PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Although we have not had a program meeting in August, your Leadership Team is quite busy making final preparations for the 5th Annual Educational Symposium on Wednesday, September 19 at McKimmon Center at North Carolina State University. Please check the chapter Web site for registration and program details: http://www.fpatriangle.org/.
Volunteers Corner: In the last Newsletter I failed to thank our student volunteers who assisted us with the logistics at the Half-Day Symposium on July 12. We would like to convey a special thank you to Tom Murphy, Santosh Gaur and Bill Peters for all the assistance given to ensure a successful Half-Day event.
Speaking of volunteers, we are having a change in our Leadership Team. We would like to thank Karen Diamond, our Educational Programs Director, for all of her contributions in arranging interesting and educational programs so far for 2007. Karen has begun a rigorous Global MBA program and will be leaving the Board. We are happy to report that Fred Gunther has accepted the position of Educational Programs Director. Congratulations to both Karen and Fred as they begin to work in their new areas of opportunity.
Member Survey: On July 9 all members received a Chapter survey link. We have received survey responses from 36 members. A brief summary of the results show:
What best describes your place of work?
58% Sole Practitioner (Broker Dealer and/or RIA relationship)
8% Bank
6% Brokerage Firm
3% Large Corporation
How often do you visit www.fpatriangle.org?
53% monthly
17% Never
11% Weekly
How do you prefer receiving meeting announcements – email or mail?
100% email
Would you be willing to pay to help offset food costs at meetings?
78% Yes
22% No
How much would you be willing to pay to help offset food costs?
54% $10
15% $15
15% $20
Choose your 2 most preferred meeting locations
82% Brier Creek
47% Raleigh
27% Cary
15% Durham
Most preferred meeting time?
42% Breakfast
39% Noon lunch
7% Evening dinner
What is the ideal frequency of Chapter educational meetings?
67% Monthly
19% bi-monthly
14% Quarterly
Choose your top 3 areas of interest for future educational seminars
55% Estate planning
55% Retirement
49% Tax
36% Investing
30% Legal
Are you interested in becoming more involved with FPA of the Triangle through volunteering or other forms of support?
44% Yes
56% No
Would you be interested in submitting an article in your area of expertise to the Newsletter?
28% Yes
72% No
Would a Career Day where organized interviews of recent or college students in a financial form of study be of interest?
58% Yes
42% No
We are looking forward to seeing you at the Full Day Educational Symposium on September 19 at NC State University's McKimmon Center. Keynote speaker Natalie Choate will present "Estate & Distribution Planning for Retirement Benefits" and "Making Retirement Benefits Payable to Trusts." Please visit the chapter Web site at www.fpatriangle.org for more information on the full program.
See you on September 19!
Wednesday, September 19
Full-Day Symposium
"Decumulation and Retirement Planning: A Financial Planner's Guide to Funding Boomers' Best Years"
Thursday, October 11
7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. ~ Breakfast and Program
Thursday, November 8
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. ~ Guest and New Member Reception
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. ~ Lunch and Program
LOOKING FOR SPEAKER SUGGESTIONS
Our new Educational Programs Director, Fred Gunther, would love to hear from the chapter membership with any speaker suggestions. Please contact Fred directly at (919) 781-6635 or Fred.Gunther@edwardjones.com.
CAREER CENTER
The FPA of the Triangle Board of Director's unanimously agreed to open our Career Center to non-members in offices that have been affected by the recent subprime fallout. Please pass this information on to anyone that you know. Should you have any thoughts on how else we might help our fellow colleagues - please let us know. Please send any Career Center postings to administrator@fpatriangle.org. We reserve the right to edit as necessary.
FPA NEEDS YOUR HELP WITH CONGRESS
As a concerned FPA member, we urge you to become an active participant in the public policy-making process and help FPA promote competent and ethical financial planning in Washington, D.C. and your state capitol. Please click here (you will need to scroll down to page 8 of the PDF) to fill out and return the Grassroots Form if you have established relationships with legislators or regulators. This is a crucial part of helping FPA influence public policy and can be a rewarding professional activity for you and your chapter. If necessary, you could be contacted to assist the FPA government relations department with special meetings with lawmakers if legislative action is imminent, or to help educate policymakers about the practical aspects of the financial planning process.
FPA POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
FPA-PAC is the only federal political action committee representing the financial planning profession. It helps ensure that financial planners have a seat at the table on all of the important issues affecting our profession – a level playing field for financial planners, helping clients make sense out of a bewildering tax code, and saving more for retirement and education needs. There are four FPA-PAC contribution levels. They are as follows:
- Bronze Level (Less than $200)
- Silver Level ($200 - $499)
- Gold Level ($500 - $999)
- Platinum Level ($1,000 or more)
FOUNDATION FOR FINANCIAL PLANNING
PROGRAM
The Foundation for Financial Planning helps people take control of their financial lives by connecting the financial planning community with people in need. We achieve this by supporting pro bono advice and outreach activities. This is accomplished through grants to organizations that reach out to and extend the benefit of financial planning to all members of the public. Only non-profit organizations are eligible.
GRANT MAKING FOCUS
The Foundation supports initiatives that further its mission. In doing so, the Foundation makes grants to those organizations with programs that utilize financial planning practitioners to raise the public’s awareness of the benefits of the financial planning process by:
- Utilizing financial planning professionals through pro bono activities, or local affiliates of financial planning associations to deliver programs to specific target audiences or the public as a whole;
- Helping the public understand the need for financial planning;
- Demonstrating how objective advice can help improve an individual’s personal finances;
- Providing the knowledge and understanding of the financial planning process to help individuals make smart financial decisions;
- Establishing programs that may enable members of the public at all levels of wealth and income to improve the quality of their lives.
Recently, the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA®) National Financial Planning Support Center has received a $295,000 grant from the Foundation for Financial Planning to support FPA’s pro bono financial planning programs.
The Support Center was founded in 2001 to provide assistance to families affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. It now focuses on providing support to pro bono programs conducted through FPA’s 100 chapters nationwide – serving populations such as low income individuals and families, victims of domestic violence and military personnel affected by service in Iraq and Afghanistan – with the aim of fostering a pro bono culture in the financial planning profession.
“FPA, through this generous grant from the Foundation for Financial Planning, can continue to be the national leader in providing pro bono financial advice to those in need,” said FPA President Nicholas Nicolette, CFP®. “Our chapters all across the country are finding ways to help people who never previously thought about how financial planning could improve their lives.”
“By making this grant possible, the Foundation for Financial Planning hopes the National Financial Planning Support Center can expand its pro bono efforts and bring the benefits of financial planning to segments of the community who need help to rebuild lives too often defined by hardship and struggle,” said Carlos Viera, chairman of the Foundation for Financial Planning.
“The Support Center supports FPA chapter pro bono programs, often in cooperation with partner groups such as Habitat for Humanity, America Saves, the American Red Cross, the Internal Revenue Service and numerous other local organizations.”
