Benjamin Felix

September 3, 2020

Decision Making, Financial Literacy, Financial Planning, Happiness, Investor Behavior, Financial Advisors

Episode 114: Patricia Lovett-Reid: Financial Wellness in a Crisis

Benjamin Felix

September 3, 2020

Decision Making, Financial Literacy, Financial Planning, Happiness, Investor Behavior, Financial Advisors

As CTV News’ Chief Financial Commentator, Pattie Lovett-Reid coaches viewers on how to save money, stretch their income, and get the biggest bang for their hard-earned bucks. Lovett-Reid currently provides weekday financial updates for regional CTV MORNING LIVE’s across the country, as well as reports the “Financial Fix” on CANADA AM and CTV Kitchener. Lovett-Reid also joins CP24 weekday mornings for the market opening, followed by CTV News Channel in the early afternoon. When there is a market moving, economic or finance story worthy of commenting on, Patricia Lovett-Reid offers commentary on CTV NATIONAL NEWS as well.

Lovett-Reid is a Certified Financial Planner, co-author of several national best-selling books, and was awarded with an honourary degree in Applied Studies from Humber College in June 2010. The Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) recognized Lovett-Reid with the 2009 Donald J. Johnston Award for her outstanding contribution to the profession of financial planning in Canada. Lovett-Reid also received the 2007 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100™ Award in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters Category.

When it comes to your financial life, you can have endless conversations about asset allocation but we often neglect the impact of communication and asking difficult questions. Today we speak with Chief Financial Commentator and awarded media personality, Pattie Lovett-Reid. We start the discussion by COVID silver-linings and the financial lessons that people have been learning due to the pandemic. Pattie explores how people’s views of risk have shifted, along with the realization that our portfolios may not be as watertight as we had thought. We dive into financial control and Pattie emphasizes how better family dialogue and managing your emotions are key elements. After talking about how the COVID crisis is different from previous crises, Pattie talks about how stress impacts people’s financial decision-making. We ask Pattie for advice on teaching children about finances, and she uses examples from her own life to show how you can instill financial responsibility in your kids. From kids to partnerships, Pattie highlights why you should be on the same financial page as your partner before explaining the concept of financial abuse. We touch on what job-seekers should consider as they apply for jobs, tips for retirees facing the challenge of low-income rates, offering financial advice through Instagram, and how the work-from-home trend is affecting real estate. Our conversation this episode filled with practical advice, and Pattie’s approach focuses on the importance of asking difficult questions and communication, be that with your family, partner, or financial advisor. Tune in to hear more about why asking difficult questions is critical to controlling your finances.

Key Points From This Episode:

Introducing this episode’s guest, Pattie Lovett-Reid. [0:00:15]
Key financial lessons that people have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. [0:04:01]
How the way that people view their portfolios has changed due to the pandemic. [0:05:08]
Pattie’s insights into what people can control regarding their finances. [0:06:15]
Why Pattie has bought dividend-paying stocks in sectors that have been performing poorly. [0:07:26]
Why controlling your emotions is important in making sensible financial decisions. [0:09:06]
Pattie’s media perspective on the current market, compared to previous crises [0:09:44]
How stress has impacted people’s financial decisions for the worse. [0:12:07]
What people can be doing to make sure that they don’t make poor decisions. [0:14:06]
Hear how you can begin discussing personal finances with your children. [0:15:29]
Planning for future upsets, the importance of balance, and being frugal, not cheap. [0:19:04.4]
Being on the same financial page as your partner; it allows you to achieve financial goals. [0:21:40]
The idea of financial abuse and the need for transparent conversations. [0:25:15]
Thoughts on what job-hunters should do once the market opens up. [0:30:07]
Pattie shares her ‘big-picture’ opinions on COVID market shifts. [0:31:48]
Hear Pattie’s advice to retirees facing the challenge of low-interest rates. [0:33:27]
How Pattie uses Instagram and the types of questions that she’s often asked. [0:36:04]
The state of the average Canadian’s access to financial advice [0:39:22]
Tough questions that you need to ask your financial advisor. [0:41:19]
Reflecting on her life Pattie gives listeners some final advice on following your passion. [0:42:23]

What would you say are some of the key financial lessons that people can learn from this pandemic?

