Public Speaking
As one who loves to give back to its own profession and industry, Ron is a Certified Financial Educator. He provides the following Educational workshops to financial professionals who may need CPE or CE credits:
*(These presentations do not qualify for MCLE credits. Should you have this need contact Ron Duswalt directly at 516- 394-2514)
Special Needs Planning: Caring and Providing for Your Loved One with Special Needs
Taking Control of Your Financial Future- Medical Professionals
Presentation for medical professionals introduces the need for financial planning, as well as highlights the capabilities of a financial profession
Annuity Applications in Today’s Marketplace - 2 hours
Annuities are misunderstood and misused. When properly designed to match the needs of the individual, they have many advantages. This course examines the options from deferred to immediate and from fixed to variable and how each one has advantages that are best customized to meet the needs of the individual.
Coordinating Ownership and Beneficiary Designations in the Estate Plan – 1 hour CPE only
Estate planning involves the use of many tools to effectuate the transfer of wealth to heirs. However, many assets will not be distributed according to an individuals Will, living trust, or intestacy laws - but instead according to asset titling and contractual designations, including:
A. Individual and group life insurance
B. Pensions, profit sharing plans and IRAs
C. Non-qualified annuities
D. Brokerage accounts
E. Deeds or accounts specifying ownership as joint tenants with right of survivorship or by the entireties
F. Accounts with payable on death or transfer on death designations.
Deferred Compensation Plans: Retaining and Rewarding Key Employees – 1 hour ****
Key employees (higher income earners) face increased challenges related to their ability to save for retirement through traditional ERISA qualified plans. This challenge coupled with the recent increases in income tax rates is making alternative retirement savings options, such as nonqualified deferred compensation plans, more attractive for key employees. This course will discuss the role that life insurance may play in informally funding a nonqualified deferred compensation plan for highly compensated employees. Specifically, the course will review: advantages and consideration for the employer and the employee; technical requirements, tax treatment; types of plans; and financing these plans.
Dynasty Trusts: The Gift That Keeps on Giving – 1 hour *****
A Dynasty Trust is a popular estate planning strategy often used by wealthy individuals to maintain assets in trust for the benefit of multiple generations without imposing any transfer taxes such as gift, estate or generation skipping taxes. This course will review the federal generation skipping transfer tax and the application of this tax, including exceptions to the tax, computation of the tax and liability of payments. The course will also review dynasty trust requirements and the benefits of funding these trusts with life insurance on the life of the grantor and one more of the trust beneficiaries to provide significant legacy to multiple generations.
Effective Planning with Annuities-The Tax Considerations - 2 hours
This presentation will survey common issues and considerations centered on the use of annuities in estate and trust planning, retirement and selective benefits planning, business succession planning, and charitable planning. Presentation will emphasize annuity income taxation and wealth transfer taxation as well as effective planning to avoid common tax traps and other pitfalls.
Effective Planning with Life Insurance – Minding the Tax Traps and Pitfalls! - 1 hour ****
Effective Planning with life insurance should preserve the unique tax benefits afforded to policy owners and beneficiaries. This presentation will focus on common tax issues and considerations relating to the use and promotion of life insurance in estate, trust and wealth transfer planning, retirement and selective employee benefits planning, business succession planning, and charitable planning. The discussion will feature case study format to illustrate effective planning to identify, avoid (or remediate) common planning mistakes and oversights, with the objective of preparing the insurance advisor to deliver enhanced value to client relationships.
Effective Planning with Life Insurance – The Tax Considerations – 2 hours
This presentation will survey common issues and considerations centered on the use of life insurance in estate and trust planning, retirement and selective benefits planning, business succession planning, and charitable planning. Presentation will emphasize life insurance income taxation and wealth transfer taxation as well as effective planning to avoid common tax traps and other pitfalls.
Estate Planning for IRA’s – 2 hours
This presentation will survey common issues and considerations centered on the IRA, or IRA rollover, in the estate plan, including beneficiary choices, the use of testamentary trusts, disclaimers, and charitable bequests. Presentation will emphasize income taxation and wealth transfer taxation and effective planning to defer or mitigate tax.
Estate Planning for Today’s Modern Family – 2 hours
This course will discuss various estate planning strategies available to today’s modern family including second marriages, traditional families, and same sex couples through a case study approach. Specifically, the course will discuss: the use of the marital deduction from a tax planning perspective for both United States citizen and non citizen spouses to reduce federal and state estate taxes; the use of qualified disclaimers; the estate tax impact of recent law changes for same sex couples; the tax consequences of choosing beneficiaries of life insurance and retirement assets, and IRAs; and advantages and disadvantages of trust, the proper ownership of life insurance to avoid estate taxation and provide for family members.
