers economic issues relevant to financial planners, including economic indicators, monetary and fiscal policies, economic growth, international trade, currency exchange, and investment decisions. Weekly assignments are largely short answers and one- to two-page essays. Calculations are required in some assignments (e.g., currency exchange).
3 credits Prerequisites: None
This course covers the fundamentals of quantitative concepts and techniques including descriptive statistics, probability distributions, sampling, hypothesis testing, correlation analysis, linear regression, and time-series models.
3 credits Prerequisites: PFPL520 (or equivalent)
This course covers the advanced analysis of equity and debt securities including the valuation of common stock, preferred stock, and various types of fixed-income instruments. In regard to common stock, coverage includes valuation techniques including discounted cash flow analysis, price multiples, and the residual income model. Bond features and characteristics including time-to-maturity, types of coupons, callability, conversion are covered. Relevant topics include investing strategies, duration, convexity and risks relevant to securities, including default, credit, interest rate and reinvestment risk. Additional coverage includes behavioral finance, technical analysis and the Efficient Market Hypothesis.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): PFPL510 and PFPL520 (or equivalent)
This course examines the financial structure of corporations with an emphasis on understanding financial statements, time value of money, cash flows, working capital management, capital structure, financing decisions, cost of capital, capital budgeting techniques.
Prerequisite(s): PFPL520 and FINA565
This course explores derivatives, alternative investments and alternative investment strategies. The course covers the mechanics and markets for options, forward and futures contracts. forward and futures pricing, equity options and interest rate derivatives. Additionally, it covers alternative investments and alternative strategies including the use of derivatives in these strategies. Learners will be introduced to hedge funds, real assets, private capital, liquid alternatives and the use of derivatives and alternative investments in portfolio management.
3 credits Prerequisite: PFPL520
Students enrolled in this course are immersed in the world of behavioral finance. This is a fascinating look at real-world case studies of the psychology, experiences, and personal biases people possess surrounding money. Weekly assignments consist of short-answer and one- to two-page essays.
3 credits Prerequisite: PFPL530
This course provides students with a strong background in the application of income tax concepts, calculations, and planning techniques specific to middle- and higher-income taxpayers. Short-answer questions on hypothetical situations are on the weekly assignments.
3 credits Prerequisite: PFPL550
This course examines selected issues related to estate planning in a case study-driven format. These include both tax and non-tax aspects of planning for disability and death. Short-answer questions on hypothetical situations are on the weekly assignments.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
The Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor℠ or CRPC® Professional Designation Program is taught by the College at the graduate level. Students who complete the program earn 3 credits in graduate credits that can be applied to the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning program to fulfill elective requirements.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
The Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist℠ or CRPS® Professional Designation Program is taught by the College at the graduate level. Students who complete the program earn 3 credits in graduate credits that can be applied to the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning program to fulfill elective requirements.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
The Accredited Wealth Management Advisor℠ or AWMA® or Sports and Entertainment Accredited Wealth Management Advisor℠ or SE-AWMA℠ Professional Designation Programs are taught by the College at the graduate level. Students who complete the program earn 3 credits in graduate credits that can be applied to the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning program to fulfill elective requirements.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
The Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor℠ or APMA® Professional Designation Program is taught by the College at the graduate level. Students who complete the program earn 3 credits in graduate credits that can be applied to the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning program to fulfill elective requirements.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
The Accredited Behavioral Finance Professional℠ or ABFP® Professional Designation Program is taught by the College at the graduate level. Students who complete the program earn 3 credits in graduate credits that can be applied to the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning program to fulfill elective requirements.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): None
The Chartered SRI Counselor℠ or CSRIC® Professional Designation Program is taught by the College at the graduate-level. Students who complete the program earn 3 credits in graduate credits that can be applied to the Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning program to fulfill elective requirements.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): PFPL560 and PFPL570
The course covers a financial planning topic of the students’ choosing. Research and writing skills are learned in this course. Weekly critiques of writing are given, and students complete a 25- to 40-page research paper by the end of the class.
3 credits Prerequisite(s): PFPL600 and either PFPL522 or ABFP®
Client Psychology and Communication will help students understand and apply the most up-to-date best practices on the qualitative side of financial planning, informed by current academic research. Building on the fields of psychology and behavioral finance, this course includes readings from foundational texts in client psychology and communication, written by the top scholars in financial planning academia. A case study integrates the readings and assignments. The course is both practical and educational.
Graduate Certificate in Personal Financial Planning
Students who complete fifteen (15) credits in the following courses and meet the eligibility requirements will be awarded a Graduate Certificate in Personal Financial Planning.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Successful completion of fifteen (15) credits in required coursework
- Maximum of six (6) credits earned through transfer or articulated coursework
- 3.00 minimum cumulative GPA in applicable courses
Course Code
Course Title
Prerequisite(s)
Credits
PFPL510
Financial Planning Process and Insurance
None
3
PFPL520
Investment Planning
None
3
PFPL530
Income Tax Planning
None
3
PFPL540
Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits
None
3
PFPL550
Estate Planning
None
3
TOTAL REQUIRED CREDITS
15
Master Planner Advanced Studies (MPAS®) Certification
Demand for Financial Advisors: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/personal-financial-advisors.htm