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CFP Course Notes #2: Common Examples of Negligence by Financial Advisors

In keeping with my goal of finishing one course per month from the University of Georgia Self-Paced CFP education program, I wrapped up the first course “Fundamentals of Financial Planning” in February (barely). Here were the topics covered (source):

  • The Personal Financial Planning Process
  • Economic Concepts and Consumer Protection Laws
  • Personal Financial Statements
  • Managing Cash Flow and Debt
  • Using the HP-12C Calculator
  • Using the HP-10bII Calculator
  • Educational Savings Techniques
  • Educational Aid and Funding Calculation
  • Regulation of Financial Planners
  • CFP Board Regulatory Requirements

I previously covered the official 7-Step Financial Planning Process in Notes #1, which was enlightening. I ended up spending the most time overall on the HP-12C calculator section, as it took several reps to learn and memorize how to use all of the specialized buttons for the financial calculator.

I personally didn’t learn much new in the Educational Savings and Aid sections, given my previous research as a parent and owner of multiple 529 plans. It did provide a good generic overview for those that haven’t gone down that rabbit hole.

In terms of new practical information, I again found it helpful when they showed me the perspective of practicing advisors. The course wisely warns potential CFPs of the most common mistakes that have resulted in negligence lawsuits…

  • Failure to address risk of disability.
  • Failure to address risk of property loss and attached liability.
  • Failure to timely process a client’s deposit check, resulting in the loss of potential investment gains.
  • Recommending unsuitable investments.
  • Recommending only those products which result in high fees to the planner.
  • Failure to adequately educate the client regarding investment risks, costs, and benefits.
  • Charging fees that were not first disclosed and agreed upon with the client.
  • Failure to monitor investments on the schedule agreed upon in the engagement letter.

In turn, these items can be flipped to create a checklist for the individual client:

  • Do you have adequate disability insurance?
  • Do you have adequate homeowners/rental/landlord insurance, car/boat/vehicle insurance, umbrella liability insurance?
  • After sending in money, did you follow-up to confirm that your funds were deposited and invested as promised?
  • Do you feel that you fully understand the investments made on your behalf? Do you understand why they are better than other alternatives?
  • Did you receive a clear list of all the fees charged?
  • Are you receiving updates that your investments being monitored as promised?

Photo by Reba Spike on Unsplash

Wyndham Rewards Earner Cards: Up to 100,000 Bonus Points

Updated with limited-time offers. The Wyndham Rewards Earner credit cards currently all have increased bonuses of 75,000 to 100,000 points. They are supposed to be the best ever for this hotel-chain co-branded card, with points redeemable towards the Wyndham chain of hotels and Vacasa-managed vacation home rentals.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Card highlights:

  • 75,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 6 months.
  • 5X points per $1 spent on Hotels by Wyndham and qualifying gas purchases.
  • 2X points per $1 spent on dining and grocery store purchases (excluding Target® and Walmart®).
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resort down payments).
  • Automatic upgrade to Wyndham Rewards Gold status.
  • 10% fewer Wyndham Rewards points required for go free® awards.
  • 7,500 bonus points each anniversary year if you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases.
  • No annual fee.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card highlights:

  • 100,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 6 months.
  • 6X points per $1 spent on Hotels by Wyndham and gas purchasess.
  • 4X points per $1 spent on dining and grocery store purchases (excluding Target and Walmart).
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resort down payments).
  • Automatic upgrade to Wyndham Rewards Platinum status.
  • 10% fewer Wyndham Rewards points required for go free® awards.
  • 7,500 bonus points each anniversary year after annual fee renewal.
  • $75 annual fee.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card highlights:

  • 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days and an additional 50,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on purchases within the first 12 months.
  • 8X points per $1 spent on Hotels by Wyndham and gas purchasess.
  • 5X points per $1 spent on eligible marketing, advertising, and utilities purchases.
  • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resort down payments).
  • Automatic upgrade to Wyndham Rewards Diamond status.
  • 10% fewer Wyndham Rewards points required for go free® awards.
  • 15,000 bonus points each anniversary year after annual fee renewal.
  • $95 annual fee.

Wyndham hotels have a relatively simple system that charges 7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 points for a “Go Free” award hotel night with no blackout dates (as long as a standard room is available for cash, you can book it with points). You can also redeem toward a discounted “Go Fast” cash and points rate. Resort fees may apply and cannot be paid with points. Note that when you have one of these credit cards, you get a 10% discount, so for example the 15,000 points tier would be actually be reduced down to 13,500 points.

You can also use the points for Vacasa vacation home rentals (like Airbnb or VRBO). Starting 3/26/24, it will cost 15,000 points per bedroom per night if the cash cost is up to $250/bedroom/night, or 30,000 points per bedroom per night if the cash cost is up to $500/bedroom/night. Details here and here. You can search for the place you want online at Vacasa.com, but you must call 800-441-1034 to book.

Wyndham points expiration – Important!

  • Wyndham Rewards points will expire if you have no activity on your account for a period of 18 months.
  • In addition, all Wyndham Rewards points expire 4 years after being earned — regardless of account activity.

From the official Terms & Conditions:

Except as may otherwise be required under applicable law, Wyndham Rewards points expire four (4) years after the checkout date of the stay for which the applicable points are posted to the Member’s account (the “Four Year Rule”), unless the points are forfeited or cancelled earlier due to membership inactivity (as more particularly described below), or otherwise in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. All accrued points in a Member’s Wyndham Rewards account may be cancelled or forfeited if the Member has no Account Activity (as defined below) for a period of approximately, but never less than, eighteen (18) consecutive months. For purposes of these Terms and Conditions, “Account Activity” means any (i) point earning, (ii) stay posted to a Member’s Wyndham Rewards account, regardless of whether or not such stay earns Wyndham Rewards points, and (iii) redemption or transfer activity involving a change in the Member’s Wyndham Rewards point balance, in each case, conducted in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

For example, earning points via this credit card will only reset the 18-month inactivity clock. Look for the exact date in your online account page.

Wyndham Rewards includes over 9,000 hotels worldwide – from Days Inn motels to Wyndham Grand hotels. You can use this link to filter locations easily by country, state, and/or point level. Participating hotel chains include:

  • AmericInn by Wyndham®
  • Dolce Hotels and Resorts® by Wyndham
  • Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham®
  • Howard Johnson by Wyndham®
  • La Quinta by Wyndham®
  • Ramada by Wyndham®
  • Days Inn by Wyndham®
  • Super 8 by Wyndham®
  • Travelodge by Wyndham®
  • Wingate by Wyndham®
  • Wyndham Grand®
  • Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®
  • Wyndham Garden®

Depending on the hotel, you might get over 1 cent per point value (i.e. $300 cash hotel night for 30,000 points), but you might also get closer to 0.5 cent per point value (i.e. a $75 hotel night might require 15,000 points).

Bottom line. The Wyndham Rewards Earner credit cards all have limited-time bonuses. Used at the lowest tier, you could get 10 free nights for 75,000 points. However, know that you must redeem the points within 4 years at the longest, even with regular account activity. This chain isn’t of one of the big ones (I don’t think I’ve stayed at a Wyndham property in the last decade), but this card has good value potential during a limited-time offer.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers and Top 10 Best Business Card Offers.

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