UPotential is a fee-for-service financial planner – meaning that our compensation is based on a transparent, pre-established rate agreed upon before our engagements begin. We do not receive any compensation from, and do not offer, the sale of any investment or insurance related products/services. As a UPotential customer you will be under no obligation to utilize any particular investment or insurance product/service to action any of the plans we create. If you wish to engage the services of ETF Capital Management – a registered portfolio manager – you should be aware (and will be made aware at the time) that UPotential is under common ownership. Our goal is to help you get the most out of your money – so we will act always in the best interests of our clients, with full transparency, and in a manner which aligns our interests accordingly.
The ultimate finance guide for women: Experts share financial tips that really work
This article offers the most thorough introduction to personal finance for women that I have read in a long time.
Smart moves before the end of the tax year
Devote a few minutes to tax planning before the holiday celebrations begin. Many strategies take a few days to process so doing them now will ensure that you won’t miss out on the December 31st deadlines.
Experts say the 4% rule, a popular retirement income strategy, is outdated
This article explains the commonly-held notion that retirees who withdraw the equivalent of 4% of the portfolio in the first year of retirement and then adjust this dollar amount for inflation each year would enjoy a 30 year retirement without running out of funds.
How Your Financial Values Need to Tie Into Your Life
The financial planning industry has evolved since I began in it 20+ years ago. Initially, we referred to “goals-based” planning to help clients to articulate what they want their money to do for them. Instead of “retiring comfortably” we helped clients to describe “retiring with an annual lifestyle costing $50,000 per year in today’s dollars”.
Understanding the Diderot Effect to Overcome Overspending
As a student of financial behaviour for over 20 years, I am always impressed with a phenomenon that can be expressed succinctly and explains our motivations broadly. This article describes the Diderot Effect – the way in which one purchase can beget another.
Quit Comparing Your Investment Success – Or Lack Thereof
Investors often switch advisors during a market downturn because they are disappointed in their return on investment and believe that they could do better elsewhere. But research shows that staying invested – rather than liquidating your portfolio and starting all over again – is necessary to achieve the long-term performance that is required to support your retirement goals. Sounds like a pretty clear case of FOMO to me.
3 Reasons Employers Should Focus on Employee Financial Well-Being
I am often invited to deliver seminars/webinars to corporate groups. Some call them “Lunch and Learns” others request half-day workshops. The feedback from participants has always supported this article’s thesis: that “the tangible impact on employees of financial education can be life-changing”.
The 3-step method to get wealthy and stay that way, according to a new book on money and happiness.
Financial resilience is the most-important thing that I can impart to a client. Over time, that resilience can come in the form of protection against risk, coaching through market downfalls and tax-efficient harvesting of accumulated wealth.
Why Most Financial Plans Fail
The core of my work as a financial planner has never been to show you dramatic projections of the amount of tax you will save or the legacy that you can leave to your children.
The Bank of Canada isn’t losing sleep over inflation, and neither should you – yet
Projecting the costs of goods and services is one of the most critical pieces to understanding the lifestyle that your wealth can support. This article discusses a trend that is important to keep in mind in light of the attention recently paid to inflation numbers.