Well, the pandemic has been horrible to say the least. And when you think about something that started as a health crisis and then morphed into an economic crisis, and now we're seeing it as a personal finance crisis; as we still deal with all three of those issues, the people that I've spoken to, there have been a few silver linings coming out of it. And one certainly would be people realize they don't need as much stuff. People are telling me that mindless spending is a thing of the past. Some people have actually been saving a great deal of money without having to commute to work, without out there spending on food, on purchases that they just happen to think they need. People are distinguishing now between what they think they want and what they think and know that they need. And I'm just interested to see whether or not this actually transfers into new habits once we hopefully get out of this.

Do you think it's changed how people look at their portfolios?

I think they look at things very differently. I think people have, when it comes to risk, they will say they have a high risk tolerance. But I think sometimes until you're really tested and you have violent swings in the market, you don't necessarily always have the tolerance that you think you do. I often ask people, it's not just how much you're willing to lose, but how much can you afford to lose? And then you even have to back it up further, like what is your time horizon? When do you need that money? And are you balanced in your portfolio? I mean, sure, in a perfect world, you addressed your asset allocation at the beginning of the year and maybe it was more aligned to who you are as an investor with a reasonable five-year time horizon and you get through this. But there are others that have definitely been caught off guard, there's no question.

What are some of the other things that people can control that can help them address the current situation?

Well, I think they can understand their own financial situation. I think a lot of people are accepting the fact that they have lost a job. Any job is a good job right now because it'll help to pay the bills. The government programs are going to start to be unwound. People who have benefited by way of mortgage deferrals, or maybe even their credit card hasn't come knocking, credit card company come knocking right now because they know this is a period of difficulty for a lot of families. But I think families have come together. They're a lot more forthright in terms of what their financial situation is. I think there are families out there who in the past could afford to say yes to their children, for example. And they're not in that position right now. And so I think a dialogue around each individual or family financial situation is something that you can control, and I think it goes a long way.

Let me go down the other path then because my husband and I were sitting down and we were looking at our portfolio. It's one of those things. We do an annual review. We stay on top of it. I have it at arms length because I don't want to be a front runner for a stock. I'm talking about it, I'm pumping it up and oh, guess what? I hold it in my portfolio. But that doesn't mean that we're not on top of it and that we're not very much aware of what's going on. And going through this period, I also think there are great buying opportunities. As you know, you say you balance things out. You want to sell high, buy low.

Well, dividend paying stocks in certain sectors, I'll throw out there the banking sector, have been hammered. But they also have a track record of never cutting the dividend and continuing to pay it. And in many cases increase it on a regular basis. And so you're being paid to wait. So I'm thinking to myself, why not a basket small amount, put it in the portfolio, sit back and watch it hopefully continue to grow.

I do think that controlling your emotions through this is also really an important asset that you can have. When it feels like it, the least, doing nothing with a portfolio that already is well balanced, that is positioned for growth, that has the opportunity, the potential to come back. That can be a really difficult thing to do. And sometimes emotions get the best of you. And that's what compromises some of the returns in portfolios.

How is this crisis different in terms of what you hear from people. Is it different?

Yeah, I think it is different because if you think back to 2008, and I was in the banking industry at that point in time, you didn't have the world shut down. You may have had financial markets being compromised, but you didn't have people's ability to go to work being told you can't, you're basically in lockdown. It is very different. And so what I'm watching here, and if I had a word to describe it, I feel sad. And I think a lot of people feel sad. You've got small business owners that may not survive this and they've put their whole lives into their business. You have families. I should probably preface that with you have families that have lost family members, and that is unbelievably tragic. You have small business owners who may not survive it. I would also add that people have had their savings compromised.

