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What is the Certified IRA Professional Program?

Ascensus and the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) have developed a prestigious, nationally recognized certification program exclusively for credit union professionals who have compliance responsibilities for IRAs. The designation, Certified IRA Professional (CIP), is earned by successfully completing an intensive study program and an examination. The initial CIP designation remains valid for three years. To maintain certification, candidates must provide evidence of continuing education in the study of IRAs or successfully complete updated exams. Earning this specialized designation equips credit union professionals to provide extraordinary member service, resulting in increased job satisfaction, recognition, and career advancement opportunities.

The CIP Standards and Practices Commission

The CIP Standards and Practices Commission has the responsibility of setting the ethical standards of certification as well as governing the integrity of the CIP designation. The commission is comprised of distinguished independent leaders in the IRA field who take an active role in reviewing and critiquing the curriculum for the IRA Institute as well as the study materials. The commission is also responsible for determining the courses eligible for continuing education credits and reviewing and assisting with examination questions.

What is the Certified IRA Professional Program?

Ascensus and the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) have developed a prestigious, nationally recognized certification program exclusively for credit union professionals who have compliance responsibilities for IRAs. The designation, Certified IRA Professional (CIP), is earned by successfully completing an intensive study program and an examination. The initial CIP designation remains valid for three years. To maintain certification, candidates must provide evidence of continuing education in the study of IRAs or successfully complete updated exams. Earning this specialized designation equips credit union professionals to provide extraordinary member service, resulting in increased job satisfaction, recognition, and career advancement opportunities.

Who should seek the CIP designation?

The CIP designation is ideal for credit union compliance officers, IRA managers or credit union personnel motivated to advance in the IRA field. The CIP program, created exclusively for credit union employees, is designed to establish a high standard of knowledge and competency that is recognized by the profession and that gives formal recognition to those individuals who meet these standards of experience, ethics, knowledge and performance in the IRA industry.

Why become a Certified IRA Professional? - This is what certification can do for you!

• Earn national recognition as an IRA professional who has achieved the highest standard of expertise and excellence in Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, SEP and SIMPLE IRA retirement services products.
• Increase career advancement opportunities by demonstrating the highest degree of competency in the specific field of IRAs.
• Amass specialized IRA training and understand IRA product capabilities that can lead to optimum service for your IRA holders.
• Understand IRAs from A-Z by gaining knowledge of the critical issues governing IRA program management to better serve your credit union members.
• Improve your job performance through participation in a professional continuing education program that will provide you with the tools to create meaningful retirement programs for your members.
• Participate in an exchange of ideas with IRA professionals across the country when you attend Ascensus IRA Institute and generate a list of future contacts for reference after you return to the office.

Qualifications

To qualify to sit for the CIP examination, candidates are required to meet either of two requirements.

• Have one year minimum of IRA operational and technical experience and be a graduate of the IRA Institute.
• Have a minimum of three years IRA operational and technical experience. (These candidates may use the study materials offered by Ascensus to help prepare for the examination.) The candidate's managing officer must verify qualifications to Ascensus in writing prior to testing.

Study Materials

Ascensus' study materials will assist the candidate in preparation for the examination.

• IRA Reference Service
  The IRA Reference Service contains an analysis of all IRA plan topics from opening documents to beneficiary distributions and the full text of pertinent Internal Revenue Code sections, Treasury Regulations and IRS and DOL pronouncements. The IRA Reference Service is updated twice a year in June and December.
• IRA Compliance and Operations Manual to Institute attendees
  The IRA Compliance and Operations Manula contains the most current operational guidance available on Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP plans and SIMPLE IRAs. This information focuses on the most critical, core IRA compliance areas: documents, withholding and reporting.
• Coverdell Education Savings Accounts Compliance and Operations Manual
  The Coverdell Education Savings Accounts Compliance and Operations Manual targets eligibility, allowable education expenses and other critical issues unique to Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, giving the reader the technical expertise needed for Education Savings Account compliance.
• IRA Fact Book
  The IRA Fact Book contains easy-to-understand, practical answers to everyday Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP plan and SIMPLE IRA questions. Imagine having quick answers to puzzling IRA-related questions!

To order the CIP study materials, please contact a Ascensus sales representative at 800-346-3860. Access to the IRA Compliance and Operations Manual, the Coverdell Education Savings Account Compliance and Operations Manual and the IRA Fact Book will be automatically mailed to the candidate after the update in June if the candidate has registered for the Ascensus IRA Institute.

CIP Examination

The CIP exam tests the areas of IRA core competency set by the CIP Standards and Practices Commission. Although some of the test items are designed to draw on the candidate's experience in the IRA field, a majority of the items can be learned by using the CIP study materials. Accordingly, the candidate must obtain the CIP study materials before applying for the CIP examination. Because the CIP program is intended to represent excellence in the IRA industry, passing the CIP examination is a challenging, yet attainable, endeavor. To be successful, exam candidates must not only know the rules, but also demonstrate their ability to apply the rules in specific scenarios.

