FIN/422 - Retirement and Benefit Planning
Course Description
This course provides students with the tools necessary to create a retirement plan. After completion of this course, students will be able to identify the types of retirement plans, understand the implications of federal law on retirement plans, identify retirement plans and participation requirements, calculate tax deductions and contribution limits, and create a full financial plan, including retirement, for an individual.
This undergradate course is 5 weeks.
PLEASE NOTE:
Attendance and participation are mandatory in all university courses, and specific requirements may differ by course. If attendance requirements are not met, a student may be removed from the course. Please review the Course Attendance Policy, Tuition Refund Policy and all University Policies in the Catalog for more information.
Course Objectives
Week 1
- Analyze the relevant issues in benefit plan designs for employers, including portability, longevity, phased retirement and team encouragement.
- Distinguish between the various lifecycle events and how they impact employee benefits.
Week 2
- Evaluate the HR and financial considerations in offering Defined Benefit Plans, including funding, vesting, retention and loyalty.
- Theorize on the main drivers of the transition to Defined Contribution Plans as replacements to Defined Benefit Plans including simplicity, responsibility for investment risk, tax treatment, and profit sharing aspects.
Week 3
- Evaluate the different options for retirement plan design (SIMPLE, Keogh, SEP and Money Purchase/Targeted Plan) and their appropriateness for small employers.
- Characterize the business factors, including competition, flexibility, and compliance in retirement plan design.
- Recommend ways to ensure successful retirement savings amongst employees.
Week 4
- Measure the financial returns of benefit plans such as Wellness Programs, child care and linking 401ks to productivity.
- Calculate the payback and ROI of early retirement programs
- Design financial metrics and benchmarking for a benefit and retirement plan.
Week 5
- Recommend a benefit plan design that incorporates employee ownership such as Stock Options, Restricted Stock, Profit Sharing, SARs and Stock Discount.
- Evaluate the risks, including liability, allocation of risks and costs of offering employee ownership in retirement plan offerings.
Prerequisites
None
Disclaimers
The University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses.
While widely available, not all programs are available in all locations or in both online and on-campus formats. Please check with an Enrollment Representative.
Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether or not credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice.