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Copyright © 2008 ACSFP
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All Rights
Reserved
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Here are a list of the most frequently asked questions, with answers, that the
ACSFP-Association of Chartered Senior Financial Planners receives:
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Why become an ACSFP Member?
(Association of Chartered Senior Financial Planners)
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Initial and Ongoing Education: Being an ACSFP Member will provide
you with the initial and ongoing education so you can be up-to-date
on all the latest strategies in the areas of Retirement Planning
and Asset Protection.
Classroom Review-Training and CE Continuing Education Credits: The
classroom learning experience combined with our online tools, training,
and information available through the ACSFP and this website, makes the
ACSFP and the CSFP-Chartered Senior Financial Planner designation
unparalleled in the industry. Having our certificate of completion on
your office wall, as well as advertising that you are an ACSFP Member
is a sign to all your clients, potential or existing, that you will be
able to properly guide them with their Asset Protection, Insurance, and
Advanced Retirement Planning strategies. All of our 3-day classroom
review courses get submitted for approval to the State Department of
Insurance that they are being held in, and in many states, can earn in
excess of 20 hours of CE credits. There is no extra charge to you other
than your initial sign up fee, which can vary by state. For Example: Our
three day review course has been previously approved or is currently
approved by many State Departments of Insurances for CE credits, as well
as the CFP Board: CFP Board (24 hrs), CA (25 hrs), CO (24 hrs), FL
(24 hrs), GA (24 hrs), IA (24 hrs), ID (19 hrs), IL (24 hrs), KS (12 hrs),
LA (24 hrs), MO (24 hrs), MS (24 hrs), NV (24 hrs), OK (16 hrs), TX
(22 hrs), WI (24 hrs).
ACSFP Website, Quarterly News Bulletins, and Home Office Support: In addition
to the clout associated with being an ACSFP Member, all active members receive
a Login and Password for this website. You will also receive the ACSFP
quarterly news bulletins, containing current information, new tax laws,
relevant legal cases, new and innovative industry products, and general
strategies recommended by the ACSFP in the areas of Insurance, Asset
Protection, and Advanced Retirement Planning. ACSFP members can always call
our toll free number (866/94-ACSFP) or email the ACSFP Board to get difficult
questions answered involving retirement planning, insurance, and asset
protection, from industry leading experts.
Index Blaster: All active ACSFP Members and their clients have access to
Index Blaster. There is no extra charge to our members and there is no charge
to their clients. Index Blaster is a database solution, developed in house by
the ACSFP that shows calculations of past performances for the following US
Indices: DJIA, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000 and the S&P 400 MidCap, and the
DOW Euro. Index Blaster also allows you or your clients to generate reports on
past index performances or how long premiums or investment funds will last at
certain projected interest rates, as well as many other functions. Once logged
in to Index Blaster, ACSFP members and/or their clients have access to information
that is not available to the general public.
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What is Advanced Retirement
Planning?
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Advanced Retirement Planning is the utilization of market
and fixed investments, insurance, wills, and trusts, to meet your individual client's needs
and goals. In addition, it is the ability to properly determine each individual client's
"tolerance for risk", a topic discussed in detail throughout our study manual as well as in
the 3-day classroom review course. Tolerance for risk takes into account many factors,
such as age, net worth, goals, and health.
An example where many people suffered from not properly
using Advanced Retirement Planning strategies was 2000-2002, and then again during 2008,
when the market tanked. During 1995-1999, many people, including seniors became over
dependent on the high returns from the market. Then came 2000-2002 and 2008, the
"Bust-Period", where these people lost billions of their hard earned savings and
retirement dollars. Unfortunately, many people had too much of their savings and
retirement dollars invested in variable investments only. Some may never regain all of
their losses. Large sums were lost because many received incorrect financial advice from
people who didn't even utilize the most basic principle in Advanced Retirement Planning,
"tolerance for risk."
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Why is there a need for Asset
Protection?
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Many people who own property and
have assets are concerned about bypassing probate and protecting their
assets and property from motor vehicle accidents, personal injuries
occurring on their property, lawsuits, con-artists, dishonest relatives,
business liabilities, malpractice claims, and the many other liabilities
that exist today. Seniors are especially vulnerable to these potential
asset draining misfortunes, and need to take extra precautions and plan
differently than younger people who are still working. Many seniors are
also concerned about the Medicaid "Spend-down" rule. Our classroom
course will teach you about these problems and their logical solutions.
