The American College of Financial Services today announced new platforms aimed at helping retirement planners and consumers with long-term planning needs.
The institution will be launching a closed “ChatGPT”- style search engine for retirement professionals with a Retirement Income Certified Professional Program (RICP) designation offered through the American College. Retirement planners can utilize the chat function to ask a range of questions, from specifics on client needs to drafting blog posts or articles for website content.
While ChatGPT functions generally pull information and data through publicly available information online, the American College of Financial Services says its chat tool utilizes accredited data from compliant sources, including its RICP curriculum.
The American College, a nonprofit educational institution, provides certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs specifically for financial services professionals. Its RICP designation is aimed at financial planners wanting to better understand income planning needs, strategies, and objectives.
As new laws and regulations emerge, the tool will update its data to reflect those, says Jared Trexler, senior vice president and chief marketing and strategy officer at the American College, in an early look to reporters at its inaugural Horizons 2025 conference in Coronado, Calif.
“Anything that is coming from the RICP curriculum is immediately injected,” said Trexler. “From a trust and authority standpoint, you know from an accredited institution that every technical piece of information here is going to be 100% accurate.”
The chat tool will first be available to RICP designees in June. The American College says it does plan to expand the tool to other institutional certification and designation courses, like the Charted Financial Consultant (CHFC) or the Tax Planning Certified Professional (TPCP) programs, within six to eight months following the first release this summer. The chat function will be available for free as part of its professional recertification fee, confirmed Trexler.
Eventually, the American College hopes to offer the tool as part of a packaged subscription model for advisors outside its programs who would not need a designation to utilize the service. “As we surveyed advisors and we started going through this, the one big issue that we have with a lot of these tools is the validation of this information,” added Trexler. “And so, the desire for the College to enter this space is tied to accredited information from an accredited institution.”
“From a trust and authority standpoint, you know from an accredited institution that every technical piece of information here is going to be 100% accurate.”
Jared Trexler
The function also leans into broader conversations around the usage of digital and human advice. Studies show that while clients tend to be skeptical of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, they also see positive impacts when merging the tech with guidance from a financial professional. A Tuesday panel by Vanguard’s Global Head of Investor Research and Policy Fiona Greig at the Horizons 2025 conference showed that clients see benefits with both digital and human advice. According to Vanguard research, 88% of clients say human advice gives them more peace of mind while 78% believe it saves them time, compared to 69% and 62%, respectively, for digital advice.
The American College also revealed a learning feature tailored towards consumers. Launching today, “The Retirement Course” is a fully virtual educational resource for newer investors.
The course is broken up into fourteen learning modules. It’s “Inspire Wellness” unit focuses on financial wellness, the psychology of retirement, and retirement basics. It’s “Inspire Confidence” section centers on building confidence in financial decisionmaking, while its “Inspire Certainty” aspect revolves around ensuring financial stability and certainty through life insurance, annuities, health insurance, and Medicare, among other topics. Lastly, its “Inspire Legacy” portion helps clients plan for legacy and estate management needs.
The news comes as the American College hosts its first-ever Horizons 2025 conference, aimed at decoding the future of solutions-first retirement advice with sessions on retirement income planning, longevity planning, and legacy planning. The conference also centers on topics including Social Security, Medicare, retirement psychology, income solutions, and housing options.
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Amanda Umpierrez is the Managing Editor of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services reporter with over six years of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. Amanda received her degree in journalism and government and politics at St. John’s University. She is originally from Queens, New York, but now resides in Denver, Colorado with her partner. In her free time, Amanda enjoys running, cooking, and watching the latest drama show.
