Frequently Asked Questions

The Retirement Management Advisor^®(RMA^®) certification program is an advanced certificate program and pathway to certification that focuses on building custom retirement income plans to mitigate clients’ risks and to master the retirement planning advisory process, all within the increasing regulatory environment. RMA^® certification education equips certificants with the knowledge needed to speak the language of retirement-focused clients.

• Kick off call with the Investments & Wealth Institute
• Check-in emails with helpful reminders and resources
• Live Webcast check-in with Institute staff and content review with faculty advice on how to complete the course
• Open office times with Institute staff for live Q&A with faculty and peer-to-peer discussion

Client Diagnostic Kit

1. Client Planning Process—Client planning process, retirement phases, advisors' styles, “gamma," measures of fundedness
2. The Household Balance Sheet—Household balance sheet, financial, social and human capital, start of life-cycle plan
3. Household Cash Flows—Fixed and discretionary expenses, tax-bracket planning, retirement milestones, Medicare and Long-term care, Social Security, pensions, complete life-cycle plan

Retirement Allocation

1. Assessing Retirement Risks—Retiree risk profiles, risk management techniques, floor allocation, probability-based and safety-first strategies

RMA^® certification Toolbox

1. Risk Management Allocations Retirement allocations, withdrawal strategies, time segmentation, retirement policy statements
2. Account Location/Product Selections—Product selection, account location, income annuities

Practice Management

1. Presenting & Monitoring the Plan—Methods for planning, transparent and trustworthy advisory practice, aligning client situation with planning methodology
2. Professional Guidelines—Investments & Wealth Institute’s Code of Professional Responsibility, marks usage, legal and regulatory compliance

• Product-Neutral Learning: The program provides a unique mix of academic validation and practical application through a client-centered, “outcomes-based” approach, rather than what most retirement education programs teach which tilt towards investment planning or product solutions.
• Practical Tools, Techniques and Methodologies: The Procedural Prudence Map^™ is one of many practical tools that help advisors map a decision-making process that complies with fiduciary best practices for client recommendations. The result is a body of knowledge and skills that helps advisors to satisfy their clients’ retirement income needs while complying with the industry’s increasing regulations.
• Flexible, Stackable Learning: The program is completed in three steps: online class, education capstone, and exam.
• Premier quality education and real-world application: The RMA^® certification program features a balanced lineup of expert practitioners and academics, with the focus on real-world application.

You’ll be contacted by email when you become an RMA^® certification candidate, and invited to select a class, or if you’re already a candidate, you’ll be invited to attend a class.

No, students don’t have to select a class--- if the self-paced option works for you, it will still be available to you.

The ability to build custom retirement income plans to mitigate clients’ risks and to master the retirement planning advisory process.

Step 1, the online course, takes approximately 12-16 weeks of self-study to complete. Step 2 is a two-day in-person experience. Step 3, the exam, is three hours, but we anticipate it may take a candidate approximately 15-20 hours of preparatory study.

There’s no penalty for falling behind--- you can always choose to pursue the self-paced option On-Demand.

You can always choose an online-proctored exam.

Like other Institute certifications, the RMA^® certification requires 40 credits every two years. Continuing education content that is approved for CIMA^® and CPWA^® is also approved for RMA^® certification.

“In the process of preparing for and taking the RMA^® certification exam, I realized how much I’ve learned about retirement planning that I never before understood. This approach is not just more comprehensive, it places a sharp focus on the risk-management techniques that both advisors and retirees really need to understand and implement. I believe that any practitioner who is concerned about succeeding in retirement planning would benefit enormously from the practical insights conveyed by the RMA^® certification program."
~ David Macchia

“I can already tell how the RMA^® certification coursework has changed the way I perceive my client’s risks exposures and how the “safety first” mantra of RMA^® certification is permeating everything I do. I believe that as time passes and the retiree population grows further there will be an increasing desire to utilize income experts and retirement savvy planners. Additionally, I believe that the RMA^® certification coursework puts me at an advantage when it comes to speaking to clients concisely about their retirement needs and puts me on the cutting edge of retirement portfolio construction.”
~Lucas Minton

“Up until now there hasn’t been any formal training available to teach advisors the important differences between planning for accumulation and planning for retirement income. The RMA^® certification program is changing that. They developed a specialized curriculum one studies to become an RMA^® certificant, or Retirement Management Advisor^® certificant. The material is fabulous and offers a tremendous amount of insight into the difference between accumulating assets and ‘decumulating’ assets.”
~ Dana Anspach

It’s included in the cost of your RMA^® candidacy, which is $2,495.

