Chris Hastings
FINANCIAL ADVISOR
Chris helps clients define their lifestyle goals and discover the financial steps necessary to realize them. He operates from the conviction that clients are real people, requiring his advice and mentoring to really understand and take control of their financial lives. Chris encourages his clients to look at the big picture first and then, develop specific plans for taxation, retirement, investing, education funding, and leaving a financial legacy.
Prior to joining Laraway Financial Advisors, Chris was a financial advisor with Cetera Investment Services for 13 years. However, he initially earned a B.A. degree in Biology from Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and taught for three years before beginning his financial career. Today, Chris enjoys meeting with new clients in the Brainerd office, having good conversations, and developing relationships he hopes will last a lifetime.
“Financial planning is a great career. I get to work with people and help them every day,” says Chris, who knows what he wants from life. “Only a life lived for others is a life worth living” is his favorite quote, spoken by theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.
Chris is a past-president of Kiwanis and formerly, served on the Finance Board of the Brainerd Lakes YMCA. He is a member of Toastmasters and a parishioner at St. Francis Catholic Church.
When Chris is not wearing his advisor’s hat, he’s substitutes a helmet for mountain biking or a Columbia cap for hiking and camping. He, his wife Jessa, and their three kids enjoy family events in the outdoors. They’ve taken advantage of the Cuyuna Lakes mountain bike trails around the old mine pits in Crosby, Minnesota. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness has been a great place to hike and enjoy nature, remaining on the “To-Do Again List” for the future.
The family has also camped and backpacked the Badlands at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, and explored the Black Hills of Custer State Park in South Dakota.
“Home” offers Chris plenty of woodworking time, when he’s not running after or picking up after the kids. He actually picked up building skills on his own, skills he’ll probably pass on to his kids, once they’re old enough to handle the tools. Chris builds large furniture and has remodeled two homes, with Jessa’s input. Jessa is a physical therapist at the St. Cloud Hospital. So, between the jobs, family activities, and recreation, the couple keeps busy.
Something few know about Chris . . . He comes from a military family and lived in California, Arizona, Texas, and South Dakota prior to his move to Minnesota for college.