Need help to pass your regulatory exams?

Are you intimidated by the body of knowledge required to tackle your FAIS Regulatory exams? You needn’t be – because help is at hand. Lexis Nexis has announced “the most significant development in the financial planning education environment in the past five years”. They’re launching a textbook called Fundamentals of Financial, which will be available from December 2010. The textbook offers comprehensive coverage of financial planning topics at undergraduate level (NQF 5&6) and also covers a number of product category outcomes for the FSB regulatory exam syllabus. The new textbook complements the best selling South African Financial Planning Handbook! What does the new textbook cover? We flipped through the content pages to find out.

Everything you wanted to know about financial planning – and more

Fundamentals of Financial Planning delves into every aspect of personal financial planning. It comprises eight sections – with a number of chapters under each.

Section 1: Fundamentals of Financial Planning

The first section of the book provides a comprehensive overview of the financial planning industry. Because this section is relevant to every individual in the advice space I though I’d provide an outline of each of its chapters:

Chapter 1: The financial planning profession

Those of you already active in the financial planning industry will enjoy the use of “profession” in the chapter heading. It’s an acknowledgement of the major progress made in setting standards and education requirements for existing and new entrants to the industry. The first chapter of the textbook touches on financial planning as a profession and provides an outline of the key stakeholders in the financial services industry.

Chapter 2: The Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act

Everything you ever wanted to know about the FAIS Act is jam packed into this section. The book offers a background to compliance legislation and touches on Policyholder Protection Rules before unpacking the Act in detail.

Chapter 3: Counter-money laundering

If you’re in the business of advising clients on how to invest their spare cash you’ll inevitably run into some declarable transactions. The book outlines the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and the Financial Intelligence Centre Act to insure you understand your legal obligations with respect to the prevention of money laundering activities.

Chapter 4: The Client and the Financial Planning Process

The nuts and bolts of financial advice happen in the client facing stages. Fundamentals of Financial Planning comments on the importance of financial planning and walks you through the six-step financial planning process.

Chapter 5: Financial Calculations and the time value of money

Retirement planning is all about knowing how much money you need 20 years from today to last you another 20 years in retirement. A section on financial calculations and the time value of money is an essential tool for any financial planner. Chapters in this section cover basic principles, simple and compound interests, calculating future values of single lump sum investments, calculating bond instalments and amortisation – with practical examples. The book is worth having just for this important knowledge.

Section 2: Insurance planning and risk management

If you’re going to sell either short or long-term insurance this section is just for you. It covers all aspects of risk management – from the basic “what is risk” to the advanced topics such as proximate cause and subrogation! Healthcare is addressed as a separate chapter in this section.

Section 3: Tax Planning

Love them or hate them, SARS has upped South Africa’s revenue collection mechanisms over the past decade. They’re getting smarter about making sure your clients pay every cent of their tax dues. This section puts the magnifying glass over tax and tax planning aspects under the headings Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Donations Tax – plus Transfer Duty and VAT and Estate Duty!

Section 4: Investment Planning

Nothing highlighted the importance of long-term investment planning more than the stock market hiccup experienced over the second half of 2008 and 2009. Investors who made short-term decisions over the period suffered huge losses to capital value. A financial planner can benefit from this section which imparts basic economic concepts and advanced investment planning skills.

Section 5: Estate Planning

Nothing is certain but death and taxes! Section three handles the “taxes” side of this equation, while the Estate Planning section handles the “death” angle. Fundamentals of Financial Planning covers aspects of succession planning, matrimonial property law and the law of and taxation of trusts.

Section 6: Retirement Planning

The retirement planning section is divided into two chapters, one covering individual retirement tools and strategies – and the other addressing employee benefits.

Section 7: Business Planning

The number of sole proprietors and small business owners has escalated in recent years. These individuals have unique needs when it comes to planning their financial futures. Fundamentals of Financial Planning includes a section to familiarise you with the business world – including insurance needs specific to businesses and understanding business financial statements.

Section 8: Integrated Financial Planning

And finally – the book provides case studies to illustrate the financial planning theory in practise.

Get your copy today!

The publishers have a wicked sense of humour. After a great deal of effort – or so they say – they managed to trim the textbook down to just 600 pages! The good news is the book is easy to read, and affordable. You can order copies at just R400 excluding VAT and delivery.

Lexis Nexis has been kind enough to offer copies of Fundamentals of Financial Planning to three lucky readers. To win a copy all you have to do is answer the following question:

How many sections does Fundamentals of Financial Planning contain?

Send your answer along with your name, postal address and contact number to editor@fanews.co.za. We’ll send a copy of the book to the first three correct entries received.

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