Vanilla

Dec 05, 2024

Print Share

3 All New CE Courses Now Available in Vanilla Academy

The best advisors (and, truthfully, our favorite people) are the curious ones—they dig in, ask questions, and are always learning. They want to bring clients great advice that’s backed by education, experience, and perspective. 

For all the lifelong learners out there, Vanilla is your partner for refreshing, broadening, honing, brushing up, mastering, reviewing, or just dipping your toes into estate planning topics and skills. 

Vanilla Academy launched earlier this year as an estate planning learning hub for advisors who want to up-level their offering and show clients a breadth of expertise, and we’ve just added three additional courses to the catalog. 

The new courses added this month, each worth one hour of CFP® CE credit, include: 

• Navigating the Generation Skipping Transfer Tax
• Revocable Trusts & Sub-Trusts in Estate Planning
• Gifting and Charitable Strategies

Here you’ll find an overview of what each of these free CE courses offers learners using Vanilla Academy. 

Don’t yet have an account? Sign up here. 

New Vanilla Academy Courses Not to Miss

Navigating the Generation Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT)

At the most basic level, the Generation Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT) is a federal tax that applies to transfers of property or wealth that skip a generation. But who, exactly, does this tax apply to, and why does it exist at all?

In this course, planning experts Jenny Raess and Patrick Carlson, members of Vanilla’s Product Counsel, discuss what advisors need to know about the GSTT, how it might affect clients, and how to approach the tax in estate planning.

Learners will watch a series of videos and develop a foundational knowledge of topics like skip persons, portability, taxable terminations, and more. 

Revocable Trusts & Sub-Trusts in Estate Planning

Sub-trusts can provide a range of benefits including creditor protection or protection from divorcing spouses, post-death management of assets, multi-generational legacy creation, and more.

In this session, led by Erica Ellis of Vanilla’s Product Counsel, advisors will learn the key types and components of sub-trusts and how they can be used to address the needs of a client and their particular estate planning goals.

Concepts covered in this course include: 

• What constitutes a sub-trust, and how they work
• How sub-trusts can offer benefits like asset protection, tax planning, and more
• The practicalities of how sub-trusts function in different situations

Learners will come away versed in the common types of sub-trusts including QTIPs, AB trusts, credit shelter trusts, and pot trusts. 

Gifting & Charitable Strategies 

In estate planning, gifting and charitable funds can serve many purposes: not only are they a way to impart assets to beneficiaries like charities and family members, they can also be mechanisms for reducing income and estate taxes for the giver. 

In this course, taught by Dan Blake UI Charitable Advisors and Vanilla Product Counsel’s Patrick Carlson, you’ll learn approaches to charitable giving, non-charitable gifting, Donor Advised Funds, annuities and more that allow clients to meet their tax and planning goals while benefiting their chosen people and causes.

Topics covered in this course include: 

• The different types of charitable strategies, and the benefits of incorporating them in estate planning
• What to know about non-charitable gifting, including annual exclusions, lifetime exemptions, and 529 plans
• How Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) work, and how to incorporate them in an estate planning strategy

Other Vanilla Academy Courses

These three CE courses are just the latest additions to Vanilla Academy’s catalog of educational estate planning content for advisors. Other currently available courses include: 

Estate Planning 101 (2 hours CE)

This introduction to estate planning foundational concepts includes an overview of the roles of advisors and attorneys play in the process. It also covers important considerations for core documents including wills, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and more. We’ll also touch on some advanced estate planning strategies to be aware of.

Basis and Beyond: Estate Planning for Non-Taxable Estates (1 hour CE)

Even for those clients who will never approach the $13.61M threshold for federal estate tax, there are important strategies that will help them better meet their goals and preserve generational wealth. In this course, we’ll cover how to approach basis, capital gains, income tax, and more. In addition to foundational estate planning concepts, we’ll discuss flags you should look for when examining an existing plan or helping craft estate strategies that are relevant for clients without estate tax worries.

Advanced Strategies for Non-Taxable Estates (1.5 hours CE)

Few investment strategies can provide ultra-high-net-worth clients the kind of value that estate tax savings can bring. In this course, we’ll discuss key trust strategies to help clients move money out of their estates and reduce their tax burdens. We’ll delve into the pros and cons of Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, and Qualified Personal Residence Trusts. 

New Client Conversations: How to Engage New Clients with Estate Planning (1 hour CE

In this course, Steve Lockshin, founder of Vanilla and AdvicePeriod as well as an advisor to UHNW clients for more than 30 years, takes you through step-by-step how to engage with new clients and prospects on estate planning.

You’ll learn: 

• Questions that will help you delve more deeply into client goals and values. 
• Different estate planning considerations depending on client net worth.
• Documents to gather and how to spot red flags in existing docs.

In addition to these CE courses, Vanilla Academy features a whole slew of snackable videos featuring tips and tricks for getting the most out of the platform (available to Vanilla Customers only). 

Already have a Vanilla Academy account? Sign in here to dive into these new courses. 

Not registered yet? Create your free account here. 

Happy learning!