Recap: Fundamentals of Financial Planning with Chase Wickenheiser '19
Chase Wickenheiser '19 (center) with Cornell Compensation Club organizers after the workshop in Ives Hall 215.
On Friday, October 16, the Cornell Compensation Club and the ILR School's Institute for Compensation Studies (ICS) hosted a Personal Finances Workshop in Ives Hall 215, in partnership with the Human Capital Association and Tribeca at Cornell. Cornell alum Chase Wickenheiser '19 led the session with his talk, "Fundamentals of Financial Planning."
Meet the speaker
Chase graduated from Cornell in 2019 and played for Big Red football. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) at Magnus Financial Group. Chase is also an affiliate of eCornell and provides pro bono financial resources to Cornell students, alumni, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Key takeaways
Chase walks through the agenda: budgeting, why to invest, and how to invest.
Chase covered budgeting, building credit, and investing. Four points stood out:
- Know your fixed and variable expenses. Fixed costs like rent and loan payments are hard to change, so most savings come from variable spending such as dining out and shopping.
- Build credit early. Payment history and the amount you owe make up 65% of a credit score, so pay on time and keep balances low.
- Start investing early. Using NerdWallet's Roth IRA calculator, Chase showed that saving $1,200 a year from age 22 could grow to about $1.27 million by age 70, assuming a 10% annual return.
- Know how your advisor is paid. Independent advisors who act as fiduciaries must put the client's interest first, while brokers are generally paid commissions on the products they sell.
Chase demonstrates NerdWallet's Roth IRA calculator.
What goes into a credit score
| Factor | Share of score | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|
| Payment history | 35% | Don't be late |
| Amount owed | 30% | Don't let balances build |
| Length of credit history | 15% | Don't cancel old cards |
| New short-term debt | 10% | Be careful applying for new cards |
| Types of debt | 10% | Don't take on bad debt |
Resources from Chase
After the workshop, Chase shared his guide, Your Roadmap to Build the Strongest Financial Foundation. Here are a few of the resources it recommends:
- Planning: Roadmap to Planning (a general guide to how much to save in each account)
- Budgeting: Personal Budgeting & Saving Tool; Calculator.net Rent Calculator
- Credit: Experian: What Affects Your Credit Scores?
- Saving: CNBC: The best high-yield savings accounts of 2026
- Investing: Investopedia: How to Open an Online Brokerage Account
- Retirement: Prudential: IRA vs. 401(k); TIAA: After-tax Roth vs. Pretax
- Student loans:GradFin: Student Loan Refinancing & Debt Consolidation
Questions? Chase welcomes them at Chase.Wickenheiser@MagnusFinancial.com.
Thank you
The flyer for the October 16 workshop, hosted by the ILR Institute for Compensation Studies.
Thank you to Chase for returning to campus to speak with students, and to the Institute for Compensation Studies, the Human Capital Association, and Tribeca at Cornell for co-hosting. Thanks also to everyone who attended.
To hear about upcoming Cornell Compensation Club events, join the ICS mailing list.
This recap summarizes a student workshop for educational purposes and is not financial advice. Links go to third-party resources shared for general education and are not endorsements.
