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Executive Summary

A financial plan is like a roadmap to achieving the financial future you envision. It starts by identifying where you are financially and provides directions for getting to where you want to go. There are many areas that make up your finances: your assets and liabilities, investment portfolio, cash flow, tax situation, retirement income, insurance and estate plan (or lack thereof).

Your lifestyle also plays a role. For a financial plan to be effective, each one of these areas must be addressed in a coordinated way to provide a personalized, comprehensive financial solution.

What You Need To Know

As with any goal or strategy, a financial plan must have objectives. How do you see yourself five, ten or 20+ years in the future? After determining your current financial state in the areas mentioned above, you will need to establish a clear vision to start creating and implementing a plan. This includes what your retirement lifestyle will be, because only then can you determine needs for investments and income. If you have children, it may also include funding for their education or other endeavors.

Once you’ve clarified your current financial situation and understand your vision for the future, calculations can then be made to determine how your assets need to grow to reach those goals. This will determine the investment plan that you’ll need to produce the necessary returns from your assets.

A comprehensive financial plan must also consider the tax ramifications of your finances and identify strategies to minimize your tax liabilities. Additionally, your financial plan should mitigate risk and protect your wealth using tools such as insurance products. The use of insurance can also be beneficial in your estate plan, as there are ways to minimize taxation and maximize the wealth of your estate.

If all this sounds a bit complex or outside of your comfort zone, consider working with a financial advisor. Find someone who understands the implications that each area of your financial plan has on achieving the goals you’ve set. He or she may need to liaise with other professionals, such as your lawyer or accountant, to do a complete and thorough job.

Bottom Line

A proper financial plan is more than managing your investments, creating tax minimization strategies or planning for your retirement. It is all these things plus others, including risk management (insurance) and estate planning.

A comprehensive financial plan requires the coordination of all these areas to maximize the wealth potential from your current financial situation. It begins with setting clear financial goals and working through all the aforementioned areas. This is generally best done by working with a capable financial advisor, as all these areas must be addressed in a coordinated way to create an effective, holistic financial plan.

Book an appointment with us to get started on your financial plan today!  CLICK HERE

By: Shawn Todd, CFP

Many of you will know that throughout my life, I haven’t minded risk at times.  Before I was 35 yrs. old, I was a police officer, I was a diver with the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit, and I was an Explosives Disposal Technician. I’m currently a business owner [a lot of business owners have an appetite for risk]. I downhill ski, I have a motorcycle, and I’ve climbed Kilimanjaro with my spouse Michele.

I imagine many of you have your own interests. You enjoy sailing, or camping, or travelling overseas. Flying to see family, swimming at the cottage, or having a steak on the BBQ. Some may enjoy biking in the city, ice skating on the canal, or smoking a cigar. Risks show up all over, and we all don’t enjoy talking about it.  We like the excitement of a ski weekend getaway in Tremblant, but we don’t enjoy talking prior to the trip about the potential of breaking our leg.

When I first came into the financial planning and advisory business eighteen years ago, that version of myself believed that insurance would be the least interesting part of my work. I spent hundreds of hours researching investment portfolio theory, financial planning, marketing, building a business, but the very last thing that I felt was needed by most up and coming young professionals was some of the insurance products that I was learning about.

I was dead wrong.

Five years into my financial planning career I had a terrible ATV accident while out with friends and clients. I broke my back in five places, split my liver, broke three ribs, tore my adrenal gland and almost died in a field in Calabogie, Ontario.  It was the scariest moment of my life. I had just met the person I have always wanted to be with, and I had children to care for.

Today, eighteen years after beginning as an advisor, I have had had several important and close clients experience terrible and demanding situations. I’ve lost some great clients and friends to a variety of illnesses, accidents, and situations. No one was planning on not being here in 20 years.

One of the things that strikes me as incredibly common about both my experience, and the experiences that I have had with clients, is that its difficult to talk about what might happen if we get sick, or if we die. It’s terrifying.

In my time as a financial planner, I have picked up a great deal of more experience and knowledge since my beginning days as a new advisor. I have seen well planned out life insurance policies provide enough income to a family after the unexpected loss of spouse. I have watched planned gifting to children and grandchildren that has allowed full lives after a loved one’s passing. Business owners have used it to ensure security while their business started, and while success ebbed and flowed. Professionals have used it to protect their occupation and income. Tax planning has allowed it to be used as a formative tool in dealing with business owners, passive income strategies, or dealing with terminal tax.

There are a few distinct things that talking about risk, and protecting ourselves, can provide.

