The Professional
The Farmer
The Silent Accumulator
The New Widow
The Situation
Derek has helped build the engineering firm from the ground up, employing 20 skilled workers and growing annual revenues to over $3 million. He has accumulated nearly $ 1.5 million within his Hold CO account. Derek was relying on outdated advice and was unaware that he was paying thousands more in tax annually than needed. He was growing frustrated with his team, his accountant wasn’t talking to his financial planner and his financial planner, although great 10 years ago, seemed out of their depth now. With retirement on his mind as he approaches 50, he needed a clear, actionable strategy to efficiently accumulate and withdraw his earnings.
Derek expressed concerns about succession, tax efficiency, and transferring his wealth to his family without triggering unnecessary tax liabilities.
The Approach
Derek wanted to work with a Financial Planner who had experience in this area. Someone who would work with his accountant to put the pieces together.
He didn’t have time to be involved as much as he would like, but he wanted to have his questions answered and feel confident that his team was taking care of things.
The Professional
Case Client: Derek
Age: 47
Occupation: Partner at engineering firm
Primary Goal: To have a team that takes care of the details so he can focus on other things.
The Outcome
Derek was excited to work with a Financial Advisor who did more than invest money.
He had a new direction that incorporated his entire financial picture, which included:
A strategy involving regular dividend withdrawals to clear out RDTOH accounts in the future
Salary optimization
The introduction of tax-efficient asset location across his corporate and personal investment portfolio
A low-cost, tax-efficient investment strategy
Insurance analysis to ensure his family was protected
Investment automations to reduce the time spent doing this
A direction for the deacumulation phase
A line of communication opened between his financial planner and accountant
Cleared out his Notional Accounts
A timeline for the implementation of an Individual Pension Plan.
Derek now has a clear picture of where he is and where he is going. He was already on track to meet his goals, now he is on track to exceed them. The best part is that now, when he thinks about his finances, it doesn’t come with the nagging feeling that he is missing something.
The Situation
Pat and Karen, recently sold their family farm for $5 million. Having lived cash-poor, asset-rich lives, they were suddenly thrust into a situation that required significant financial decision-making, something entirely new and intimidating for them. Friends suggested GICs to stay safe, and safety was really attractive. But Pat and Karen were unsure if this was the best choice given current inflation and market conditions.
They were primarily concerned about risk, fearing they would lose their money, similar to what had happened to people during the 2008 financial crisis. Having never really invested before, everything was a little scary. Going from a business they had spent their lives doing to having to make potentially life-changing choices regarding how to manage their new financial situation. For this reason, they consider themselves “low-risk” investors.
The Approach
Our initial sessions involved general wealth management education and gradual trust-building, during which I explained the various risks they faced and how to control or mitigate them clearly and patiently.
We structured a risk-diversified approach to managing their financial lives. Ensuring we had “years of safety” to weather market crashes while having enough equity to help with inflation. We agreed to eliminate some of the scarier investment risks and create a plan for the others.
Due to the volume of new information, we waited until the following year to explore long-term tax efficiency and delve into other areas of wealth management. I had some questions about the wind-down of the farming corporation to better understand taxable income over the next few years, so I connected with their accountant on these items.
The Ex-Farmer
Case Client: Pat and Karen
Age: 51
Occupation: Farmers
Primary Goal: To not run out of money
The Outcome
Over time, Pat and Karen grew more comfortable, appreciating the structured and logical approach that provided financial security, a steady income, and confidence that when the markets next crashed, they had a plan.
We implemented
- A strategy for what we will do during the next market crash
- A regular monthly income to cover the cost of living
- An annual budget to spend on making memories
- 5 years of safety in their war chest
- Tax-efficient asset location across their accounts
- A low-cost investment strategy
- Deacumulation phase withdrawal order
- A line of communication opened between their financial planner and accountant
While it would have been too much to go through initially with Pat and Karen, due to the communication between me and their accountant, we could also do the following.
- Integrate the expected taxable income over the next three years into the plan, which altered the withdrawal order.
- Delayed the wind down of the corp, opting to keep some financial assets inside the corp structure, which would later be utilized to help one of their children with a business.
Now, years later, not only do Pat and Karen feel confident with their own finances, but they have also encouraged their friends to explore all the risks they are exposed to and learn to manage them properly. In addition, their children have started to become more interested in learning how to manage their finances to a higher level, preparing them for the day that they are responsible for managing the “family farm.”
