United States
CASL® Program Requirements
To earn the Chartered Advisor for Senior Living® (CASL®) designation, the following are required:
- Complete CASL® coursework within five years from the date of initial enrollment (or five years from the date of January 1, 2006, if previously enrolled in the CASL® program).
- Pass the exams for all required and elective courses. You must achieve a minimum score of 70% to pass.
- Meet the experience requirements: Three years of business experience immediately preceding the date of use of the designation are required. An undergraduate or graduate degree from an accredited educational institution qualifies as one year of business experience.
- Take the Professional Ethics Pledge.
- When you achieve your CASL® designation, you must earn your recertification every two years.
CASL® Exam Information
CASL® exams are administered electronically at nationwide testing centers throughout the year by The American College via the Pearson VUE testing center network.
The exam consists of 100 objective questions based on the curriculum and is two hours in length. Typically, there are three types of questions in the CASL® exam-straight-answer, multiple-option, and all-except questions.
Your results will be provided immediately upon exam completion.
Course Descriptions
Required Courses
328: Investments
Covers various aspects of the principles of investments and their application to financial planning. Discusses risk analysis and risk and return computations. Looks at stocks, bonds, investment companies, options, and futures contracts. Includes an extended discussion of tax issues in investing, as well as of issues in the practice of portfolio management, including strategic and tactical asset allocation. Provides many examples of ethical and practical issues in managing a client's portfolio.
330: Fundamentals of Estate Planning
Covers various aspects of estate and gift tax planning, including the nature, valuation, transfer, administration, and taxation of property. Provides a basic understanding of the estate and gift tax system, including strategies of estate planning. Discusses gratuitous transfers of property outright or with trusts, wills, and powers of appointment; use of the marital deduction; valuation of assets; and buy-sell agreements. Covers the client interview, fact-finding, ethical standards, and development of personal estate plans.
350: Understanding the Older Client
Focuses on the important changes clients face as they age, to enable financial advisors to better serve their needs. Presents the demographics of aging, as well as economic, historical, biological, psychological, and political perspectives. Deals with social aspects–life course transitions, family relationships and social support systems, living arrangements, as well as work and retirement. Covers care issues, including health and health care, caring for the elderly and dying, death, and bereavement. Also addresses practical considerations involved in communicating effectively with seniors.
351: Health and Long-Term Care Financing for Seniors
Provides a thorough analysis of the alternatives available for senior clients to finance medical and long-term care, including private resources, government programs, and private insurance. Emphasizes the need for care, the settings in which health care services are provided, and the types of resources available to finance them.
352: Financial Decisions at Retirement
Focuses on financial decisions clients face as they approach, reach, and pass retirement age and on the tools and techniques financial advisers may employ to assist their clients with these decisions. The course covers sources of income, retirement calculations, investment considerations, annuities, housing decisions, insurance needs of the older client, and estate planning concerns. Especially valuable for practitioners who advise retirees in decisions on rolling over lump-sum pension distributions to IRAs. Provides extensive perspectives on dealing with aging and retired clients and their families.