• It can remove a lot of stress from your life. No more worrying about what happens [even if you don’t want to talk about it normally]
• It can help provide income to you or family members if you are sick, injured or die.
• Some may be able to pay off debts.
• During key parts of a financial plan, it can provide a great deal of stability for income and assets needed to achieve goals.
• It can be used as an opportunity to diversify how you invest or use business capital.
• Its usage may help in minimizing taxes – both now, and later
• During business growth periods it can provide a great deal of security to the business, the shareholders, and their families.
• For some it can offer an ability to gift to children, grandchildren, or even charities that are important to you.

While 92% of people believe talking with family and loved ones about the end of their life is important, only 32% do. [ Seattle Times – “Why don’t we talk about death” May 2019]

To conclude…

It may well be time to begin opening the conversation about your own risks. What risks do you have in your life that you are most concerned about? How would they affect your financial plan, or financial integrity? Are there opportunities you should consider for your business, your own portfolio, our own situation? If you didn’t speak about your risk concerns – would the situation have changed for the worse of the better in ten years time?

Speaking about risk, and what may come may be difficult for most. There is never a better time to start this conversation than today.

Just my thoughts for the day.

By: Shawn Todd, CFP

Most of us have golfed at one point or another during our lives. It may have been once, or it may have been many times throughout the summer. No matter how often you have golfed you will always remember the feeling of a firing a shot into a bunker [when you were going for the green], or just firing a ball into the water on a par 3. It’s tough, and it really starts to take the fun out of the game.

Most of the people reading this will have also invested at one point. Your home is one of your largest investments, and you may have several other investments in your portfolio. If you’ve been doing it as long as I have, then you also will have memories of the tech wreck, the financial crisis, and the market correction during Covid.

What does golf and investing during these market corrections have in common?

A well thought out gameplan.

If we approached golf without any consideration for the inherit risks of the game, well we would just feel the consequences. We’d lose a ball here, bogey there, it would be a miserable experience.  Some of us all can feel that pain. Playing the game more smartly, hitting more fairways, staying out of the bunkers, well of these efforts make for far better results.

Investing needs to be focused, and well thought out. Ensuring you understand the risks of the portfolio you are in, the timelines you have, the goals of each portfolio, and the risk of each investment in your portfolio; is incredibly important. There needs to be a well thought out plan for taxation, capital gains [this is the topic of the day – thanks to the recent budget], and a discussion of the solutions that make the most sense for each investor. Often what works for you, may not be what works for your neighbour or colleague. Like golf, we all have different risk tolerances, capability, and performance needs. You need to play your own game, and your own pace.

Unlike golf – there are some great opportunities that will enhance your experience. Portfolio management, risk management, diversification, and a deep understanding of your needs – will all allow for an exceptionally smooth ride.

Imagine golf is someone could just tap your shoulder right before you started your ill-fated swing and said – “I just wouldn’t take that shot”.

It might make the game a lot more fun.

Consider helping your investing experience by adding a professional wealth management team to help you understand your own gameplan.

My thoughts for the day.

By: Brian P. Adams CLU. CH.F.C

Many employees opt-out of their health and dental benefits because they are listed on their spouse’s benefits plan. After all, why bother with additional group benefits if you’re already covered, right? Wrong. Beneath this assumption lies an oversight that could leave you vulnerable in times of need.

While your partner’s plan may offer a safety net for routine health and dental expenses, it does leave you open for potential financial risks. Here’s why:

• Firstly; relying solely on your spouse’s benefits means neglecting critical protections like Long Term Disability (LTD). Your partner’s employer can’t extend LTD coverage to you, as it’s contingent upon direct employment—a fundamental requirement you don’t fulfill.
• Secondly; the life insurance component of your spouse’s plan might offer a modest cushion, typically ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. While this might suffice for some, it pales in comparison to the comprehensive coverage you could secure through your own group benefits.
• Thirdly; if, for any reason, your spouse loses their coverage, you are going to have a problem. Most plans allow for all members to come onto the plan no questions asked at the time it is set up or when they are first hired. Attempting to secure coverage through your employer’s plan later is either disallowed or exceedingly difficult to qualify for.

Why subject yourself to such uncertainty? The answer is clear: secure your financial safety net by enrolling in your own group benefits plan for life and disability coverage. By doing so, you not only safeguard yourself against unforeseen hardships but also ensure seamless access to health and dental benefits through your employer, should the need arise.

Remember, the foundation of financial security lies in proactive planning. Don’t gamble with your future. Invest in your well-being today, and rest assured that you’ve built a shield against life’s uncertainties.