The CFP Board has issued new guidelines when it comes to retaking the exam.  Effective January 2012, you may only take the exam a total of five times in your life with an exception for those who have previously taken the exam four or more times.  We have created the following table to illustrate how many times you may take the exam based on the number of times you previously sat for the exam.

In addition, individuals may attempt the exam a maximum of three times within a 24 month period.  If an individual attempts the exam on three successive administrations, a one year sit-out period is required before registering for another attempt.

If you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 877-426-2373 or read the release from the CFP Board here: 

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Fortunately this year is not like the last.  In mid-December 2010 Congress passed a new set of tax laws, which extended the Bush Tax cuts for two additional years—through 2012.  They also snuck in a payroll tax cut for 2011 only.  Talk about waiting till the last minute.

The downside with this year is the debate about extending the payroll tax cut for 2012.  Congress finally figured out what it wanted to do, sort of, and passed a 2-month extension to the payroll tax cut.  Therefore, the Old Age, Survivor, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) payroll tax for employees continues to be 4.2% for January and February.  The employer piece is still 6.2% so the total rate is 10.4% for self-employed individuals.  The Medicare rate stays the same at 1.45% for the employee and employer or 2.9% for self-employed individuals.

Since this is a partial year extension Congress did not want the high-income individuals to shift income or recognize more than the annualized OASDI threshold ($110,100 for 2012) in the first two months.  Therefore, any individual recognizing more than $18,350 during the first two months of 2012 will recognize a 2% surtax when filing their income tax return by April 2013.  This provision may be adjusted if Congress decides to extend the payroll tax cut for the entire year.

Other changes are primarily due to inflation adjustments.  Qualified retirement savings plans allow for deferrals up to $17,000 with a $5,500 catch-up contribution.  Total contributions are now $50,000 with the $5,500 catch-up contribution.  IRA contributions remain the same at $5,000 with a $1,000 catch-up.

From a tax return perspective, personal and dependency exemptions increased to $3,800, standard deductions are up $300 for married couples filing jointly or $150 for single individuals, investment taxes stayed the same, education credits stayed the same but the lifetime learning credit phase-out was increased $2,000 for married couples and $1,000 for single individuals, and the gift and estate exclusion amount increased $120,000 to $5,120,000 per person and is still portable through the end of the year.

This will be an exciting year here at Dalton Education.  Join us!

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What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Do you make goals that you can reach, and most importantly, keep throughout 2012?  What about goals that you can complete in less than a year? Do you want to lose weight, give to a charity, or further your education & career?

With Dalton Education, you can further your education, and potentially your career, within a year. Both our Live Online & Self-Study programs are designed to be completed nine months from the time you begin your classes. With a good study schedule, and setting goals throughout the year, you’ll be sure to cross this one off your resolution list forever!

Enrolling is just a phone call away. We would love to help you decide which program is right for you, just call and ask!

Happy Holidays!

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Many people spend their entire professional life focusing on the prevention of failure. It is almost natural to prevent failing at all costs. As a member of society we are conditioned that failure is the opposite of success. For example, when we “fail” a test, when we “fail” at relationships, when a team “fails” to perform during competition, these are all viewed as the polar opposite of being a success. However, I would argue that failure is not the opposite of success. Failure and success are very closely related. To a certain extent, you cannot fully appreciate success without your share of failures.  If one has learned through failure, than that experience is transformed in to an intellectual success.

The true assassin of a success is Complacent Conformity.  According to Harvard psychologist Herbert Kelman, there are two types of conformity. The first is informational conformity; Informational social influence transpires when one turns to the participants of one's group to acquire accurate information.  The second type of conformity is normative conformity. Normative conformity happens when one conforms to be adored or accepted by the participants of the group. Economists have suggested that whims and movements in culture forms as the consequence of individuals making lucid choices based on evidence received from others. These informational waterfalls form rapidly as individuals choose to discount their inner signals and go along with what other people are doing. For example, the housing bubble:  when everyone was convinced the way to secure wealth was through real estate.

Consider the most successful people in America today. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, refused to conform to social standards and disrupted an entire market. Tony Shea, CEO of Zappos (the largest online shoe store), took selling a tangible product that everyone thought was impossible to sell in an online environment and made a 1.2 billion dollar company. Look at the successful people in your life and you will soon discover that they are non-conformists. Maybe that person lies deep within you.

Conformity happens often in the workplace. For example, a person that does not want to work too hard because they are scared they might work themselves out of a job. Another example would be a person who does not want to develop their professional skills and education because their colleagues lack the drive of pursuit. Even if you are successful in your current position, what got you there is not going to keep you there! Develop your skills, education and experience.  Do not be complacent! Strive for more. The clock is ticking and we are only blessed with a set amount of time in this life, MAKE THE BEST OF IT! Do more, want more, SUCCEED! Thomas Edison said it best “We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.”

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As we head into the season of making shopping and gift lists, take a minute to look at the other lists in your life. Are there things missing? Are there “someday/maybe” items or just items you know you will accomplish.

Does your list have all the things you could be doing except the one thing you really want to do? Have you wanted to put “become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™” on that list but are hesitant to do so?

Our mission at Dalton Education is to help you achieve that goal. We have helped thousands of financial professionals earn the CFP® Certification marks. Whether you need to fulfill the education requirement or prepare for the exam with a review course, we are here to help you.

The founders of Dalton Education have developed, implemented and managed some of the premier CFP® education programs in the country.  Some of our partner universities include NYU, Northwestern, UCLA, and Wake Forest just to name a few.

Dalton Education has a long history of providing high quality curriculum and instruction, which has consistently led to the highest CFP® exam pass rates in the country.  Over 90% of Dalton Education students ultimately become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.  

Dalton Education also offers The Dalton Review® which is the #1 CFP® review course for the CFP® examination.  The review course was developed by former members of the CFP Board of Examiners.  No other review course is as comprehensive and exam focused as The Dalton Review® for the CFP® exam.

If you have been pondering adding the CFP designation to your list, give us a call at 877-426-2373 so we can help make it easier for you.

Enjoy your holidays and hopefully attacking those lists will be a lot easier than you think!

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