Majoring in retirement

Just in time to deal with the inundation of baby boomer retirees, The American College has introduced the retirement income certified professional designation. The designation program, which started accepting enrollments this month, is geared toward financial advisers who want to focus on retirement income planning in their practices, according to Laurence Barton, president and chief executive of The American College. “Over the next 17 years, more than 7,000 people will reach age 65 every day, and many have not saved enough for retirement. Others are concerned about how to convert what savings they do have into reliable streams of retirement income,” Mr. Barton said. “Advisers and company leaders alike were telling us the information offered by the RICP is must-have knowledge to meet these needs and compete in the coming decade,” he said. The American College is the nation's largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services. The three-course credential is designed to help advisers in an area not fully covered in other professional designation curricula. The program will cover such areas as retirement portfolio management techniques, mitigation of plan risk, proper use of annuities, employer-sponsored benefits and determining the best age to claim Social Security. “The RICP curriculum appeals to many key experts in the financial industry, including independent advisers, registered representatives, advisers in banks and insurance professionals,” Mr. Barton said. “We all have a duty to provide investors planning for retirement with sound advice on how to create sustainable income in retirement.” The program's first students are expected to earn designations by March 2013.