Design Your Future Financial Services - Brought to You by The Financial Engineer

This year, 2020, was supposed to be the year for perfect vision, then COVID 19, the tragic events in Nova Scotia, floods in Alberta, oil prices plummeted, and now the murder of George Floyd. With so much bad news, how does one move ahead? How do you ensure everything you worked for is safe and protected?   Looking at the stock market and the fact that businesses are starting to re-open, it may appear the financial storm may soon be over. OR Have we been given a second chance to make the needed changes? Here are five steps you need to take now to avoid this and all other financial adversity. While the steps are easy, they are also easy not to do. We are here to help you with the better easy. STEP #1. START WITH YOUR WHY.    Make sure this is clear. What's your vision? What are your values and life goals? Who are you and who do you want to become? Knowing your why will allow you to double down on what makes you productive and ...

Too RRSP or to not RRSP – is this even a question? March 2nd is the cut off date!!!! It’s RRSP season: bank and investment ads are running wild. Consumers are often faced with a confusing jumble of misguided notions about this retirement savings vehicle. Myths about RRSPs run rampant, confusing consumers about whether there is any point in contributing. Is there any point? Unless you are incorporated, there are several benefits to investing your RRSP. If you are incorporated – you do have better options. Let’s focus on the facts for employees or sole proprietorship business owners, and professionals that pay personal tax. Here are some facts. FACT #1: Your Biggest Expense in Life is…… TAXES! Your RRSP contribution will reduce your income taxes and the growth is not taxed.  T his is always a good thing.  You will be taxed when you take your RRSPs out, just like a paycheck.  This is not a good thing.  The theory is your income tax will be lower when you reti...

Are you already wealthy? Meaning, you can retire on your own terms, if you wanted to quit your career tomorrow, you could. If so, congrats, that’s awesome, roughly only 10% of Canadians have the ability to retire on their own terms and if that’s you, give a thumbs up if you agree with what I’m about to share.   If you do not feel wealthy or unsure, you have lots of company.   Give a thumbs up if you find the following helpful… Have you ever asked yourself the question, why? Why are the majority of Canadians financial stressed?  Why are most living paycheck to paycheck no matter what their income level is?  I’ve been become great at asking the question Why, and I have found the answer to the following why:  Why are roughly only 10% of Canadians on the path towards to financial independence while the other 90% are not? The answer is not necessarily what you think.  Maybe, just maybe, even with all t...

Hi, I’m the Financial Engineer and my goal is to help you retire on your own terms – to take you to the next level. I love helping those who want to focus on the important stuff, family/friends, their career and making their communities even better! The topic today is How to Save Money Over the Holidays and Get a Head Start In the New Year. Now, there’s lots of ideas, and I’m going to give you 2 easy to follow tips that will save you big bucks and start the new year off right, free from buyers remorse when you get your credit card statement(s). Ready? Here we go.... Tip #1: Make a List. We’ve all heard ‘those that fail to plan, plan to fail”. Just like the big man in red and white, make a list of who you are buying for and what you are going to get them. Do Not go online or the old fashion shopping thinking “I’m sure I’ll find something….” This will not only increase your time spent, but it will also increase how much you spend. Probably on crappy gifts too! If y...

Saving for Your Children: Congratulations!!!  Welcome to parenthood!   Everyone reacts differently to this phase of life.  We were shocked by how much unconditional love we had for our children when they entered the world – who else would you throw yourself in front bus for?  Below are examples on how to ensure your bundle of joy gets off to the best start: even $50 - $100/month can make a HUGE difference!! Option #1 – Be a Financial Role Model for your Child(ren). Pros:   Your children pick up your good (and bad) habits. They get a head start from 90% of the crowd. Good, quality Catch:   Takes time and effort to learn what financial strategies work. I discovered that most of the research and innovative strategies you hear or read about, are just plain garbage. Fortunately, having an engineering background helped me to shut out a lot of this nonsense. I am happy to help give guidance on how to have conversations about money - I also ...

Ideally, you’ve been putting away money in your RRSP, TFSA, or other savings accounts. But are you overlooking ways to save money  now  so you can free up more for your financial strategy or help build your cash stash for a rainy day? 1. Pay Yourself First. If you’re making contributions to your RRSP at work, you’re already paying yourself first. But you can also apply the same principle to saving. (If you open a separate account just for this, it’s easier to do.) If you prefer, you can accomplish the same thing on paper by keeping a ledger. Just be aware that paper makes it easier to cheat (yourself). With a separate account, you can schedule an automatic transfer to make the process painless and fuhgettaboutit. Here’s how it works. Whenever you get paid, transfer a fixed dollar amount into your special account – before you do anything else. If you don’t pay yourself first, you might guess what will happen. (Be honest.) If you’re like most people, you’ll probably spe...

