Christopher Fess – Christopher Fess

All About the Chartered Advisor for Senior Living Designation

Christopher Fess is a Frisco, Texas-based wealth management professional who leverages more than three decades of experience to serve clients through Fess Financial. Complementing his extensive experience, Christopher Fess holds multiple professional designations, including Chartered Advisor for Senior Living (CASL).

Now a legacy program no longer offered through the American College of Financial Services (ACFS), the CASL designation is held by financial advisors who have consistently worked with middle-aged or older clients to help them achieve their prospective financial goals. The ACFS closed the program to new professionals in September 2015, and stopped administering the CASL exam as of March 21, 2017. It still recognizes the designation, however.

Advisors who hold the CASL designation are particularly adept at helping older clients navigate areas such as health and long-term care insurance, as well as estate planning. Those who earned the designation had to complete at least 250 hours of study, as well as five college-level courses such as Understanding the Older Client and Health and Long-Term Care Financing for Seniors. Coursework touches on key elements of aging successfully, including health care needs, family relationships, Medicaid planning, and Medicare coverage.

One-Handed and Two-Handed Backhands in Tennis

A skilled financial advisor with more than three decades of experience, Christopher Fess provides clients with investment management, tax planning, and estate planning services through Fess Financial and Life & Legacy Financial in Texas. Outside of work, Christopher Fess enjoys tennis.

In tennis, there is a lot of discussion about whether a one-handed or two-handed backhand is better. Both styles have their advantages and drawbacks, so deciding between the two often depends on the player’s personal comfort with either style.

Two-handed backhands are what most players learn as beginners. This type of backhand is much easier to learn, especially for children. The second hand on the racket improves the stability of the hit, making it more reliable in tight situations, and also more consistent. Not only that, but two-handed backhands are generally more precise, since they have a smaller margin of error, and they are usually more versatile and capable of hitting topsins, high balls, and topspin lob shots.

But when it comes to hitting all these shots, the one-handed backhand is the superior style. It’s better at hiding a slice, and grants players more reach when they hit the ball. In addition, many players feel that one-handed backhands allow for more fluid movement when playing a match. However, mastering the one-handed backhand takes time and is more difficult for young and beginning players.

The Difference Between Risk Tolerance and Risk Capacity

Christopher Fess has been working in the financial services industry for three decades. Based in Texas, he provides financial advice to clients through Fess Financial and Life & Legacy Financial. The advice provided by Christopher Fess and his team covers a variety of matters relating to investments and retirement, including risk management.

Whether you are investing for yourself or for clients, it is important to understand both risk tolerance and risk capacity. These phrases refer to two very different concepts that affect how you or your client make investments, what your ideal time-frame is, and your financial expectations.

Most people are likely familiar with the idea of risk tolerance. This refers to the amount of risk that you are willing to take based on your personal tastes and feelings, and the amount of volatility and losses you can handle. If, for instance, you find yourself extremely stressed about the potential losses of your investments, your risk tolerance is low and you should focus on less volatile assets. Conversely, if you’re emotionally capable of handling such losses, consider adding more high-risk products to your investment portfolio.

While risk tolerance is based on your feelings and desires, risk capacity is a mathematical measure of the amount of risk you can take. More specifically, it’s a measure of the risk you can take without negatively impacting your progress towards your financial goals. Because of this, risk capacity varies between each person according to their financial situation. Further, you will notice that your risk capacity changes over time as your financial situation varies. This is rarely the case with risk tolerance.

Overview of the Chartered Financial Consultant Certification

A financial advisor at Fess Financial Christopher Fess has 30 years of experience in the industry. In his current role, Christopher Fess’s chartered financial consultant (ChFC) certification enables him to provide advisory services to his clients on matters related to retirement income planning.

The chartered financial consultant (ChFC) and the certified financial planner (CFP) designations are similar, but the former requires more education and allows the license holder to assist clients in more areas. The ChFC coursework includes nine more classes that focus on investing and insurance and retirement planning. Once coursework has been completed, ChFC license holders are required to complete 30 credit hours every two years to hold onto the certification.

The ChFC can only be earned through the American College. The American College, based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, was created to help financial planners become certified in areas related to the insurance industry. The prerequisites for entry into the college is to have three years of full-time business experience within the first five years of getting the certification.

There are a few major benefits to earning this certification. The licensed adviser can actually help clients with a broader range of transactions in comparison to those who do not hold the certification. Finally, the certification makes them more attractive to employers, and ChFC license holders’ salaries are typically higher.

Types of Education Accounts

Financial Advisor Christopher Fess of Frisco, Texas has more than 15 years of experience assisting clients in making wealth management decisions. One of the ways Christopher Fess assists clients is by choosing the right college fund for their children.

Parents who have decided to finance their children’s education have different options. One of the most common educational funds, the 529 plan is authorized through the state, state agencies, or educational institutions and includes two investment options. The first option is the pre-paid tuition plan which allows parents to purchase credit hours at current rates for the child’s future education. Then, there is the education savings plan, which allows parents to set up an investment account that can be used to pay for a child’s tuition, mandatory fees, and housing. The advantage is the money grows in the account tax-free, and taxes are assessed if the money is used on qualifying expenses.

One other education funds include the Coverdell Education Savings Account which enables investors to use the money for expenses that occur at any time beginning in elementary school and ending in college. This plan is more flexible and can be managed the teens as soon as they reach the age of 18.