When to take the exam

CIP examinations are updated and released twice each year: June and December. It is important to remember that the candidate must have purchased the applicable study materials for each exam release. The exam may be taken on the Saturday following either of the IRA Institutes, or may be proctored at any time at the candidate's credit union or a local library. To apply for the exam, the candidate should call a Ascensus sales representative and request an exam application.

Continuing Education

Once the individual earns the prestigious CIP designation, the next step is to maintain this certification by attending seminars and advanced courses of study that have been approved by the CIP Standards and Practices Commission. The CIP designation remains valid for three years. The Certified IRA Professional may maintain certification by completing 24 hours of continuing education every three years at qualifing seminars (approved by the CIP Standards and Practices Commission). The CIP designation may also be maintained by successfully completing updated examinations.

All Ascensus IRA courses are approved for CIP continuing education. Please contact a Ascensus sales representative for information regarding qualified courses offered through other vendors.

The Ascensus IRA Institute

The IRA Institute is the most comprehensive IRA training program yet. Spanning five days, it integrates objectives-based training methods including practical applications of the rules and peer discussions to create the ideal learning environment. A team of experienced instructors combine classroom discussions, case study analysis and industry-specific breakout sessions to address the challenging issues associated with Traditional and Roth IRAs. Detailed overviews of SEP and SIMPLE IRAs and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts are also provided to help round out the attendee's knowledge base. Ascensus' IRA Institute is an ideal preparatory program for attendees pursuing the CIP designation.

Institute Benefits

After attending the IRA Institute, the attendee will have

• acquired in-depth, up-to-the-minute knowledge about IRAs that will lead to better service for members,
• improved retention of IRA rules through focused, highly interactive learning sessions,
• interacted with leading IRA professionals from financial organizations nationwide, creating a new network of professional contacts,
• applied the many recent changes to IRAs brought about by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) and the new required minimum distribution rules, and
• practiced reporting for many different types of IRA transactions

Who Should Attend?

You should attend the Ascensus IRA Institute if you are

• responsible for IRA compliance and/or operations at your organization,
• an IRA service professional seeking to learn more about IRAs to enhance your career advancement opportunities,
• an IRA manager or professional interested in pursuing your CIP designation,
• an IRA manager, vice president, administrator, or operations manager,
• an employee benefits professional, or
• anyone needing CIP continuing education credits.

IRA Institute Topics

• Foundation of IRAs
• IRA Authoritative Hierarchy - how the rules are made and changed
• Traditional IRAs
• Plan Establishment
• Contributions
• Excess Contributions
• Rollovers and Transfers
• Distributions/Withholding
• Required Minimum Distributions
• Reporting Responsibilities
• New Amendment Issues
• Roth IRAs
• Plan Establishment
• Contributions
• Rollovers and Transfers
• Recharacterizations & Conversions
• Distributions/Withholding
• Beneficiary Options
• Basic IRA Estate Planning Issues
• IRA Reporting
• Traditional/Roth IRA Comparison
• SEP Plans
• SIMPLE IRA Plans
• IRA Marketing
• Coverdell Education Savings Accounts

About Ascensus and NAFCU

Ascensus

Ascensus is the industry's leading provider of retirement plan services, providing plan administration services to approximately 15,000 retirement plans and supporting more than 1.3 million participants. Ascensus supports more than four million IRA holders, 400,000 employers with plan document and various ancillary support services, and trains more than 12,000 industry professionals annually. Financial services and investment management companies are efficiently supporting retirement plan sponsors, participants and IRA holders; increasing sales; and managing plan-related costs with Ascensus' technology-based solutions. These customized, turnkey services include prototype plan design and maintenance, plan administration, forms and documents, customized marketing and sales support, reference resources, training and development and web-based planning tools and content.

Our educational programs deliver a comprehensive curriculum that results in a practical understanding of the rules and operational issues. Over 12,000 retirement plan professionals attend our programs each year. Overwhelmingly, they cite the quality of the instructors and the educational presentations as the most valued benefit of their learning experience. They consistently comment that our instructors are "outstanding," "extremely knowledgeable," and "entertaining."

In addition, when you attend our programs, you have the opportunity to interact with educators who also conduct the research on challenging retirement plan issues, work intensively every day with the retirement plan rules, and bring broad and practical experiences to their presentations.

NAFCU

NAFCU is committed to offering training and professional development opportunities to credit unions, as evidenced by its Compliance Certification Program and its endorsement with Ascensus of the CIP program.

"As a NAFCU Certified Compliance Officer, I appreciate the importance of certification — it lends credibility to both you and your program, and demonstrates to regulators that your credit union is committed to consumer compliance."

Call a Ascensus Client Representative today at (800) 346-3860 for more information about the CIP program, or e-mail customersupport@ascensus.com

Start down the path toward your CIP designation today!

For additional information on certification e-mail: customersupport@ascensus.com