Financial Management
Financial management is the first step in all modular and comprehensive financial plans. This is where we will determine your goals and objectives, take a look at your income and expenses and create a snapshot of your current net worth. This information is used to determine how much money is available to be saved and allocated to various strategies and is essential to the feasibility, implementation and success of your financial plan.
Asset Management
We invest as a necessity for two basic reasons; to accomplish our financial goals and to keep pace with the ever increasing costs of living. With asset management, it is important to understand the relationship between risk and return because you can’t have one without the other. Your portfolio mix should always be consistent with your objectives, time horizon(s) and individual risk tolerance. Over the course of your life, the factors affecting your ability and willingness to assume risk will most likely change and thus your investments will be evaluated and rebalanced accordingly.
“Successful investing is about managing risk, not avoiding it.” – Benjamin Graham
Tax & Education Planning
“It’s not about how much money you make, but how much money you keep.” – Robert Kiyosaki
Tax planning is an important component because most financial decisions will generally have some sort of tax implications to keep in mind. We do not generate recommendations solely based on the potential tax consequences but do employ an overall mandate to minimize tax liabilities now and also on future generational planning.
We include education planning as a secondary component as it does not apply to everyone in every plan. Funding part, all, or none of your child’s future education is an entirely personal decision but no matter the choice, we are happy to provide options including RESP’s and informal trusts that align with your goals and wishes.
Risk Management*
Start by asking yourself “what is my most valuable asset?” Most people immediately list off their house, maybe their car, but really, your most valuable asset is your ability to earn an income. Risk management is about protecting yourself and your dependents in the event of death, disability or a critical illness. These unfortunate events can seem to put a halt on “normal life” but they do not put a halt on your financial obligations. The effective use of insurance* can relieve the burden of additional and ongoing expenses and allows you and your family to focus on what’s most important at that time.
Retirement Planning
Travelling, spending afternoons on the golf course, feet up on the couch – whatever retirement looks like to you, the best way to make it happen is to have a plan in place. Your retirement plan will answer questions like:
- How much should I be saving?
- When can I retire?
- How much will my retirement cost?
- How much income can I count on?
An alarming 48% of Canadians are underfunding their retirement. As people are living longer, many are spending the same number of years, if not more, in retirement than they did working. It is important to start planning early and revisit your retirement plan on a regular basis.
Estate Planning
Having an “estate” may sound lavish to some, but if you have any assets such as money, a house, car, bank account or other possessions, you probably have one. It is not just a topic reserved for seniors either. Estate planning is important in your 20’s, 90’s and every age in between. Priorities and circumstances will change over the years and this is why your estate plan should be reviewed periodically; every 3-5 years is usually sufficient unless a major event occurs (birth, death, marriage, divorce etc.) So, if you have an estate, no matter how simple or complex, it only makes sense to have an estate plan to ensure these assets are dispersed in accordance with your wishes.