We Make A Difference

Helping Clients Realize Their Dreams

Recently, we were able to help our client John, who is a business owner, to answer some very important questions. Faced with the opportunity to sell his business or carry on for a few more years, we helped John realize what was really important to him and his family. John wanted to spend more time with his children and grandchildren. He also dreamt of travelling to places of the world he always wanted to see, but could not because of the constraints of the family business. We asked John to envision his retirement and then we completed our detailed wealth planning analysis to answer John's question - Will I have enough? We not only showed John he would be okay in retirement, but also showed he has enough money to carry out another dream: to fund his grandchildren's education. John and his wife Carol have sold the family business and are in the process of realizing their dreams.

Helping Clients through Transition

In early 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis, one of our clients called to say he had just lost his job. Ron had an upper middle management position at a large utility company. We asked him to come in for a meeting and to bring his severance documents. Upon review we put Ron in touch with an employment lawyer who is part our professional network. Based on his position and years of service, Ron was advised to seek a higher severance payout. The lawyer helped Ron draft a counter offer letter which was sent to his former employer. This resulted in Ron receiving an additional 25% severance with no additional conditions attached.

In helping Ron through this transition we also reviewed his pension options. Upon his termination Ron had a choice to leave his accrued pension in the plan for accumulation to retirement or transfer the accrued value to a lock-in RRSP outside of the plan. After crunching the numbers and taking into consideration Ron’s current circumstances, his risk tolerance, as well as the economic backdrop, we advised Ron to stay with the pension plan. While being the more conservative route, Ron felt comfortable that a substantial portion of his pension income would be defined and guaranteed. Our next step was to help Ron answer the question – “Will I be okay?” We updated Ron’s wealth plan using current values and set a savings and debt reduction strategy for him and his wife. Within a few months Ron was back in the workforce and earning more than before. We established a strategy that is tailored to have the mortgage paid down before his expected retirement date and a savings strategy that should provide him and his wife with ample income during retirement. We helped Ron and his wife know they would be okay.