What do Aretha Franklin, Prince, Howard Hughes, Martin Luther King, Picasso and Even Abraham Lincoln Have in Common?

They all died without having a Will. Equally staggering are the results of a 2018 Angus Reid poll that revealed that more than half of Canadians don’t have a Will.

It’s interesting. In my line of work this is a conversation I have all the time and,over the years, I’ve come to realize two things:

First, death is not a subject most people want to contemplate, let alone discuss — even in the abstract — even though Wills and estate plans are all about protecting and taking care of loved ones — which is one

There’s a difference between managing your money and managing your wealth …

… and it’s not all your advisor’s responsibility. How effectively your money is saved and managed is up to you. Your advisor manages your wealth — and while the two may be connected, they are not one and the same.

What I’m talking about is being personally investedin your own financial well-being.

There was a long article recently in the Sunday New York Times, about a wealth manager whose clients are some of the best-paid athletes in the U.S. One sentence leapt out at me: “To retain his services, each

Wealth Is More Than Material

I have been blessed with three wonderful daughters. The eldest was married a couple of weeks ago and it was a magical day — one I will always remember and cherish. It’s a big deal when you walk your child down the aisle, knowing you’re about to step aside, leaving her and her soon-to-be husband to begin their life together.

The significance of the moment really put things — put life — into perspective. And, as I looked around

An epiphany, thanks to a total stranger

Austin Repath is an author, a philosopher and a former Humanities professor. He recently had an article — which really made me stop and think — published in the Globe and Mail. In it, in the form of a letter written to a young woman — a stranger he met — he reflected on the lessons he’s learned in his long life.

He starts off providing some context for this letter. He was in a coffee shop when a “twentysomething” started to talk to him. While it may not seem unusual on the face of it, it’s certainly not every day that you

Is Happiness Really a Matter of Dollars and Cents?

The world recently lost one of the 50 highest ranked economists in the world¹. Alan Kreuger was the James Madison Professor of Political Economy at Princeton and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Obama presidency and was also his Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors.

But what I find most intriguing about him, is that he also studied happiness. Seriously, I’m not kidding. 

Along with the Nobel-Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, Kreuger co-authored what is

What Warren Buffett Can Teach Us About Risk

We’re turning our blog over to a guest blogger today. Vincent Linsley is a Canadian investment management sales and marketing professional. He also authors a blog, Investment Graffiti.

 

Warren Buffett’s 2019 Annual Letter to Shareholders was delivered on February 23 and eagerly-read by investors worldwide. The much-anticipated update provided an inside look at his company, currently the world’s highest-priced stock, trading at over US$300,000 per share.

The epitome of “basic” no frills writing style and structure, Buffett’s disciples read the letter religiously,

A lesson a client taught me

Not that long ago I received this note from a long time client:

“I was accustomed for 50+ years to expect to make a decent income next year, and the year after that, etc.. But after retiring, I realized that I will never again earn any income from my work. That is quite a scary feeling to adjust to. Post retirement, my sole source of feelings of safety is reliance upon you as my advisor, to look out for my interests.”

I’ve been thinking about what he said — and, most importantly, the meaning behind those words ever since;

Are You Doing Everything You Can to Keep Your Data and Assets Safe From Cybercriminals?

We recently asked investors to share their concerns regarding their finances and investments. Cybercrime was high on the list. It’s a valid concern. Hardly a day goes by where we don’t read or hear about a security breach somewhere in the world. But what is not always discussed, is what that represents.

A recent report from the latest Economic Impact of Cybercrime report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and McAfee, estimates that cybercrime may now cost the world almost US$600 billion a year — with financial institutions being a prime target.

The threats of phishing, ransomware and software vulnerabilities are real and they’re here to stay. Criminals are getting smarter and more sophisticated every day. But the same can be said for cybersecurity

The Minute the Subject of Investing Comes Up, the Conversation Turns to Fees

That’s okay, I get it. It should be a completely transparent process. You should understand what you’re paying and why. You should understand what you’re getting in return; and therein lies the problem.

For some reason, we seem to have difficulty ascribing a value to the knowledge, experience, expertise and advice an Investment Advisor provides. Maybe it’s just too intangible, not black and white enough — I don’t know. All I do know is, the fairness and validity of fees are endlessly questioned and debated — which, as I said at the top of this blog post, is fine.

But here are some thoughts I think bear at least some consideration, thoughts I think are worth adding to

Talk To Me

Thanks to a 24-hour news cycle, more cable channels than any of us will ever have time to watch, the Internet, social media and search engines, there’s a ton of information out there, on just about every subject you can think of, including everything to do with money — wanting it, earning it, saving it, losing it, investing it, spending it, sharing it — you name it, somebody’s writing about it.

Everyone, it seems, has an opinion, lessons learned, tips, suggestions and how-to’s and wants to share