50 Things We Can Do for You as Certified Financial Planners

Financial Planning

1. Care more about you and your money than anyone who doesn’t share your last name.
2. Guide you to think about areas of your financial life you may not have considered.
3. Formalize your goals and put them in writing.
4. Help you prioritize your financial opportunities.
5. Help you determine realistic goals.
6. Study possible alternatives that could meet your goals.
7. Prepare a financial plan and routinely review and update.
8. Suggest creative alternatives that you may not have considered including the best way to claim CPP and OAS.
9. Review and recommend life and disability insurance strategies to protect your family.
10. Assist you in setting up a company group retirement plan.
11. Assist in preparing an estate plan for you.
12. Review your children’s RESP and trust account plans.
13. Help you determine your best approach to RRSP, RRIF, and TFSA planning.
14. Provide reminders about key financial planning data.
15. Check with you before the end of the year to identify any last minute financial planning needs.
16. Guide you on ways to fund retirement activities.

Investment Planning

17. Prepare an asset allocation for you so you can achieve the best rate of return for a given level of risk tolerance.
18. Stay up to date on changes in the investment world.
19. Monitor, review, and revise your portfolio as conditions change.
20. Review your investments in your company Group RRSP or share plans.
21. Review your existing RRSP and TFSA accounts.
22. Help convert your investments to lifetime income.
23. Refer you to alternative banking solutions for cash flow alternatives, and efficient debt management.
24. Suggest alternatives to increase your income during retirement.
25. Guide you through difficult periods in the financial markets.
26. Provide you with unbiased investment research.
27. Provide you with personal investment analysis.
28. Determine the risk level of your existing portfolio.
29. Help you consolidate and simplify your investments.
30. Can provide you with technical, fundamental, and quantitative investment analysis.
31. Provide access to top tier money managers.
32. Show you how to access your statements and other information online.

Tax Planning

33. Suggest alternatives to lower your taxes during retirement.
34. Review your tax returns with an eye to possible savings in the future.
35. Stay up to date on tax law changes.
36. Help you reduce your taxes.
37. Reposition investments to take full advantage of tax law provisions.
38. Work with your tax and legal advisors to help you meet your financial goals.

Person-to-Person

39. Monitor changes in your life and family situation.
40. Proactively keep in touch with you.
41. Coach you to do the things that will help you accomplish your goals.
42. Provide referrals to other professionals, such as accountants and attorneys.
43. Share the experience of dozens or hundreds of his clients who have faced circumstances similar to yours.
44. Help with the continuity of your family’s financial plan through generations.
45. Anticipating future changes and proactively work through them with you.
46. Keep you on track.
47. Identify your savings shortfalls.
48. Develop and monitor a strategy for debt reduction.
49. Be a wise sounding board for ideas you are considering.
50. Be honest with you.