There are reports out there that people are using their tax fees, savings accounts, their RSPs, to pay the bills to get through this. When you lose a job completely unexpectedly, really appreciate the value of an emergency fund until you need it. And so I think that when you look at what's going on here, we're not through it. And because of the unknown, one of the greatest fears I have come in the fall is a second wave hits, lockdowns could happen. But I also am expecting a lot of job losses because as I'm telling people to shore up your balance sheet, focus in on how much money you have coming in, what it is you're spending your money on. Guess what? The projections in a lot of Canada's large corporations at the beginning of the year are very different than what they would be right now. And you can be sure one of the first things, just like us as individuals, they're going to do; they're going to cut costs. And so I do worry about that.

Can you talk a little bit about how stress can impact the financial decisions that we make?

Well, sure. People will react when they feel stressed and they may react in a way that is going to be counterproductive to their financial life. I see some families making the decision to relocate entirely. They want to get out of the city, and I understand that, but doesn't make sense right now and what happens six months from now. I think we're in a bit of a wait and see mode just by virtue of there isn't a vaccine right now. We really don't know if the economy is going to pick up. We certainly know that the Bank of Canada governor, the new one, Tiff Macklem, is hopeful. But even he is saying we're going to keep rates lower for a longer period of time because it's going to be bumpy. And when you don't have any absolute answers, it can be frustrating and it can be scary.

I'm seeing that with people around retirement. You both know that when you're planning for retirement, it's based on assumptions. Some of those assumptions are around how long do I think I will live? What is inflation doing? What's the market volatility? I'll do a Monte Carlos so I've got swings in my portfolio just to make sure I don't outlive my money. What about long-term care costs down the road? But I guarantee you, when people were thinking about retirement or in retirement, they never thought, hmm, what are the assumptions I should put into place here in the event there's a pandemic? And so again, you've got an element of stress just about in every walk of life, whether it's the mom and dad who are staying at home and they may have to school their children, whether it's people who have lost their jobs, whether it's someone thinking about retirement or it's just about, will I even have a job myself down the road? And the isolation from working from home creates stress for some. So, yeah, there's a lot of stress out there.

What do you think people can be doing to make sure they don't make decisions they might regret later because of stress?

Well, I often think that speaking to a third party, speaking to your advisor, to your planner, it could be to your lawyer. It may be with your accountant if you have a partner. These things need to be talked out because sometimes they become self-fulfilling when all you're doing is thinking about it yourself and you're not really sharing it. And it's good to have people poke holes in a strategy to sort of go, okay, that's going to work, but that's not going to work.

I'm a big fan. I once sat down with, he's a brain surgeon and he really was a brain surgeon out of the University of Western. I asked him, I said, "You would never operate on yourself." And he goes, "No. And I know what to do, and I can be calm and cool and collected about it." But he said, "I'm not going to do it. I'm having someone else do it if I need brain surgery." Well, even those in the industry who understand it still need to talk to someone else because you can't necessarily do it all yourself. I'm not sure that's a great analogy, but it's one that's always stuck with me.

Two part question for you about communicating with children: One about the current situation, the pandemic, and how you can explain to them how to make decisions during a time like this, financially and perhaps otherwise. But also longer term, just in general about communicating finances with children so that they can develop good financial habits.

We have four adult children, and we've often talked about money. When it was age appropriate, there was more disclosure around our net worth; what that meant, how we got to where we are today, what that might mean for them down the road. I think the biggest gift you can give a child at any age is transparency, accountability, by suggesting to them that you're explaining this, not for broadcasting around the world, but for really figuring out what does this mean to you and what can you expect? We had an expectation that all four of our children, because they could, they had the grades, they were accepted to go to university. But I also wanted them to know the expectation was that we were going to pay for that education because that was a gift to them that we wanted to do.

But that didn't mean it was a free ride. They had to come up with a budget. They had to make sure they had some money in the game. Back then that meant $2,000 a year. And they had to stick to their budget and we would give them a lump sum at the beginning of the year and say, "Do not come back and ask for more money. You got to manage this through. That's part of the learning process." But we would also provide a safety net. Here's a credit card, you've got a $500 limit. And we would, of course, backstop it and explain to them that if you mismanage it, we'll make sure that you don't destroy your credit rating, and explain what that is, but you're also going to pay it back. So they've got to be accountable as well. So I think it's about talking to children and really brokering them in. I think they understand a lot more than we give them credit for.

Is there a certain age where you start to do that or certain behavioral cues that you know you're safe to have those transparent discussions?