Included with RMA^® candidacy is the online program, in-person attendance at RMA^® Capstone or On-Demand, the exam, quarterly RMA^® webcasts, as well as the benefits to all Investments & Wealth Institute members, including the RMA^® blog content and Retirement Management Journal, as well as the Institute publications, the Journal of Investment Consulting, the Investments & Wealth Monitor and the discounts on our programs.

If you would like a more structured schedule to earn your RMA^® certification, we have two class options to choose from in 2023. Candidates must select their class at application based on the capstone planned to attend. Email sconfer@i-w.org for more information. The scheduled class options include the following: a kick-off call, check-in emails, live webcast check-in, open office times.

Audited individuals will have 30-days to provide documentation that supports their completed hours for review and approval. Certificants need only verify Sponsored CE and Self-Reported CE. Premier CE offered by Investments & Wealth Institute will not be audited.

No. Individuals will only be audited after completing their renewal, and are randomly selected.

Individuals must provide documentation that supports the "3 C's": 1) Content, 2) Credit hours or program length and 3) Course completion for a program submitted for CE credit.

The earliest date that you could be audited would be December 31, 2022.

Yes. You will receive notifications from the Institute regarding the steps you need to take along with your status throughout the entire process.

Audited individuals who do not/cannot provide acceptable documentation to satisfy the audit and subsequently do not have enough CE hours to meet their continuing education requirements may lose the right to hold the certification and will need to reinstate it.

At the time that your account is selected for audit, you will receive an email communication sent to the primary email address the Institute has on file.

Audited individuals will have 30 days from the date of their audit notification email to submit supporting documentation.

You must submit documentation supporting program completion, content and clock time:

• Proof of Completion: Acceptable documentation from the CE provider includes (1) a certificate of completion with your name, date of completion and program name; (2) a confirmation or email from a conference or event provider verifying your attendance; (3) a sign-in sheet; (4) a final attendee list completed after the conclusion of the event; (5) or a CFP Transcript showing completion of the event. Please note: For conferences, only overall completion is needed, completion documentation for individual sessions is not necessary.
• Proof of Content: Acceptable documentation supporting proof of content includes clear information about the topics covered, showing that they are in line with our list of Accepted CE Topics. (1) For courses, provide documentation with course title. (2) For conferences provide a final agenda with the sessions you attended marked on the agenda. (3) For course or session titles that are vague, provide detailed content descriptions from the CE provider.
• Proof of Clock time: Acceptable proof of clock time is documentation from the CE provider that each event lasted a minimum of 50 minutes. CE is awarded based on a minimum 50 minute hour (every 50 minute = 1 CE hour). *Conference sessions that are under 50 minutes in length will be accepted as long as the combined total of conference hours attended are greater than 50 minutes.
  • More information on CE guidelines can be found here.

The email communication that you receive at the time the audit is initiated will include a list of the CE under audit that documentation must be submitted for. CE not listed in this communication is not under audit. There is no need to submit documentation for CE not listed in the communication.

If the CE list on the original audit communication is blank, you did not have any reported CE that is eligible for audit. (Only Sponsored CE and Self-Reported CE is eligible for audit). You will receive a follow-up communication verifying that your audit has been closed.

All documentation can be submitted by email to recertification@i-w.org or fax 303-770-1812.

When acceptable documentation is received and approved, you will receive notification that your audit has been successfully completed. The audit will be officially closed and your status will remain Certified in good standing.

If documentation is received but is not in line with the Institute's CE standards, you will be asked to either submit additional documentation or additional completed CE for which you are able to provide appropriate documentation.

In the event that no appropriate documentation is received by the deadline, your certification would be relinquished and your status would be changed to Not Certified. You would no longer be permitted to use the marks. At this point, you would need to go through Reinstatement (see policy here) in order to become certified and be able to use the marks. (Please note that there is no reinstatement option for the loss of the CIMC certification.)

For additional questions regarding the CE audit process, please contact the Certification Department at 303-770-3377 or email recertification@i-w.org.