Rob's Read

The Globe and Mail:
Check in, freak out: The ‘double-edged sword’ of real-time portfolio tracking

"Modern portfolio management tools give today’s investors control over their own savings, insight into fees and performance, and the luxury of watching their money vanish in real time when markets plunge.

With immediate access to their holdings through online investment platforms and mobile apps, retail investors have the ability to continuously track fluctuations in their personal wealth.

That’s a temptation many long-term investors seem unable to resist.

Canada’s largest robo-adviser, Wealthsimple, said about one-third of its clients log into their accounts daily, for example."

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Rob McClelland RFP, CFP, HBA Vice President, Co-Branch Owner, Senior Financial Planning Advisor The McClelland Financial Group of Assante Capital Management Ltd.

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“Where does our money go?!?!”

It’s the start of a new year. A time for resolutions, goal-setting, reflection of the last 12 months and a fresh start.

Financially, it can be a very depressing time. The holidays are over and now you must face the harsh reality of your generosity over the gift-giving season. That said, receiving your January credit card statement should not be an anxious experience. In actuality, your credit card statements are excellent budgeting tools that not enough people use to their advantage.

As a married father of 3 young children, knowing where my money goes is of the utmost importance. There are bills to pay, mouths to feed and savings to be made – the bare necessities. But, what about everything else? Why can it feel like there never is enough money to do everything we want to do. If you have ever asked yourself that question, don’t worry, you are not alone.

In my experience, most of the young families I work with have no idea what they spend annually or even monthly. Money comes in and money goes out. If heads are above water at the end of the year, then it’s a success. If only there was a tool that easily tracked financial transactions for you.

Look no further than your online statements (i.e. credit cards; bank accounts; etc.). Financial institutions’ websites are getting increasingly more user-friendly. You can have information at your fingertips at anytime. Most, if not all, financial institutions provide year-end data that can be downloaded into many different programs. I still prefer excel.

Use these programs to categorize your expenses and get a real sense of where your money is going. Even if cash flow is not an issue for you, the exercise of reviewing expenses can still be very beneficial. Bad situations can become good, and good situations can become great.

Set aside a few hours to go through the exercise. I can guarantee it will be eye-opening.

Carlo Cansino, FMA, FCSI, CFP Senior Financial Advisor The McClelland Financial Group of Assante Capital Management Ltd.

Building Family Wealth by Insuring It

When you think about your wealth, it’s easy for the mind to leap to any number of ways you plan to pursue more of it. You earn it, save it, invest it – all so you can accumulate enough of it to fund your dreams.

What about insuring your wealth? Many people overlook the essential role insurance plays in their wealth and well-being.

For example, consider our new clients “John & Jane Sample,” a young couple in their mid-30s with a growing family. They have two children, they’re paying off their home, and they both have careers.

John and Jane have a significant amount to protect. At the very least, they would never want to become impoverished or leave their children in dire straits. Beyond that, they undoubtedly hope to help with their children’s higher education, pay off their own mortgage, maybe retire someday, and otherwise enjoy their lives.

But what if the unexpected occurs? Poof – all their hopes and hard work could vanish overnight.

That’s where insurance comes into play, to ensure that you or your loved ones can continue to afford your current lifestyle if you or your spouse become disabled, critically ill, or worse. To cover these three risks, there are three main types of insurances: life, disability and critical illness insurance. By having all three, your family’s financial plan can remain on track and protected, come what may.

As we performed an insurance needs analysis for John and Jane, we found they were underinsured given the risks they faced, so we helped them as follows:

• Life insurance: We helped them apply for a term life insurance policy with $1.5 million in coverage should one or both of them pass away. This replaces their future income stream with an alternate source of income if needed. (For younger couples, we typically suggest term vs. permanent insurance. First, it’s usually more cost-effective. Also, once the kids are grown and gone, they may want to decrease or drop the coverage entirely.)
• Disability insurance: We determined their group disability plans at work were already sufficiently covering them, should either become disabled. Additional coverage seemed unwarranted for now, but we intend to keep an eye on it, in case their circumstances change.
• Critical illness insurance: We determined they were missing this puzzle piece, exposing themselves to unwarranted risk. To bridge this gap, John and Jane each applied for $100,000 policies to replace lost income and cover expenses with a lump sum payment if either or both became critically ill.

Are you and your loved ones sufficiently protected against the unexpected? Given that most families can shore up what they’ve built for pennies on the dollar (or less), why wouldn’t you want to ensure that you’ve got adequate insurance in place, always there to catch you should you fall? Let us know if we can provide you with an insurance needs analysis of your own.

Chelsey Chartren, B. Com Financial Advisor The McClelland Financial Group of Assante Capital Management Ltd.

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Assante Capital Management Ltd. is a Member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. This material is provided for general information and is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to compile this material from reliable sources however no warranty can be made as to its accuracy or completeness. Before acting on any of the above, please make sure to see me for individual financial advice based on your personal circumstances. Insurance products and services are provided through Assante Estate and Insurance Services Inc.

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