I think it's dependent upon the child. One of the hardest thing for a parent to do in my opinion, well, not the hardest, is to say no when you can afford to say yes. We always were of the opinion that we didn't want to raise children that were entitled. That had an expectation that they got what they wanted when they wanted it. They did chores. They received allowances. We tried to replicate the real world. And by doing that, sure, they got bonuses when they performed above and beyond without being asked, they also got docked when it was not the best performance and I knew that they could do better. There were times where the children didn't necessarily understand it. But we also said, "Listen, this is now your money. You get to do with it what you want." And it allows them to establish a goal, to get excited about saving money and the importance of not spending every dime they have coming in.

And what about during this situation, the pandemic. Any special ideas for communicating during this period?

Well, I think more than ever, it's about sitting down and talking about what's really going on within your household because households are very different. There are some who are working from home, but their salaries have not been interrupted. But then there's also many who find themselves in a difficult situation still collecting the CERB, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and children need to understand that parents can lose their job through no fault of their own. It's not like they did something wrong, a pandemic hit. And I think that's an important lesson for them. It's not because they were the weakest link in a corporation.

You mentioned earlier that even though people do financial planning, they don't plan for a pandemic. Do you think people should have a plan B in place that they've thought about beforehand?

I do. And in a perfect world, if so many Canadians were not living so close to the margin, they probably would. And certainly people have told me throughout this period of time, having some financial flexibility is an incredible piece of mind. It doesn't mean they're out there spending it. I just spoke to one individual today and they said, "We paid off our car two years early. That feels great." And so when people get their financial foundation in place, what it does is it frees them up to do all the other things that they want to do without that fear of, "Oh my goodness, I'm overspending. I'm trying to keep up with others and I simply can't do it." And so, yeah, I just think that now is an interesting time to see that families, collectively, I think are starting to change.

Do you think though there's a point where you can almost be too frugal and you may go too far with it?

Well, possibly yes, because we still want to live life. And I also think the backbone of Canada is on small business and they've been propping, helping us up, consumers out there spending. So those that can afford to spend, I hope they do spend. We have a lot of wealthy Canadians who have also been on lockdown and they've amassed probably a fair bit of money that will likely work its way back into circulation once things are back up and running. I also think the charitable sector has been slammed and many people are going to even need their services more and more, and I'm hoping that those who can give do give. But yeah, I think you can be too cheap or parsimonious or frugal, any way you look at it. I think life has become more and more about balance. Save some, spend some, give some. It's like that three legged stool. If one of the legs breaks, you're going to be off kilter.

Can you speak a little bit about the signs that you think are that you might be cheap as opposed to frugal?

Well, I think here's a classic example. If you can't afford to go out for dinner with everyone, don't go and just be honest, "I can't afford it." But don't go and then get up and use the restroom when the bill comes so that you're not paying your portion or be that person who never contributes. People will watch. They will see. And it becomes very clear when someone is not pulling their weight. And there's always one. When you get a crowd together, you get a group together, someone will say I'm paying for just mine. And I think it's respectful to figure out, do they need to only pay for their own because that's what they can afford and we're lucky that they're there? That's okay. That may be saying, "I thought it'd be more frugal right now because I don't have the income coming in that I did, but I did want to see you," as opposed to someone who's just simply cheap. It's not attractive at any point in time.

Can you talk about some of the things that people can be doing to make sure that they're on the same page as their spouse or partner?

Well, I think that comes down to communication. I do believe when you're in a relationship, you're in it emotionally as well as financially. That does not mean you need to have the same bank account, but it does help when you combine assets or at least view assets as an entity within a household to say, "Okay, here are some of the goals that we have. We will both build our RSP. We will pay down our mortgage. We will retire debt." So it's a matter of, I think it's about full, true and plain disclosures. I think that those people who have told me they have secret of bank accounts, it doesn't usually go over so well.

