Course

Financial Planning Capstone

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Finance
Course code
FINC 4370
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
25
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Course designation
None
Industry designation
CFP,QAFP
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
The Financial Planning Capstone course requires the student to give informed advice on moderately complex personal financial planning cases. Technical knowledge areas will include debt, insurance, and investment, with emphasis on financial analysis, taxation, retirement, and estate planning. Relevant retirement and estate planning tools will be used. The Financial Planning Capstone is an integrated financial planning course requiring the preparation and presentation of a professional industry-level financial plan covering at least four core financial planning components. Cases from industry clients will be sourced for this project.
Course content

Complete a professional financial plan integrating at least four of the six financial planning components.

Present the plan as if engaging a real client, explaining and defending recommendations and considering conflicting views on financial planning topics.

Specifically:

  1. FP Canada financial planning process, practice standards and code of ethics.
  2. FP Canada retirement and investment projection assumptions.
  3. Taxation in financial planning.
  4. Government income sources, registered accounts, pension plans, retirement funds, locked-in retirement accounts, valuations, and unlocking provisions.
  5. Projection of retirement income before and after tax, from a variety of sources.
  6. Division of assets at marital separation and death including will planning and use of trusts.
  7. Insurance for risk management and estate planning.
  8. Family law, common law, marriage-like relationships, POAs, cohabitation agreements, and health care directives.
  9. US assets, income, capital gains/losses, and charitable donations at death.
Learning activities

Lecture, seminars, and online. This course focuses on the development and presentation of professional financial planning advice. It will be interactive and make use of cases, supplementary materials, and class presentations.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. 

Assignment(s) or case(s) 30% - 50%
Tests or quizzes 20% - 40%
Case presentation 10% - 30%
Final exam 0% - 30%
 TOTAL 100%

 

No single assessment will be worth more than 40%. 

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, a successful student will be able to:

  1. communicate clear, concise, sensitive, professional financial planning recommendations and alternatives;
  2. develop professional recommendations for clients using the FP Canada Assumption Guidelines, on moderately complex case scenarios and requiring interpretation, clarification and prioritization of the client’s financial planning goals;
  3. gather and interpret client financial information and prepare accurate personal financial statements and projections using relevant software; 
  4. develop debt management, asset management, risk management, and tax planning strategies that allow clients to reach retirement and estate planning goals; 
  5. apply knowledge of government retirement income sources and tax-sheltered accounts to the client recommendations;
  6. apply family, estate, and tax law in client recommendations, including the implications oftransferring assets to various parties or to charities, and the implications of estate taxation oncharitable donations and potential US taxation; and 
  7. demonstrate application of the FP Canada Professional Practice Standards and application of fiduciary responsibility and ethical business practices in financial planning. 
Textbook materials

Textbook resources may include:

Instructor-compiled materials.

FP Canada materials,  CRA resources.

All textbooks subject to change with department approval.

Calculator: Texas Instruments BA II Plus or as approved by Department.

Requisites

Prerequisites

(FINC 3300) with “C” or higher, and (FINC 3390 or The Canadian Securities Course transfered in) with “C” or higher or completion of Qualified Associate Financial Planner

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

None

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution Transfer details for FINC 4370
Athabasca University (AU) AU FNCE 3XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU BFIN 3XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR ACCT 4XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) No credit
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU BUS 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU BBUS 3XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU BUSI 300 (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW FNCE 3XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) No credit
University of Northern BC (UNBC) No credit
University of Victoria (UVIC) No credit

Course Offerings

Winter 2026

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
0
Remaining seats:
35
On waitlist
0
Building
Anvil Office Tower
Room
608
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
13:20
Building
Online
Room
ONLINE
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
13:20
Section notes

FINC 4370 001 - This is a synchronous hybrid course that incorporates both face-to-face and online instructions.