My Fee Only Financial Planning and Tax Services

Unable to meet in person? We can meet in a confidential Zoom meeting by computer, or talk by telephone.  Use the Search box at the top right to find information on specific topics.

My Role

I am retiring and I am now only taking on new appointments in exceptional circumstances.  I am continuing to work for the time being with Prince Edward Island residents dealing with long-term care financial issues, certain tax and estate matters for older adults, and specific referrals from non-profit organizations with which I am connected.  Unfortunately, unless it is urgent, I am normally booking 3 months in the future – yes, it is lonely in my niche in PEI.  I am also doing group seminars on retirement, estate, tax and other personal financial planning topics, as well as divorce financial matters, if requested to do so, as hired by employers or as a volunteer for non-profit organization.  Certainly, if you have questions that may have brief answers that I can  answer by email or phone, contact me from my Contact page and I will respond to let you know what I can do.

For individual financial planning services, you can continue reading to see how I have approached my service delivery as an hourly based planner who sells no product.  However, whether it be me or another planner, see this web site from FP Canada, who issues the CFP designation, to know The 10 questions you should ask your Financial Planner :
http://www.financialplanningforcanadians.ca/financial-planning/10-questions-to-ask-your-financial-planner.  Also see my article on Questions to Ask Your Financial Advisor.

For my credentials and experience, see my Curriculum Vitae (a PDF file).

My Service Approach

The following description relates to my historical approach, and as noted above, I am now working towards retirement with minimal appointments.

For my fee only financial planning assignments, I request individuals (or couples, when applicable) to complete a Financial Planning Questionnaire and bring it with them to our meeting. As part of the preparation, I ask you to write down all of your questions and issues in advance (more will likely arise during our meeting). This preparation allows me to come up to speed quickly on your family / financial position, and enables me to ensure I focus on your specific questions and objectives at the meeting. Of course, this also improves the efficiency and effectiveness of our meeting, and, hence, reduces the time and related fees. I also ask you to bring your most recent tax return, and any other information you think is relevant to your questions (e.g. your investment portfolio statements for income forecasts and risk advice, your Will for estate planning advice, pension estimates for retirement planning, employment information for severance advice, etc.).  As a reminder, all information is held in strict confidence within my office.

Time and Fees

While my rate is $245.00 plus taxes, plus an administration fee of $10.00, the cost will depend on how long the assignment takes me.  There are three typical types of assignments that I encounter with respect to financial planning.   They are as follows:

1. Specific Issues 

Many individuals have certain aspects of their life that they wish to discuss. Typical questions relate to whether or not a person’s investment portfolio is properly designed for safety and income; tax issues related to disposal of property or transfer of assets to children, either during lifetime or through a Will; determining appropriate levels of life (or other) insurance; tax or investment advice related to receipt of an inheritance or retiring allowance; cash flow and tax issues related to marriage breakdown; management of debt, particularly when nearing retirement; advice related to the estate and final tax returns of a deceased parent; starting a new business; and overall tax planning, in addition to many other similar financial issues. If you have prepared in advance as requested, these types of meetings typically are well focused, and last about one to two hours. If you wish to have a written report, it usually takes me about an additional hour.  During our meeting, I will also ask you to read and sign a short Disclosure Engagement Letter.

2. Detailed Budgeting and Retirement Calculations 

Sometimes individuals have done their own budgeting and only wish a review of their calculations with advice on improvements.  I no longer do the full retirement plan projections with pages and pages of descriptions and related graphs.  As noted earlier, I can do a second opinion on such plans to ensure the assumptions are reasonable.

Examples of how I help people? Does it look like you can retire based on your savings and spending?  I can help you there.  Do you want a year by year projection of your future retirement plan? I no longer do that.  Do you want guidance on the issues to consider on whether it is better to take your RRSP out now or keep it until retirement, I can give you advice.  Do you want a year by year calculation to prove which is best, I am not that person.

My Credentials, Limitations and Objectivity

I am an hourly-based fee-only financial planner. I have my CPA, CA credentials, as well as my financial planning, insurance and financial divorce counselling designations. However, please note that I am not licensed to provide individual investment recommendations, or to sell insurance products. I can work with you to discuss your overall investment portfolio design, risk balance and insurance needs, but cannot recommend, advise on or buy/sell individual securities or insurance policies. If you need assistance in these matters, I can work with you and your existing investment / insurance advisors or can refer you to licensed brokers; however, I do not have established referral agreements with any specific individuals, and receive no referral fees, commissions or other such payments for my services. In this way, I maintain my independence and credibility.  Know that there are individuals who do “fee only financial planning” but fee only may not be what you think it is.  “Fee only” may mean that the planner charges you a percentage fee based on the value of the investments that you hold with them.  In addition, there are those that charge you by the hour for advice, and then offer to sell you product as well from which they collect a commission.  Finally, there are those that charge hourly but get paid a referral fee from another sales representative to whom they recommend.  I suggest that you need to ask questions of all of us that claim to be financial planners to know if we are free from bias and have the appropriate education.

Remember – it is your money but there are lots of people who would like to have it.  Only you can control who gets it and how much you keep.