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Website of the Month: Personal Financial Specialists [CPA Journal, The](CPA Journal, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Many individuals discuss both their tax situations and financial planning needs with their CPAs. Some CPAs working in this field also hold tiie Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential from the AICPA, which requires specialized knowledge in several practice areas. This month's column explores how three different CPA/PFS-credentialed individuals utilize their web presence. While the three firms emphasize different areas of financial management, there are commonalities: all three websites offer free resources to the general public, discuss the importance of the CPA credential, and explain how their fees are determined. In addition, all three use thirdparty vendors to provide certain content. Affinity Advantage Affinity Advantage (http://www.affinity advantage.com), headed by Thomas Arrancáis, CPA/PFS, encourages interest in retirement planning and other financial management activities. Affinity provides a fice retirement income analysis, as well as videos, workbooks, articles, and calculators. Although the site focuses mainly on retirement planning, it also covers other financial planning areas, such as education planning, employee benefits, estate and gift planning, insurance and investments, tax planning, wealth accumulation, and business continuation strategies. Hie homepage highlights a few of these resources, organized under the categories of helping and protecting family, enjoying and protecting lifestyle, planning ahead, creating financial comfort, and building a legacy. The website presents a helpful chart that identifies concepts and action steps under each of these categories (http://www.affinityadvantage .com/Retirement-Planning. 2.htm). Furthermore, the main pages for each of the five areas essentially create a checklist of related topics and questions. Affinity also offers informative videos. For example, "How to Maximize Your Retirement Readiness" provides a short overview of the website's fice resources, and 'How Big is Your Retirement Shortfall" is a 15-minute presentation that grabs the viewer's attention with some harsh facts about the lack of preparedness by most baby boomers: 46% of workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 56% have not calculated what they will need for retirement. Retirement-related issues discussed include healthcare costs, longevity, inflation, and withdrawal rate risk. The video also describes Affinity's six-step retirement income analysis. Users can access a few fice PDF publications. For example, "12 Key Questions Eveiy Retiree Must Answer" uses a quiz to determine retirement readiness. Another publication, "31 Alarming Statistics for Those Retired or Veiy Close to It," presents the facts from "How Big Is Your Retirement Shortfall" and their source. For example, 35% of Americans over age 65 rely almost entirely on Social Security benefits for their retirement income, according to http://www.altemet.com. Affinity's Learning Center offers articles, newsletters, and calculators sourced by one of the external providers that the next firm reviewed (Compass Wealth) also uses. Hiere are almost 80 short, individual articles grouped under the main categories of cash management, estates and trust, investing, retirement, risk management, and tax planning (http://www.affinityadvantage.com/ research.cfrn). Hie monthly newsletters are presented in webpage format. Hie August lead article, "Will College Pay Off? Big Bills Call for Smart Choices," compares the costs and benefits of a college degree and pursuing an optimal return on investment. More than 30 calculators are available in Affinity's Learning Center, they are organized under cash management, estate planning, loans and credit cards, retirement and inflation, risk management, savings and investing, and taxes and individual retirement accounts (IRA). Compass Wealth The Compass Wealth LLC website (http://www.compasswealthllc.com) provides strategies for encouraging contact by prospective clients. It also offers free access to basic resources in order to answer individuals' tax and financial planning questions. Firm owner Robert Chapman is a CPA/PFS, as well as a certified management accountant (CMA) and an AICPA Personal Financial Planning Division "money doctor," who responds to online questions in the Money Doctor Q&A section. The firm's services include annuities, college savings plans, estate planning, estate conservation insurance, investment management, investment policy development and monitoring, retirement planning, and tax management and planning. The homepage provides background information on the firm and highlights two major areas of the site-Learning Center and Market Watch. An interesting feature is the list of facts at the top of each main page. For example, only 46% of U.S. workers have tried to determine how much they will need to save for retirement (Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2013). Learning Center offers articles in webpage format, calculators, newsletters, videos, a glossary, and a tax library. Articles contain materials for two different areas: capital markets and personal financial planning. The marketfocused articles include commentary, monthly market monitors, and quarterly recaps. "2014 Mid-Year Market Outlook" is particularly interesting; it presents charts and graphs on unemployment, Fed funds option prices, foe Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index, U.S. Treasury yields, and other macroeconomic data (http://www.compasswealthllc.com/ Market-Outlook-Mid-Y ear-2014.c5676 fotm). Financial planning topics include cash management, estates and trusts, investing, retirement, and risk management; "How Can I Better Manage My Short-Term Cash" and "What Key Estate Planning Tools Should I Know About?" are two examples. Videos are brief and focus on financial management. Tax Library houses a nice collection of resources, such as selected individual tax forms and publications and a searchable glossary. A month-by-month list of tax deadlines keeps taxpayers apprised. The best resource is the 2014 individual tax rates by filing status, which is organized in an easy-to-read format (http://www.compasswealthllc.com/ tax_rates.cfm). Market Watch provides viewers with charts and graphs on current market activity. Users can access the most recent detailed data on stock prices, trade volume, and selected ratios for specific companies. A customizable stock chart is also available. The Request a Quote section makes it easy for potential clients to request information on annuities and 401(k) plans. Insurance premium quotes can be obtained for disability income, group health, life, and long-term care. The Bendix Financial Group The Bendix Financial Group is headed by David Bendix, who, in addition to being a CPA/PFS, is also a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Fund Specialist (CFS), and Registered Financial Consultant (RFC). The firm website (http://www.bendixfmancial .com) provides the most investment market data of the three sites reviewed. It also presents an extensive collection of over 140 calculators, including business decisions, cash flow, college, home and mortgage, insurance, investing, retirement, saving, and taxation (http://www.bendixfinancial.com/new/ bendixfinancial/content.asp?contentid= 2017673541). The homepage offers a brief background of the firm, market snapshots and headline news, and links to special topic articles. Of the three websites, Bendix has the most detailed main menu, which indexes the major areas of the site: financial planning, wealth management, insurance planning, corporate benefits, concieige (noninvestment) services, a financial library, and financial market data The Financial Planning section of the site explains financial planning services, the process of financial planning, and the types of information a consultant will need from a client. This section also explains estate planning and typical estate planning services, such as review of current wills and calculating net worth. The final topic addresses the types of education planning services provided. Wealth management covers the investment options that the firm provides, such as equities and mutual funds, retirement planning services, and income tax planning services. The insurance planning area explains the types of products and services available and includes links to obtain premium quotes. Corporate benefits services include establishing 401(k) plans and personal financial counseling for employees. Finally, examples of noninvestment services are budgeting and cash flow analysis, as well as eldercare planning. In addition to general topical content, Bendix provides short articles in two different locations. The first set is accessible from the homepage under "special topics." These educational articles address how the firm can assist the reader in that area, covering "What Is an Investment Advisor" and "Defined Contribution Plans." Longer articles include "Education Planning," which discusses the importance of starting early, funding options, and education tax credits. "Estate Planning" covers wills, living trusts, and durable powers of attorney. The Financial Library presents articles targeted to a more general reader under the subcategories of business owners, economics, investments, and personal finance. Financial Market Data is the site's largest section, found under research in the main menu (http://www.bendixfinancial.com/ new/bendixfinancial/content.asp? contenud=2017673535). It offers the latest updates on market indices, industry sectors, foreign exchange markets and currency exchange rates, and interest rates. For any particular stock, users can obtain detailed current and historical price data, financial news, company profiles, prior-year financial statements, and SEC filings. Susan B. Anders, PhD, CPA, CGMA, is a professor of accounting at St Bonaventure University, St Bonaventure, N.Y. (c) 2014 New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants |