Insurance and Investment Advisors in Manitoba and Ontario
At SmartWealth, we focus on your benefit as a client, instead of ours.
We help you implement easy and practical ways to take care of yourself and the people you love.
As independent financial security advisors, we help you effectively manage the potential financial risks of serious life events, in case your ability to make a living ever gets affected as well as help you slowly build wealth over time in a tax-efficient manner to achieve financial independence, so you need not work at old age because you have to, but because you want to.
Our aim is to build a long-term relationship with you, not the typical one-off transaction then you never hear from them again.
We offer a holistic financial advisory approach. From financial risk management, wealth accumulation, retirement, and estate preservation.
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Manage Your Risks
As opposed to popular belief, your job, a business, investments and material assets aren’t the foundation of a solid financial plan, personal financial risk management is.
Whether you’re just starting out on your career or are already established, if you, your household, or business depend on your ability to actively work for income to maintain your financial security, you need financial risk management.
The financial risks of serious life events are real. It isn’t uncommon for people to know someone or at least have heard of someone who have had cancer, heart attack, or stroke.
As human beings, we all are exposed to the potential risk of premature death, disability or a serious illness and while there’s no surefire way to physically protect ourselves from such life events aside from avoidance, we can protect ourselves and loved ones by minimizing the financial impact of any such event through risk management.
Injury or Illness
1 in 4 of today’s 20-year old will become disabled before they reach the age of 65.
Will your income continue in case an injury or illness prevent you from actively working for a living?
Can you or your loved ones cope up with loss of or reduced income?
Disability insurance replaces a portion of your income so you need not worry as to when the next paycheck is going to come, and instead focus more of your energy on getting well instead of worrying about money.
Serious Illness
There is a 35% chance that you may develop a serious illness before age 65, and 65% – 70% chance before you reach the age of 81.
While most Canadians survive a critical condition, most of those who survive often find themselves in financial difficulties while a good number of them had to file bankruptcies.
Critical illness insurance pays out a lump-sum amount of benefit so you need not touch your savings or dip into debt in case you’re ever affected by such.
Premature Death
18% of today’s 25-year old would have passed-away before age 65.
Should you or your spouse pass-away prematurely, can your survivors continue living the same quality of life that you’re able to provide them with today?
Your loved ones’ most valuable asset is YOU, when you’re at WORK.
A well-planned life insurance coverage protects your loved ones’ financial well-being by providing the necessary capital to replace a breadwinner’s income in case of premature death.
Build Wealth
Starting to build wealth early in your career is the smartest financial decision you’ll ever make in your life.
Many Canadians cringe on the idea of setting aside a portion of their income to finance their financial security and accumulate wealth so they have more “spending budget” to buy the things they think they need.
As a result, they unknowingly defer wealth accumulation and remain exposed to risks of serious life events affecting their financial security, therefore leaving behind the more important things in life.
Financing your financial security and wealth accumulation may not look as sexy or as ego-boosting as with financing that muscle car or the new BMW or the Benz but come to think of it, money does come and go.
The older you become, the more you realize that your earning capacity is only as good as your last paycheck. If you’re older, you may have experienced seasons where you earn too much you think it never ends but just like any other good things in life, such event does come to a halt, and it doesn’t really matter how much you’ve made in the past. If you haven’t invested a portion of your (past) earned income, you’ve really got nothing to show for it, just a story to tell, maybe or material things you could sell at half the price from when you bought them.
Regardless of how much you make right now, nothing stops you from accumulating wealth, just yourself, in most instances. Don’t try to get tied up with the most expensive house, or the most expensive car or any other material things that you can acquire just because you have a paycheck to show.
In most instances, if you have to think about whether or not you can afford something, you most-likely can’t. You don’t tally-up the numbers whenever you grab a gum, do you? That’s because you can afford it!
Most Canadians have become accustomed to purchasing high-ticket purchases through financing and while there’s nothing wrong with financing a house or a car, there’s obviously something wrong with buying luxury on credit. If you want luxury, put yourself first in a position where you can afford to pay for luxury without going into debt.
I’ve seen new immigrants buy their dream cars and their dream homes because “they can afford it in Canada”, their paychecks and their credit scores qualifies them to buy these things on credit after all.
I’ve also seen people sell their homes at a loss or get foreclosed on because they got laid off from their jobs. This shows that they can’t actually afford the material things they think they possess; and quite honestly, if it’s not paid off, it isn’t yours, and if you missed out on your payments, your lender can quickly remind you of who the real owners are.
If you’re just starting out in your career, whether you’re born here or a new immigrant, don’t try to pile up on financial obligations right away and instead focus on financing the more important things that often gets left behind by most like building wealth slowly.
Ideally, we should be setting aside at least 25% of our gross income to finance our financial security and wealth accumulation. It’s like paying taxes, not for someone else’s benefit but your own, to protect your (and your loved ones’) financial security against serious life events while you’re actively working and build wealth so you need not work at old age because you have to but because you want to.
Emergency Fund
Without employment insurance, most Canadians are two months away from filing for bankruptcy after job loss.
An emergency fund helps you avoid dipping into your life savings or going into debt in case of emergency expenditures like vehicle repairs or home renovations, it also helps you protect your financial security in case of business setbacks, job loss or career transition.
Ideally, you should set aside between 6 months to 1-year worth of income in a secured account that’s not easily accessible to discourage withdrawals on a whim.
Education Fund
Building wealth to finance your children’s post-secondary education is an important part of guaranteeing their future.
A well-planned education savings plan ensures that your children have the necessary funds for college or university so they need not go into debt just because they want to finish school.
An RESP helps you take advantage of government grants. By simply investing toward your child’s post-secondary education, you can make the government pay a portion of your child’s education.
Retirement Fund
The most common problem most people experience at old age is that there isn’t enough funds to live comfortably in their golden years.
As a result, 6% of retirees must work past-retirement age (not because they want to but because they need to), and 47% of them require financial assistance.
Most Canadians put all their hopes for retirement on government pensions but both Canadian Pension Plan and Old Age Security weren’t meant to fully support you at retirement, they are meant to supplement your own retirement funds.