Welcoming you onboard!!

Getting to know you. The “Discovery”

The first step should always be to have a good definition of  both your short-term and long-term goals and objectives. This would include such things as knowing:

• When you would like to retire.
• How much monthly income you would want to support your chosen lifestyle.
• What else you may need money for (children’s education, paying off debts, buying a recreational property, etc.), as well as when you will need the money.
• How much income your family would require if you or your spouse were to die pre-maturely or become disabled.
• How you would like to have your estate distributed at time of death.

The more clearly you help us define your goals and objectives, the easier it is to make certain that each of the decisions you make, is moving you in the right direction toward the attainment of those goals and objectives.

Gather Information – “Fact Finder”

Knowing where you are today is vital. Often people make bad decisions because they have failed to fully consider their current position. The information required to thoroughly assess your current position includes:

• An accurate picture of where your money is going (cash flow).
• An overview of your family assets including personal assets, investments (managed assets), and business assets.
• A complete picture of all outstanding liabilities including mortgages, investment loans and consumer loans.
• A complete inventory of any employment benefits, including both group insurance and pension benefits.
• An understanding of your eligibility for various government benefits.
• An overview of your existing personally owned insurance policies (life, disability, long term care, critical illness, auto, property and casualty).
• A summary of existing wills, trusts, powers of attorney, marriage contracts, separation agreements, business agreements, etc.
• A profile of your investment risk sensitivity, including a survey of your attitudes toward various types of investment alternatives

Analyze – “Evaluate current Situation”

Knowing where you want to go (goals & objectives) and where you are now (information) provides the foundation for  knowing what type of analysis is required. In most situations, the analysis performed should include:

• An analysis of your current situation that identifies if you are heading in the right direction to achieve all of your goals and objectives. We refer to this as a life goals analysis.
• An analysis of your cash flow, including an income tax projection, designed to identify problems and/or opportunities.
• An analysis of your situation in the event of pre-mature death or disability, focusing on areas of vulnerability. The analysis required may also include an examination of your existing investments, perhaps, even a detailed analysis of the projected settlement costs of estate at the time of death

Financial Strategy – “Develop and present strategies and solutions to achieve goals”

Only after completing the appropriate analysis of your current situation are you in a position to develop a meaningful strategy. The strategy will tell you what you need to do differently to achieve all your objectives and usually includes  the following components:

• How much you need to save each year (if any).
• The target rate of return on your investments, having regard for your personal risk sensitivity.
• How your debt will be reduced over time.
• Identification of any adjustments in your goals and objectives that are required.

A financial strategy is actually a set of instructions or a prescription for changes in your current behavior. It can be likened to going to your family doctor and having a check-up. As a result of the check-up your doctor might tell you to make some changes in you diet, to exercise or perhaps have some additional tests done to ensure that any suspected problems are correctly diagnosed.
The same is true with a financial strategy. It will tell you if you have to change your savings patterns. If you should adjust how you approach investment decisions. It might also tell you that it’s impossible for you to achieve all of   your financial objectives given your current resources, which will mean some revisions to your expectations. The key is to put a strategy in place upon which your future financial decisions can be based.

Advice and Recommendations – “Implement Plan”

The advice and recommendations we provide define a specific outline of the steps you need to take to make the strategy work. The attainment of your Goals and Objectives is a . . . SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

“Work the Plan Until the Plan is Workable”

As your Wealth Advisor, the identification of your Goals and Objectives and the gathering of Information on your current situation will be heavily dependent on information gathering step. We rely on stay informed of changes in your personal situation such as; pay increases/decreases, changes in employment benefits, and changes in your personal family situation. With knowledge of your Goals and Objectives and up to date Information on your current situation, we  perform the required Analysis, developing the Strategy, and offering specific  Advice and Recommendations to make the strategy work.

Monitor and review recommendations. “Adjust, if necessary”

NOT A ONCE IN A LIFETIME PROCESS!

Adherence to these six steps for effective decision-making ensures that you achieve your objectives.  Today’s decisions do determine tomorrow’s financial destiny.

When should you start making decisions on a strategic basis? When you are out of debt? When you “get organized”? The answer is an emphatic no! Today is the best time to begin. Why? Simply because the strategic decision making process can be used effectively to achieve any and all financial objectives. But, understand that the process should be continuous. Each time objectives are realized, or changed, each time information changes, a new analysis, and new strategy, and/or new advice may be required. It’s not a once in a lifetime process but rather
an ongoing for life process.

How long should you follow this process of making decisions on a strategic basis? Until you are financially independent? Until you are “on track”? The answer is quite simply: always. We like to keep complex jargons simple – Follow this simple process allows you to create and preserve wealth!