MADISON, Wis. (3/19/15)--Credit union professionals will have the opportunity to learn about individual retirement accounts (IRA) and retirement savings best practices at two upcoming CUNA eSchools.

The classes, called CUNA IRA Essentials eSchool and the CUNA IRA Beyond Essentials eSchool, will be instructed by Fred Volkman, IRA training consultant with Ascensus, which CUNA has partnered with to offer the program.

"Retirement savings are incredibly important to credit union members," said Michelle Johnson, CUNA instructional design manager. "By partnering with Ascensus, the largest independent retirement savings service provider in the country, we ensure credit union staff have the information they need to help members reach their retirement goals."

Johnson added that CUNA has stepped up its commitment this year by adding the new CUNA IRA Beyond Essentials eSchool, which offers a deeper look into the complex IRA issues credit union professionals most often encounter.

On April 1, prior to the eSchools, CUNA and Ascensus will offer the IRA Basics webinar. Credit union staffers unfamiliar with IRAs or interested in refreshing their understanding should view this webinar before taking the IRA eSchools.

The class subjects and dates for the CUNA IRA Essentials eSchool are:

• Establishing and amending IRAs, April 21;
• IRA contribution, April 28;
• Understanding and processing transfers and rollovers, May 5;
• IRA distributions, May 12;
• Required minimum distributions (RMDs), May 19; and
• IRA reporting, May 26.

The class subjects and dates for the CUNA IRA Beyond Essentials eSchool are:

• IRA beneficiary distributions, June 30;
• IRA conversions and recharacterizations, July 7;
• IRA simplified employee pension (SEP) plans, July 14;
• IRA 72(t) payments, July 21;
• Qualified retirement plan beneficiary rollovers to inherited IRAs, July 28; and
• IRA excess contributions, Aug. 4.