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts and Alternative Strategies - 1 hour
The course discusses the concept of estate liquidity generally, the benefits of using life insurance to provide estate liquidity, and the structure, operation, and characteristics of irrevocable life insurance trust. The course explains conventional irrevocable insurance trusts, and also outlines several variations that can be used to accomplish specific planning objectives. It also discusses various techniques for dealing with existing insurance trusts and alternatives for funding insurance trusts.
Life Matters – Debunking the Myths of Life Insurance – 1 hour CPE ONLY
Presentation will examine some of the myths about life insurance. We will quickly review the evolution of life products and move into a discussion on how much coverage one should own. From there we will address the theories that term insurance is the cheapest form of life insurance to own and the theory of “Buy term and invest the difference”. From there we move into a discussion about permanent life insurance and specifically whole life insurance. Many report that whole life is too expensive and a “bad investment”. We review the high level benefits of whole life and then compare it to purchasing a guaranteed universal life policy. In this comparison we examine what the difference in premium would need to be in the market to exceed the values of the whole life policy. The last myth we address is the one that states we don’t need life insurance at retirement. This section reviews how owning permanent death benefit allows for the use of more flexible distribution strategies at retirement.
PASS - Partnership Administration Succession Strategy – 1 hour
This course is designed to explore some of the strategies use by business owners to ensure that their family, lifestyle, and business are protected in the event of a death, retirement, disability or separation.
PASS and PASS Plus – 2 hours (Delaware and Hawaii 1 hour)
The PASS approach to buy-sell funding provides an important planning concept for financial advisors who work with business clients contemplating the purchase of insurance to fund their business disposition arrangements. The PASS approach provides certain tax and non-tax advantages over the more commonly used ‘entity purchase plan” and the “cross-purchase plan.”
Post ATRA Playbook – Planning Opportunities for 2013 and Beyond – 2 hours
Overview of the 2012 American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) and impact on federal estate, gift, GST, income and capital gains taxes. Discussion of emerging opportunities for retirement and compensation planning, estate and trust planning, business planning and charitable planning -featuring the roles of cash value life insurance, tax deferred and immediate annuities. Emphasis on how income tax planning will become increasingly important for all taxpayers, and why wealth transfer tax planning will remain important for higher net worth individuals. This presentation includes suggestions for reviewing existing plans to determine the impact from ATRA and how to identify new planning and sales opportunities.
Social Security Retirement Benefits: Advanced Couples Strategies – 1 hour ****
Take a deep dive into couple strategies for Social Security retirement benefits. This course assumes a fundamental understanding of rules for married couples. Learn how to coordinate benefits, when and how to file and suspend versus file restricted, collect spousal benefits and the combination strategy. This session will also provide information on how Social Security is funded, the future of the system, how to file for benefits and when to withdraw benefits if filed early. Case studies will be illustrated.
Social Security Retirement Benefits: The Foundation – 1 hour ****
Ten thousand baby boomers are retiring every day. Their initial reaction is to immediately file for Social Security retirement benefits. This decision will impact their retirement income permanently. The discussion will include an overview of the Social Security program including how benefits are calculated and taxed, insights on longevity, rules for divorce, widow/widowers, singles and married couples and how to file.
Success Over Survival – CPE only
Many CPAs know that proper business planning can make the difference between just surviving and true success. 5 seminar options under this topic:
- Success Over Survival – 2 hours
This is an overview of the entire workshop. - Retirement Planning – 1hour
Most business owners tend to put all of their money back into their business. Relying on the business to be the sole source of retirement income is like putting all of your eggs in one basket. There are a variety of retirement planning options that can help. - Estate Planning – 1 hour
Estate planning is not only for the very wealthy. It is especially important for business owner since a significant portion of their estate is tied up in the business. - Key Employee Planning – 1 hour
Offer your best employees benefits designed to motivate, reward and retain them for the long term. - Succession Planning – 1 hour
What happens to your business when you are no longer there? Proper planning ensures when the time is right, or if the unexpected happens, you can leave your company on your terms.
Survivorship Standby Trusts: An ILIT Alternative – 1 hour
The course is designed to explain the concept of estate liquidity and the potential sources of cash at death, highlight survivorship life insurance as a cost-effective and tax-efficient source of cash at death, and outline the structure and operation of the survivorship standby trust as an alternative planning strategy to a traditional irrevocable life insurance trust that minimizes federal gift, estate, and income taxes while preserving lifetime control and flexibility.
To Err is Human: Common Estate Planning Mistakes – 2 hours
This course will review common planning mistakes that are frequently made by individuals while accumulating assets during their lifetime and planning for the distribution of assets upon death.
Specifically, the course will discuss the overuse of the marital deduction from a tax planning perspective; the tax consequences of not considering the impact of state estate taxes; pitfalls when choosing beneficiaries of life insurance, annuities, qualified plans, and IRAs; the income and estate tax issues resulting from owning assets jointly with another individual; the estate and income tax consequences of life insurance ownership; and the advantages and disadvantages of trusts.
Ronald Duswalt of Old Castle Financial is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.learningmarket.org.
