It's All About You
Helping Your Family
Whether you are saving for your children’s or grandchildren’s education, paying for their wedding, giving them a gift of a down payment on their first home or offering generous contribution to jump start their business, it all takes planning and professional advise, especially if you are part of the growing number of people who are known as the sandwich generation who are taking care of their parents as well as their children. You need to prepare to take care of our aging parents by preparing for long term care, anticipate care giving costs, and managing your parents estate, all in a well planned respectful fashion. No one can predict what the future will bring and you need to be prepared for the unexpected so your family will be protected and will not suffer financially. Some of those unexpected things that everyone thinks will never happen to them is, losing your job, becoming disabled, suffering from a terminal illness and the unthinkable, death.
Enjoying Your Lifestyle
Everyone always wishes they could do or buy so many things, but they always say, "if we only had money". With a little planning and financial guidance anything is possible. You can build the kitchen with granite counter tops that you always dreamed of. You can purchase that luxury condo somewhere warm so you have somewhere to escape the Canadian winter weather. You can travel the world knowing that you have the funds available for emergencies and expected purchases, the peace of mind that you have Travel insurance, and the accessibility to remote banking access no matter where you are. If you own a business, I work with local tax experts to maximize your tax planning thus having more money in your pocket to enjoy your lifestyle. As important it is to plan for the money to be available for you to enjoy your lifestyle it is just as important to make sure that the lifestyle you are accustomed to is protected at all times no matter what unforeseen circumstances arise.
Anticipating the Future
As you know, no one can predict what the future will hold for any of us, but what we can do is plan and prepare. Unexpected heath issues such as disability, heart attacks and cancer can occur at any point so you should think about disability and Critical illness insurance. Death is one topic no one wants to discuss but we all know it will happen but the question that we don’t know is, when. You can pass away while your children are young leaving them without any financial security, or you could plan by purchasing a type of life insurance that suits your needs and budget so your family's current financial conditions will stay protected. Needing money to participate in innovative opportunities such as an investing in a new business, or needing the money for unforeseen events such as a job loss. If you are a business owner who built their business from the ground up, you will one day want to either pass your business to someone who will take as much pride running it as you did building it or be able to sell it for the amount you know its worth so you will be able to retire comfortably. You may one day be taking care of yourself if your significant other leaves without warning due to divorce, separation or death, so you need to be prepared for the unimaginable by having steady cash flow and income.
Creating Financial Comfort
You can always have financial comfort at every stage of your life if you plan and seek professional advice. You can manage and build your nest egg by asset allocation, careful selection of investments, tax planning and knowing your income options. Once you decide to take that significant step to retirement, you must be sure that you have enough income to live the retirement life you worked so hard to get to. You can make sure you have enough income by tax planning and opening both RRSP's and TFSA accounts. Income layers will allow you to still be able to receive government pension pensions benefits such as CPP and OAS. Tax planning will also allow you to make sure you keep more in your pocket at retirement rather than sharing your retirement income with the government, something no one wants to do. Having the flexibility to realize a steady income while having the comfort of taking lump sums when needed to truly enjoy the things you love to do.
Leaving a Legacy
As people get older their priorities in regards to their money change. Once they know they can live a comfortable retirement life, they think about what kind of inheritance should be left behind, and who can I trust what is important to me? This takes watchful Estate planning that must be updated continuously to ensure that your wishes are followed from beginning to end upon your death. You must make sure all your Wills, power of attorneys, insurance policies and trust agreements are up to date and accurate. You might want to create an estate to leave some monetary comfort for your loved ones by taking out a life insurance policy or maybe use trust services to ensure that your money is being used the way you intended it to be used by your heir. You might have charitable organizations that are close to your heart that you would like to make a charitable gift to upon your death or prior to your death . You can also leave a living legacy by gifting some of your assets and money to your family members over time or giving this back to your community, whatever you desire.