Sometimes if you decide to have one bank account, you put spending thresholds in place. Maybe depending on your income, it could be 200 bucks, 500 bucks, 1,000 bucks, whatever it is that allows you to just go and spend. You don't have to be accountable for every dime. Everyone needs some flexibility and respect financially. But when you get to a certain number, it's not about asking permission but maybe it's all about simply saying, I'd like to have a conversation to make sure that we're spending our money in the right way or whatever it is. So, it's just about having those discussions in terms of what works right for you.

Can you talk a little bit about how important you think it is to be on the same page financially?

I think people have different money mindsets. There will be some that we'll spend, others that will save. And that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be together. It means that you have the conversation and you figure out a way to manage around it. Because when you look at the divorce rate, if you think about it in many cases, the number one cause is often about money. We are seeing people now divorce rates going higher. I lost my job. I lost my wife because all of a sudden this gentleman said to me I just simply wasn't making what I was and that wasn't good enough anymore. So in the middle of a crisis, that isn't when you want to be having those conversations. It doesn't mean you do everything exactly the same at the same time, or you make the same amount of money. It's about being respectful financially in that relationship, at least from my perspective. And so that means getting aligned, at least in terms of a conversation.

Can you talk a little bit about the signs that a relationship has become financially abusive?

When information isn't shared. When one partner maybe makes less than another partner and they have to ask permission either for money or to spend. If one person threatens another person with their livelihood as a result of what they can do and when they can do it because they make more money. Not disclosing where you stand financially. Even in some cases, people will say, "Don't you worry about it. I'll look after the finances. I'll look after the investments. You can look after other things." No, that's not the way life works. And so, I think there's got to be a lot of respect there and I'll go back to what I said earlier; full, true, transparent, honest conversations about where you're at.

And it doesn't mean that you have to manage the money. I am a certified financial planner. I'm in the markets every day. I know where we stand financially. And if Jim wants to manage the investments, I'm okay with that. But I'm not abdicating total responsibility. He likes doing it. He's got the time. And I think, okay, great. If this is something you enjoy doing, great, but we're going to sit down and we're going to talk about it because I want make sure, because we are a household that has one bank account, that we are aligned before the triggers are pulled on some of the bigger investments. And I can guarantee you they are in terms of the discussion.

There was an individual, a woman who lost her husband and she reached out to me and she said, I don't know what I'm going to do. I use my Instagram, by the way, for direct messages. And people direct message me very private conversations. This woman lost her husband and she said, my immediate response was, and I was devastated, was, "I don't know if I can afford a funeral for him." She truly did not know. And I said, "How can you not know?" And she said, "I don't manage the money." She subsequently found out of course she could afford it and now she's very actively involved. It was one of those things, she said, "I didn't actually ever feel it was abuse." But in some ways she took responsibility herself to say, "I never asked the questions because I actually was afraid that he might get angry, he might think I was getting involved, I wanted to take things over." When in fact her financial future, no one cared more about it than her, but she never really knew where she stood until sadly he passed away.

I'll give you a more personal example. When my biological father died when he was 36 of a heart attack and mom remarried to a wonderful, wonderful man and he managed the finances in the household. When my stepfather, who I always called my father by the way, passed away, I immediately assumed that I would take over the finances for mom. And she went, "Well, not so fast. Why are you making the assumption I can't because I didn't?" She said, "I was happy to let things go. I was on top of it. I will manage my own finances until I get to a stage." And mum is 87, by the way, and still managing her own finances. "Until I can't. And then if I have questions, I'll ask you. But until then, I'm good." And I went, okay, back off. Stand down.

Do you think it's a mistake for one partner to completely delegate?

Or abdicate, however you want to word it there. You know what? I think what can happen, and I think it's a really good thing. And we tried it for a bit and then I said, "Okay, I'm not doing this anymore because I can handle the books." But go for three months. I don't like going to the garbage dump. I got to tell you, I really don't. We're working out of Muskoka and it's dump and there are a lot of animals there. So I send Jim. But that doesn't mean I can't, and I did, and I picked it up. So I will take on some of the things he does. He will take on some of the things I do so that we are both very comfortable in doing these things. I think it's worthwhile to have that conversation in a household. I still don't like going to the dump though, I'm just going to say.

Any thoughts on what people should be thinking about when they hit the job market and go through that process?