Being an ACSFP Member means you have been trained to correctly steer your
clients in the right direction so they can protect their assets from the
many hazards that exist today.
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What are the Continuing Educational (CE) Requirements to maintain your ACSFP Membership?
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Unlike other organizations, the ACSFP is an educational organization
and is only available to licensed Life-Health Insurance Agents and also Security Reps. In order for
an ACSFP member to continue to be an active ACSFP Member, they must maintain their License, be in good
standing with the ACSFP Board, and provide proof that they have completed at least 20 hours of CE every
two years. All CE Courses must be approved by a State Department of Insurance and cannot be the same course every
two years.
The ACSFP Board requires that every ACSFP member submit a current copy of their resident insurance and/or
security license, showing the license expiration date, in order to renew their ACSFP Membership.
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How long has the ACSFP been in existence?
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The ACSFP became official on June 23rd,
2003. However, the planning and development of the entire course and other
tools, which consisted of writing the ACSFP study manual and final exam,
preparing all of the training materials provided to our members, the
creation of the classroom Power Point presentations, Index Blaster, our
website, and getting the class approved for Continuing Education (CE)
credits started in September of 2000. Stewart Davidson, President of the
ACSFP Board, has been in the Insurance Industry for over 37 years, and has
been teaching and training licensed Insurance Agents and Security Reps in
Advanced Retirement Planning and Asset Protection for over 14 years.
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Is the ACSFP a Senior Citizen Organization?
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No, the ACSFP is an Educational Organization. The use of the word ?Senior? in
ACSFP-Chartered Senior Financial Planners does not mean that the ACSFP is a senior
citizen organization, nor does it mean our members target ?senior citizens.? As
our webpage, course content and printed materials, including our code of ethics
show, we do not target senior citizens, nor does the ACSFP teach a curriculum
specific to senior citizens. The use of the word ?Senior? implies that our members
have been educated in more advanced retirement planning, insurance and security
products, as well as asset protection strategies, not the age of a target client
base. Our beautiful brochure entitled: ?Why I Became an ACSFP Member? which every
ACSFP Member agrees to give every prospect or client, also substantiates this fact.
For a free copy of this brochure, please contact us by email at
info@acsfp.com or by calling us toll free at 866/94-ACSFP, or by fax: (303) 379-6483.
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Does the ACSFP provide Private Classes?
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Yes. We have performed private classes
all of the country for large insurance and/or security rep agencies, and
other insurance related organizations. These are organizations that
usually have a captive in-house sales force and want to make sure their
agents/reps, are properly trained in all areas that our course outline
teaches. We normally require a minimum of 30 agents/reps, and that the
employers pay all related costs.
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Does the ACSFP accept Corporate Sponsorship?
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The ACSFP-Association of Chartered Senior Financial Planners is an Education
Organization not a marketing company. Therefore, because of state rules and/or
laws that many states have developed regarding being associated with an
organization like the ACSFR Board, and to make sure that we remain an
educational organization, never to be confused as a marketing organization,
the answer is usually no. However, if an insurance company or other related
organization desires to apply to the ACSFP Board to be a corporate sponsor, we
would submit their request to that particular State Department of Insurance
and/or SEC Board, to make sure all contractual agreements did not put the ACSFP
in any category other than an educational organization. In the past, when we
accepted a corporate sponsor, it greatly reduced the initial, which all enrollees
appreciated. All requests should be submitted to the ACSFP Board for prior approval.
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Can anyone file a complaint against an ACSFP Member?
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Yes. Since our inception, our website allows any consumer,
insurance company, or anyone else, to file a complaint against an ACSFP
Member. Our webpage has a specific section dedicated to filing complaints.
All complaints are fully investigated and if any ACSFP member is found to
be in violation of the strict code of ethics they have agreed to, then
they will be terminated with cause and reported to the proper authority or
authorities. In the unlikely event we had to terminate an ACSFP Member for
cause, they would also lose all rights associated with being an ACSFP
Member. As of 1-2009, no ACSFP Member has ever been terminated for cause
and we have had thousands of insurance agents and security reps, which might
also be Attorneys, CPA?s, Bankers, and Home Office Employees sign up for
our course.
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