Winning papers share new insights on whether the Consumer Price Index is an accurate measurement of spending inflation and why financial planners do not seek advice from other planners

For Release: July 16, 2008

The Financial Planning Association^® (FPA^®) and Janus (NYSE: JNS) today announced the winners of the 2008 Financial Frontiers Awards competition. The Financial Frontiers Awards showcase research papers that present new ideas and practical solutions for financial advisors and their clients. Awards are given in two categories: financial techniques and financial concepts. In addition, an Editor's Choice Award is given to authors who had particularly outstanding work published in the Journal of Financial Planning over the past year.

"The Hedonic Pleasure Index™ – An Enhanced Model for Spending Inflation," by James Shambo took top honors in the Financial Techniques category. Shambo is a CPA and president of Lifetime Planning Concepts, Inc., a financial planning and investment advisory firm in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to the paper's findings, the accepted use of the Consumer Price Index – All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to project spending inflation and determine safe withdrawal rates from retirement accounts will cause many retirees to run out of money years ahead of schedule. Shambo found that the Hedonic Pleasure Index™ provides a more accurate measurement of spending inflation because, unlike the CPI-U, it accounts for consumption behavior.

This year's winner in the Financial Concepts category is, "Who Is Planning for the Planner? – Becoming Consumers of Our Profession," by Richard S. Kahler, CFP®, ChFC, CCIM. Kahler is president of Kahler Financial Group in Rapid City, South Dakota. The paper examines why financial planners typically do not seek assistance from other planners. Kahler says the primary reasons behind this trend are trust, fear of being shamed, loss of control, competency, cost, spousal issues, and value – which are largely the same ones that their prospective clients might have. However, Kahler's findings show that most financial planners who engage the services of other planners experience a number of personal and professional benefits.

Shambo and Kahler will present their papers at FPA Boston 2008, the Association's annual conference, scheduled for October 4-7, 2008. As in years past, Janus will award $10,000 to each of this year's winners.

Editor's Choice Awards were given to William Reichenstein, Ph.D., CFA, for "Calculating After-Tax Asset Allocation Is Key to Determining Risk, Returns, and Asset Location" (July 2007); Charles D. Robinson, CFP®, for "A Phased-Income Approach to Retirement Withdrawals: A New Paradigm for a More Affluent Retirement" (March 2007); and William J. Coaker II, CFP®, CFA®, CIMA®, for "Emphasizing Low-Correlated Assets: The Volatility of Correlation" (September 2007).

The Financial Frontiers Awards program, introduced at FPA's annual conference in San Diego in 2005, promotes advanced research that expands the body of knowledge in wealth management and financial planning. Topics for research papers could include, but are not limited to, investments, practice management, retirement planning, general financial planning, and trust and estate planning.

The Financial Frontiers Awards are open to all financial planners, investment consultants, registered representatives, registered investment advisers, bankers, accountants, educators, students, attorneys, and practitioners from the insurance field and trust and estate planning firms. Submissions also are welcome from financial advisers and management or support staff at financial services institutions, regardless of their organization size.

The research papers are reviewed and evaluated by a panel of highly qualified judges assembled by FPA's Journal of Financial Planning, which has access to the expertise of the industry's best researchers, writers and practitioners and expertise.

The deadline for next year's competition is March 3, 2009. Fees for submissions are $50 for FPA members and $70 for nonmembers.

To submit a research paper for consideration, to review the competition guidelines, or for more information on this year's winning papers, please visit the Financial Frontiers Awards Web site. Next year's winners will be honored at FPA's 2009 annual conference in Anaheim, California.

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