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CCHÒ Solutionsä For Financial Planning Provides Expert Insight, Practice Tools On The Internet

Expert Guidance for New, Experienced Professional Planners

(RIVERWOODS, ILL., February 9, 2000) – Financial planners, accountants, attorneys and other professionals who wish to expand into or bring greater depth to their financial planning practices now have an authoritative Internet resource for a theoretical grounding in the field, as well as real-world insights and practice tools. Now available from CCH INCORPORATED (CCH), a leading provider of tax and business law information and software, CCH Solutions for Financial Planning (http://planning.cch.com) is a valuable series of practice-focused treatments of essential topics in the areas of estate, investment, insurance and retirement planning, all authored by expert practitioners.

The primary emphasis of CCH Solutions is on practical observations – cautions and comments to help practitioners better serve their clients – provided by some of the most respected and notable professionals in financial planning.

"The discussions are authored by recognized experts in the field, including Robert Levitt and Jay L. Shein, considered by Worth magazine to be among the top financial planners in the United States," said Stephani Berger, marketing manager, CCH financial and estate planning products. "This gives users an immediacy and a results focus that translates theory into proven practice. This is especially valuable for accounting professionals who are currently expanding their practices into financial planning and are looking for experienced guidance."

Key Topics, Modules

The initial topics and authors on CCH Solutions for Financial Planning concentrate on areas that are at the core of any financial planning practice.

• Asset Allocation and the Portfolio Structure (Jay L. Shein, Ph.D., CFP, CIMA)
• Asset Allocation and the Investment Management Process (Michael Ryan, CFP, CIMA)
• Investment Planning with Mutual Funds (Robert Levitt, CFP, CFA)

• Individual Retirement Accounts (Durward J. Gehring, Esq.)
• Planning for Withdrawals from Retirement Plans (Svetlana V. Bekman, Esq. and David Hodgman, Esq.)
• Planning for Early Retirement (David Strege, CFP, CFA)

• Estate Planning with Life Insurance (Charles D. Fox IV, Esq.)
• Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax (Scott Bieber, Esq.)
• Estate Planning for Foreign Income and Property (G. Warren Whitaker, Esq.)

• Evaluating Health Insurance (Craig Havighurst)
• Evaluating Disability Income Insurance (Alan Canfield, CLU, ChFC)
• Evaluating Business Insurance (Gary Lockwood, Esq.)

Special Planning Considerations

• Financial Planning for Divorce (Cicily Carson Maton, CFP)
• Education Planning (Karen P. Schaeffer, CFP)

Additional Topics

Each month, CCH will be expanding CCH Solutions for Financial Planning to include additional coverage in the areas of estate, investment, insurance and retirement planning, as well as planning for special circumstances. New material will be highlighted in a What's New feature. Upcoming topics include:

• Planning for Individuals with Special Needs
• Lifetime Gifting
• Charitable Giving
• The Marital Deduction
• Evaluating Life Insurance
• Investment Planning with Real Estate
• Financial Planning for the Elderly
• Asset Protection Planning
• Financial Planning for Expatriates
• Business Succession Planning
• Valuation Strategies

Practice Tools, Links to Authority, U.S. Master Tax Guide Included

Practice tools such as charts, sample documents, questionnaires and filled-in forms are featured in each topical treatment. For example, the treatment of IRAs offers 16 practice tools, including: a chart of principal characteristics of different IRAs; official IRS tax forms; sample trust or custodial agreement clauses; a contribution worksheet for a Roth IRA for an unmarried taxpayer; life expectancies tables; an illustration of the effects of life expectancy recalculation; and typical qualifying language for a QTIP trust as beneficiary of an IRA.

The practice tools include introductory comments and cross-references to the main explanation that place each tool in context. Every discussion also contains links to the Internal Revenue Code and its accompanying regulations, as well as cross-references to other material in CCH Solutions for related discussion. The CCH 2000 U.S. Master Tax Guide, a favorite quick-reference resource of tax practitioners for more than 80 years, is also included with each subscription.

In addition, a "Community" section of the CCH Solutions web site provides links to commonly used financial and estate planning web sites, journals and books and offers a discussion forum for subscribers on financial planning issues. Also, "What’s New" alerts subscribers to new developments and features.

Intuitive, Powerful Interface

CCH Solutions for Financial Planning has all the functionality available in the CCH Internet Tax Research NetWork, the industry’s standard-setting Internet research service. Valuable features include CCH’s easy and exclusive 2-step search, easy navigation, the ability to set preferences, a Path that records research steps and a Keep List that can be used to collect documents for printing or review and Login Express. The intuitive, Internet-based interface ensures that subscribers can quickly find what they need and that time spent with CCH Solutions is productive.

Breadth and Depth

CCH Solutions brings even greater breadth and depth to CCH’s leadership in the estate and financial planning area. Professionals have long relied on the company’s Federal Estate & Gift Tax Reporter, Financial and Estate Planning, CCHÓ FinEstCalcsä and CCH ViewPlan, when advising and guiding clients through the complex financial planning process.

Availability and Pricing

Price for an 18-month initial subscription to CCH Solutions for Financial Planning is $895. For more information or to order, call 888 CCH REPS (888-224-7377).

About CCH INCORPORATED

CCH INCORPORATED, headquartered in Riverwoods, Ill., was founded in 1913 and has served four generations of business professionals and their clients. The company produces more than 700 electronic and print products for the tax, legal, securities, human resources, health care and small business markets. CCH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer U.S. The CCH web site can be accessed at www.cch.com. The CCH Federal and State Tax site can be accessed at http://tax.cchgroup.com.

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