Why Choose a Financial Consultant (ChFC)

A Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC^®) is a financial professional with extensive education and training in personal financial planning.

The certification is awarded only to Financial Advisors who meet specified experience, education, and examination requirements and are held to the ethical standards established by the American College for Financial Services.

What Are The Requirements?

In order to obtain the ChFC^® certification, an applicant must:

• Be a practicing financial advisor
• Complete 9 intensive classes on financial planning subjects, including holistic planning, insurance, investments, risk management, estate planning, retirement planning, charitable giving, and others through the American College of Financial Planning.
• Pass a comprehensive financial planning exam administrated by the College.
• Continue to take continuing education classes (30 hours per renewal period.)
• Agree to be bound by the ChFC^® Standards of Professional Conduct.

What Does a ChFC^® Do?

Chartered Financial Consultants are able to address their clients’ comprehensive financial planning needs through their extensive training in investment planning, income planning, tax planning and minimization, risk management, and estate planning.

Every area of financial planning has potential tax implications. With a ChFC^® you can be assured that these tax issues will be integrated into your financial plan for maximum results. (In addition to being a ChFC, Leibel Sternbach is also an Enrolled Agent (EA) with the IRS, which means he can prepare taxes and defend people in tax court.. Click here to learn more about the EA designation.)

Services Your ChFC^® May Offer:

Taxes: As investment advisors, ChFCs have the education and training needed to evaluate financial decisions and can help their clients reduce and minimize their current and future tax liability.

Investments: A ChFC can provide information on the investments you have and advise changes that will be in your best interest based on your financial goals.

Estate Planning: A ChFC can assist in enhancing your estate value, conserving existing assets, minimizing estate and other transfer taxes, and facilitating the transfer of your assets to your heirs or charitable organizations.

Retirement Planning: A ChFC can help you identify your retirement goals and establish a plan to maximize your income for a comfortable retirement.

Risk Management: A ChFC can offer expertise in risk management, including strategies involving life and long-term care insurance and liability coverage.

While addressing these needs, it is important to understand the standard of care to which an Investment Advisor Representative, ChFC, is held.

As Investment Advisors, they are licensed and regulated by their state Securities Administration and must provide a fiduciary standard of care as defined by the law. Penalties for noncompliance can include the loss of their Investment Advisor license.

Yields4U is a Registered Investment Advisor in the state of NY. As such, we are regulated by the New York State's Attorney General's Investor Protection Bureau, which is the State Security Administrator for NY. Registration is not an endorsement of the firm by the commission and does not mean that the advisor has attained a specific level of skill or ability.

How Is a ChFC Compensated?

ChFC advisors can be compensated in any number of ways, including fees and commissions. It is important to talk with your financial advisors and understand the ways they are compensated.

At Yields4U, we are a fee-only fiduciary. This means that we do not accept commissions for any products or services we offer, and we are committed to full transparency in our pricing. See our FAQ for details.

Regardless of the method, the ChFC Code of Professional Conduct requires a ChFC to act with integrity, objectivity, due care, and competence to disclose any conflicts of interest (and obtain client consent if a conflict exists) to maintain client confidentiality, disclose to the client any commission or referral fees; and serve the public interest when providing financial services.

How Can a ChFC Help You?

A financial advisor with the ChFC designation will help you by taking a holistic approach to your financial planning process.

No recommendation is made without considering the impact on all of your financial goals.

He or she can help you control expenses and develop and implement a plan for retirement and wealth protection. He or she can also offer advice in tax planning and asset management. Specifically, a ChFC can help you:

• Establish financial and personal goals through objective analysis of your situation
• Evaluate your financial well-being through a thorough analysis of your assets, income, liabilities, taxes, investments, and insurance
• Identify areas of concern and help you address them with a suitable plan that emphasizes your financial strengths while reducing your financial weaknesses
• Establish plans to effectively transfer accumulated wealth to either successive generations or charitable organizations
• Review your plan periodically to accommodate your changing personal circumstances and financial goals

The relationship you establish with your financial professional is a very personal one. For it to be effective, you must be comfortable sharing many details of your financial and family life.

A Financial Advisor is one of the most trusted advisors for individuals and their closely held businesses. Combined with the expertise evidenced by the ChFC designation, you should feel comfortable that your ChFC professional will be able to work hard for your and your family’s best interests for years to come.

To speak with a Yields4U advisor and learn more about how we can help you, click here.