Well, what you might like to do is not necessarily what you might be in a position to do when things do open up. The jobs may not be readily apparent right at the get go. And so, I think you got to keep in the back of your mind if your job isn't a job that you go back to, your next job doesn't have to be your forever job. It doesn't mean it's going to be the one that you're going to do for the rest of your life, but it could be the job that you get that allows you to pay the bills to continue to look at what else is opening up. I do think that many employers that I've talked to when I've done some writing on this, they will say, one of the questions I ask is, what have you been doing during the pandemic if you haven't had a job? And how they answer, now, some people are doing everything they can just to get through a day, but there are other people who may not be looking.

There are others that have opted to take the summer off. There are some that are saying, "I'll worry about the job when I get back." But there's a difference between people who are saying, "I'll just do whatever when I get out of this situation or the CERB dries up." And there are some that are saying, "Okay, I got to do something different. This is a golden opportunity for me to do that and I'm going to really think about what is it that I love to do? Really, what is it that I find great joy in every day? What is it that I could be really good at as well? And the sweet spot is, how can I get paid to do it?" And then people are starting to source out companies. Maybe there aren't jobs today, but that doesn't mean there won't be jobs tomorrow. And I don't think you give up. I think you continue to figure out what comes next.

Do you have any big picture opinions or observations of what that different might be? Do you see certain big picture trends happening that may pose opportunity for people?

Well, I do think that the work from home, at least for a lot more Canadians than we ever realized, isn't going to go away. The biggest issue in corporations in towers are elevators. And until there may be a vaccine, that's going to be really challenging for large corporations to bring all of their employees back into the workforce in one location. I do think that we're going to see trends in real estate. People are still very hesitant, and maybe that doesn't turn around overnight, to travel. So we're seeing cottage country properties are going higher. People are renovating. I've looked at results for companies like online shopping. What's happening with Walmart? Their increase in the second quarter was at 97%. Home Depot, their numbers, same store sales, people are changing. So the lifestyle that we once knew is definitely shifting. I just don't know entirely what that's going to look like and I don't think anyone knows with certainty until maybe 2021 as we start to see how things really do play out.

What kind of advice do you give to people who are retired today with interest rates where they are?

Well, I guess there are a couple of things. One is, people are in different camps. There are those who are in wealth preservation mode and there will still be some who are in wealth accumulation mode. And so for ones that are drawing down, some are looking at taking less, but they're also finding that they are living on less right now. If you ask people, what do you really hope for in retirement, the number one question I always get back or answer is I want to travel, and I get that. But then I'll ask them, "Even before the pandemic, did you travel before?" "Not that much?" Well, your lifestyle typically is very similar in retirement to what it was before. You may have the occasional trip here and there, but it's not all the travel that you once thought of.

And so, people are living very similar lifestyles. And so that's family, friends, being able to keep that roof over their head. And so, for those that are really worried about outliving their money because rates are so low, I also talk about the fact that maybe for some of your fixed costs, a small portion of your portfolio, you annuitize. If you lock that money in for the rest of your life, maybe with some inflation protection, that says I can cover off the fixed costs that I have and I will still have a portfolio and in that portfolio, I can travel if that happens or I can spend as I choose to spend.

I know this is distasteful for some, but I have run the numbers a number of times for people who have wanted to explore reverse mortgages. They want to stay in their home. I'm not saying they take out the whole amount, and I know they can be expensive, but for those that want to stay in their own home, they don't want to have to worry about it, they want to free up some cash. It's usually like 30% of their home equity they take out. It's not the whole amount. It is something worthy of exploring.

What do you think about where opportunities might be there, risks? Do you see a trend towards more rural or suburban living? What are your thoughts?

Well, we are certainly starting to see that. But not everybody is bailing. You just need to look at the real estate prices and sales that have really picked up over the last couple of months since they sort of dropped off during the pandemic for sure. We built a cottage about three years ago and we did it for the family that was growing so we would have a touchstone. I had no idea what was coming down the pipe. We just didn't know. It turns out it is a good thing because given, one, my age and two, IMS [inaudible 00:38:13], we live in a condo in the city and my doctor said, "You've got a second home." And this was before, this was back in early February. Before the prime minister said stay out of cottage country, we were already living up here full-time and I was advised to work from home.