The Situation
Mark and Stephanie had always prioritized debt repayment, successfully paying off their mortgage early. They were disciplined savers with a combined annual salary income of $260,000 and had accumulated $100,000 in cash savings. In addition, Mark has been building a company on the side, doing some contracting work and hopes to go out on his own one day. This company earned $60,000 last year.
Despite financial stability, they hesitated to flip the switch from saving to investing, uncertain and fearful of making incorrect choices that could diminish their hard-earned savings. They looked online to find out what they should be doing and were overwhelmed by the amount of information.
The Approach
Mark and Stephanie needed clear financial education and reassurance through transparency and simplicity. After listening to where they were getting stuck, I wanted to fix the foundation of how they manage their finances. While this may not seem like a traditional cash flow issue (typically associated with overspending), I related to their experience and addressed one of he underlying issues. We created a system for managing cash flow. We learned about portfolio construction, emphasizing low-cost, diversified ETFs, and carefully explained asset allocation principles tailored to their long-term objectives, as well as risk management. We also created a road map to improve our financial literacy and comfort level with the markets, and they agreed to watch all my quarterly reviews, monitor their accounts closely in the short term to experience the ups and downs and emotional rollercoaster, to prepare them better as the portfolio grew along with the dollar figure of the ups and downs. Because of this, we agreed to fix the cash flow but not invest all the cash savings at once, instead opting to put it in over the next few years and take advantage of any drops. Although not mathematically optimal, this approach gave them a place to start and eased their concerns.
The Silent Accumulator
Case Client: Mark and Stephanie
Age: 35 and 32
Occupation: Electrician and a Nurse
Primary Goal: To not run out of money
The Outcome
With education and ongoing dialogue, their confidence grew. The markets dropped shortly after they started investing, and they panicked. They called me, and we eventually agreed to do what we had discussed and added to the portfolio. The drop was short-lived. They saw their portfolio recover and made a little money with the additional funds they deposited. But the money wasn’t the biggest win. They had just learned to make decisions ahead of time and execute when it was hard to do so.Fast forward a few years, and we had accomplished the following.
Implemented a cash flow management strategy, resulting in
Creating a cash ceiling in their personal bank accounts
Automatically investing over $4000 a month
Incorporated the business and created a tax-efficient portfolio within
Setting money as “must spend” to enjoy life and make memories now
Enjoyed another maternity leave without an adjustment in lifestyle
Being able to set realistic retirement goals.
Created a time frame for when Mark can “risk” going out on his own.
Started building funds for future charitable giving.
On track to enjoy a fully funded retirement.
A line of communication is open between their financial planner and accountant.
No longer plagued by decision fatigue, they look ahead and make choices intentionally, positioning themselves in a great situation to achieve their evolving goals and priorities.
The Outcome
Together, we built a plan to give her peace of mind. We created a structure that allowed her to focus on the day-to-day and revisit the long-term occasionally. We set aside an emergency fund, carved out a monthly income and set milestones so we know if we are on track. We assigned each dollar a task and identified funds that were not vital to the goals and could be spent in the short term.
Most importantly, we created and executed a clear, flexible plan that gave Tanya confidence.
The biggest win was when she came into my office and told me she was no longer overwhelmed by her finances. Although she felt she still had a lot to learn, she felt optimistic about the future for her and her children. Maybe she didn’t like coming to see me but no longer had that feel of dreed in her stomach.
The New Widow
Case Client: Tanya
Age: 42
Occupation: SAHM
Primary Goal: To be okay
The Situation
Tanya, age 42, had never managed a significant amount of money. After the sudden death of her husband, she received a life insurance payout totalling nearly $2.3 million. Up until then, the couple had lived modestly on his income while she worked casually and cared for their two children, now ages 10 and 13.
Tanya came to us overwhelmed. She’d never dealt with investments, let alone manage this kind of money, and her biggest fear was making a mistake she couldn’t recover from. The loss of her husband had already shaken her confidence, and the responsibility of managing this money and the family alone felt heavy.
Her top priorities were making the money last, ensuring her children were supported through university, and replacing some of the lost household income without returning to full-time work.
We began with simple conversations—no jargon, no charts. Just listening to her story and goals. I reassured her that it was okay to take her time, and that there was a way to use her resources wisely without having to become a financial expert. However, there would be things to learn, and we would start with the most impactful areas and work on the others over the years. However, until then, I would build something that aligned with her goals and had a historically low rate of failure.