Ever consider starting your own business? Does anything sound better than being your own boss?  Well, maybe a brand new sports car or free ice cream for life. But even a state-of-the-art fully-decked-out sports car will eventually need routine maintenance, and the taste of mint chocolate chip can get old after a while. The same kinds of things can happen when you start your own business. There are many details to consider and seemingly endless tasks to keep organized after the initial excitement of being your own boss and keeping your own hours has faded. Circumstances are bound to arise that no one ever prepared you for! Although this list is not exhaustive, here are 5 things to get you started when creating a business of your own: 1. Startup cost  The startup cost of your business depends heavily on the type of business you want to have. To estimate the startup cost, make a list of anything and everything you’ll need to finance in the first 6 months. Then take...

Your biggest expense in life is taxes! If you learned how to reduce the taxes you pay, what would you do with your huge return?  • Invest?  • Buy that boat?  • Finish off your home renos?  • Have a down payment for your new home?  • Travel and enjoy your family vacation?  • or simply get rid of that high interest debt?  Taxes are not just your biggest expense, they are also hindering, sometimes stopping you from accomplishing your goals and dreams in life!  Email steve@yourfinancialpotential.ca if you would like to learn how to reduce your taxes and start dreaming again. Make sure to ask for a free copy of "Wake up and Smell the Tax Savings" and the soon to be released "Your Financial Potential: East Coast Edition" Stephan MacLellan  Mutual Fund and Insurance Representative Suite 402, 6080 Young St Halifax, NS B3K 5L2 Email: steve@yourfinancialpotential.ca Cell: (902) 240-6508 www.maritimesuccess.com UPCOMING ...

Did you have Big, Hairy and Audacious (BHA) Goals at the beginning of the new year? How are you doing with your new year resolutions? If you are like me and the majority of Canadians – life, reality, unexpected obstacles, stalls and Murphy intervened. :-/  The new you starts in Q2!  Hit “reset”, begin anew, become that new and improved version of yourself.  Wouldn’t you agree, one of the best ways to improve your life, so you can focus on what is important, would be to drastically reduce your biggest expense? Or as we say in the Maritimes, drop kick it in the neck!! Do you know what your biggest expense in life is? Well, it’s most likely TAXES!!  There are several ways to reduce your taxes and  now is great time to start!   When investing, RRSPs and TFSAs are effective, especially when properly managed. But the best and most effective way to reduce your taxes ,  increase your income and help you reach your BHA Goals is….  star...

Recently, we discussed why people are afraid of money, now we will discuss how to feel good about saving money and creating wealth.  First of all, to feel good about money, you must realize you are its master!   You control what money does and can do - very few realize this.  Money often controls the person and their beliefs what they can and can not do, but not you, not any more. Saving and Investing is a habit, and as most know, good habits are hard to start.  Example:  Exercise and eating healthy are hard to start, but become routine and enjoyable once a habit, same with saving and investing. Here's 3 tips to start the good habit of saving and controlling your $$ which will make you feel good: 1) Pay yourself first .  Invest at least 10% of whatever income you make.  If you make $100 per paycheck, invest $10, if you make $5000, invest $500 and so on. Do this on payday or better yet, have it come off you paycheck directly an...

If you’ve ever avoided looking at your bank account, if you’ve ever panicked about your finances, if you’ve been immobilized by indecision, or if you’ve overspent yourself into debt ... you’re afraid of money.  When asked what I do for a living – I used to respond  “I help families save and protect their money”  with a nice smile. As soon as I said the word “money” I would usually see instant fear in the person’s eyes and body language. Why, in a society where we idolize athletes and movie stars who get paid the big bucks, are most people afraid or uncomfortable about talking about money? Research and from my experience, it comes down to 3 things: 1) Media – fear sells. Guaranteed on the news in the next few weeks - stories about CRA and “wealthy” people penalized for trying to reduce their taxes. Who’s the villain in most movies and what are they trying to get?  2) Our upbringing – media has also influenced how were raised and raise our children. ...