And so I took it very seriously, but I also had to respect the fact that we've been in this cottage country area, not this place, since 1995. Everyone knows us. I kind of explained the situation and they were extremely welcoming. But I'm hearing from a lot of people that, when you talk about those DMs, they're saying, "I'm not sure I want to be in the city anymore." And I just think there's going to be a bit of a shift. We are seeing it absolutely in real estate. A number of people are also saying to me that they are not going to be traveling. Even when a vaccine happens, it's going to take some time to build confidence. So rather than travel, they're renovating their backyards. Cool, try to put a pool in right now and you can't. Someone on my direct message said to me, "I have already paid for a pool for our granddaughter for next summer, and it doesn't go in until the spring. I hope the company's there."

What do you think about the state of Canadians access to financial advice? Do you think there are enough opportunities for people to get financial advice?

No. And nor do they necessarily want my advice. My son asked me recently, "I have some money to put in the market. Can you ask someone who knows what I should do with that?" I went, "Yeah. Okay. Thanks Dave." But I also can tell you is that these are questions that are typically one-offs and I am very careful not to give out advice without having the whole financial picture of someone because last thing I want to do is prove to be misleading. But what I can do to someone is say, "Here is something I would think about. Why don't you go and explore this? Or ask this person this question," or point them in a direction where they can get more information on that.

Sometimes I will tell you that people will self select and they'll say, "I don't have enough money so my financial institution isn't going to pay attention to me." And I disagree with that because I do think that when you go to someone and you have a serious desire to get your financial life in order, to start saving, to set up pre-authorized purchase plans, you're the type of customer people want because over time that money is going to very quickly grow. And so, if you are someone who is serious about taking control, looking for direction, setting up the right plan so that you can start to accumulate some money and get it working in the markets over time, yeah, there are people out there, but it is hard to point them in the right direction if you're in the lower income, lower net worth bracket.

What do you think about developing in Canada anyway? The fee-only financial planning practices or the hourly fee financial planning practices. Do you think that's a good thing for Canadians?

Well, you know what? I think advisors, planners, however, they have to be compensated. It's a job. I always say to people when they say, do you think that's the way to go, as opposed to me saying, well, pay based on assets, based on a fee, based on a front end load, a backend load if it's a mutual fund; the first question you should ask after you've established some rapport that this is someone you might want to work with, are you making recommendations on investments based on my best interest or is it how you're compensated? How are you compensated? And I also want to know the strength of the organization. What happens if you make a recommendation to me and it's not aligned to who I am as an investor and I would never have gone into that? What sort of recourse do I have?

I think people have to ask the tough questions that just makes sense to them. So if you're fee only and that's happening, there will be many people that will be very happy with that. But there may be others who are not. So, it's a matter of having conversations as to why you're doing it.

What would be your number one piece of career advice?

Oh, get excited. Follow your passion. I love talking about money. I do. I wanted to build out a platform and I was lucky enough to do it with one of Canada's major networks. But don't give up the dream. Sometimes you have to get off your own coattails to move forward. The only person holding you back is you. I will often say to people, I think of myself, my life, as a book, and it's my book. I'm writing the chapters and each chapter as it ends, I don't know if I'm going to go this way or that way in the next chapter, but I get to write that chapter and I choose to do it. So, to the extent that I can squeeze every ounce of joy out of every day, I don't know what happens next. If the job, what I'm doing today, isn't there tomorrow, sure, will I be sad and devastated? Absolutely. My husband says you'll have to take me to intensive care. But once I get through that, then I'll move on to say, "Okay, what's next?" I'm always looking for something around the corner.

How do you define success when you look back over not just your career but your life?

Wow. I think the success really comes down to, and people always say this all the time, but it's about being balanced. It was about being in a relationship with a household where we have four great adult children that are on their own. I'm in a relationship with my husband who I can tell you I've never made what he's made, but he knows that my job is as important to me as his is to him. And I think it's about respect. And so, yeah, I think the things that we value most is our family and our extended family. And I just feel fortunate that I get to do what I love to do every day.