The Financial Planning Association is partnering with a Michael Kitces business to provide speakers to more FPA chapters, the FPA announced today.
The partnership will enable chapters to hire speakers who are associated with Kitces Speaking at discounted rates, which makes them more affordable for smaller FPA chapters, the FPA said. Kitces Speaking is a business division of Kitces.com, a financial education and practice management website founded by financial advisor, author and speaker Michael Kitces.
The speakers who will be available through the partnership are:
• Kitces, who is the head of planning strategy for Buckingham Wealth Partners and the leader of multiple businesses serving the needs of financial planners. Kitces gives presentations on advanced financial planning strategies, retirement strategies, practice management and industry trends.
• Jeffrey Levine, who is an award-winning advisor, speaker, and educator. His talks center on advanced tax and retirement planning strategies.
• Derek Tharp, who is the lead researcher at Kitces.com and an assistant professor of finance at the University of Southern Maine. Tharp speaks on retirement, saving and spending research.
• Meghaan Lurtz, who is senior research associate at Kitces.com and past president of the Financial Therapy Association. Lurtz speaks on financial psychology and behavioral finance.
“As a former president of a ‘mid-sized’ FPA chapter myself, I know that organizing events with strong external speakers can be especially challenging given limited chapter resources,” Kitces said in a statement. “Fortunately, the pandemic has given us new models to conduct entirely virtual, as well as hybrid events, which now allows us to provide additional discounts to support more FPA chapters.”
“For 22 years, FPA chapters have played a central role in building the value of membership through various services and programs, including monthly and quarterly educational events, conferences and symposia," the FPA said. "While some chapters have the resources and financial wherewithal to afford speakers of significant stature, many cannot. FPA and Kitces Speaking have negotiated discounted pricing for several of Kitces.com’s most recognizable thought leaders to support FPA’s chapters."
The two-year partnership agreement provides access to Kitces.com speakers at negotiated discounts exclusively for FPA chapters, including:
• A 20% discount for all FPA in-person and virtual events.
• An additional 20% discount on virtual FPA chapter events for chapters with fewer than 400 active paid members.
• A further 15% discount for in-person events booked with one of the speakers who was already appearing at another private event within an FPA chapter’s metro area.
All speaker discounts are now in effect until Dec. 31, 2023. FPA chapters can contact Kitces.com directly to secure a speaker, and are encouraged to monitor the Kitces speaker’s schedules to identify opportunities to secure a heavily discounted add-on in-person event, the FPA said.