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It is one of those secrets of success; If you want to change, you have to make a change. If you don’t change things, and external forces don’t do it for you, then life will continue on the path it has been on. You can look into the future and reasonably predict what it will look like.
Well, a year ago, the world as we know it changed drastically.
Did you change for the better or for the worse because of it?
Now, this sounds like a judgemental question. But it isn’t meant to be. It is, however, meant to be a nudge.
I get it. At first, we all paused, waiting to see what would happen. Then the rules changed. Restrictions happened. Then they eased. Guidance changed. Restrictions came back. Now we have vaccines and easing of restrictions. But we are also being told to smarten up (OK, not quite the words Dr H used, but still). Makes it feel like more restrictions could be reintroduced.
So, did you hunker down? Pause? Change your activities?
Pretty well everyone I know made changes. Travel was out. In store shopping was/could be risky. No eating out (take out excepted). No bars/clubs/concerts/trips.
So with all the things we couldn’t do with our money, did we save and invest it?
Amazon and other online retailers reported record sales. Shipping companies are finding they have capacity problems and expansion isn’t keeping up.
One stream of my income (I have 3) ceased to exist. But my other 2 sources actually showed a slight increase. My wife’s only source of income also came to a screeching halt. She has worked on 3 alternative source.
Because of government support such as the CERB, we didn’t lose any ground compared to plan. Business owners in my social circles report 1 of 2 things – their industry was hammered and they couldn’t (or didn’t) change so took a hit. Sometimes a big hit. But other owners report record years.
I’m obviously one of the ones who didn’t change enough for any of my 3 businesses. That said, I have been attending online conferences, webinars, and the likes trying to get inspiration for ways to pivot. I have a few ideas; keep watching this space…
How did the last year affect you?
Did life go according to plan? Did you rewrite the plan? Do you have a plan?
If you don’t have a plan, or would like help reviewing your plan, you can reach out to me through either the Chat box here (it’s linked to my FB Business page so pops up on my computer and/or phone depending on what I’m logged into) or you can phone 587-600-0013 or email protect@ksfraser.ca.
A few days ago I mentioned that money in and of itself is of no value.
Consider physical money. Some cultures used beads, others used shells. The Romans used pounds of Salt (origin of the word salary). In short, money can be anything we collectively agree to use. The western world has agreed upon paper (now plastic) slips and metal coins.
Let’s contrast money against Maslov’s Heirarchy of needs.
Now, the world is in the midst of a transformation to virtual money (think credit cards, debit cards, e-transfers, crypto-currencies). You don’t even have the opportunity to sleep on a bed of money.
So why do we have money?
It is a medium of exchange. It replaces barter. If you and someone else have something the other wants, than a trade is possible. But what if you don’t? what if you need to broker a 3 party trade? Or worse, a trade of future goods (e.g. crop of wheat for shoes made from leather from a cow that hasn’t been born yet?). So we accept Money as the representation of our efforts in the past to be traded in the future.
But there is a risk here; the purchasing power for a unit of money (i.e. how much a dollar can buy) decreases over time due to inflation (size of money supply versus goods and services available to purchase).
How do we protect against this risk? Convert the money into Wealth (an asset). This would be an item that holds intrinsic value. It could be a physical item, or it could be rare skills (i.e. learn something not everyone knows/can do). This would put you into the later 3 stages of Money I wrote about a few days ago.
To learn more, give me a shout!
The stages of money and wealth accumulation:
Did you notice that the last stage changed from Money to Wealth? In another post I will discuss why money is not wealth.
What stage are you in? (I move back and forth between stages 3,4,5 on a regular basis)
If you are looking for someone to assist you in these stages, give me a shout!
“Money is the root of all evil” is an often trotted out misquote. I suspect the people who say this phrase the most are those that do not have any money.
As one of my mentors said, “If money was the root of all evil, the devil would provide you an endless supply”.
How about the full quote, “The love of money is the root of all evil”? If we examine the extreme case of “love” of the money meaning pursuing money to the detriment of all other things, then yes it could be evil.
If you “hate”* money, then you will avoid it. (Can we all name someone we know who hates money?)
However, if we look at the case of pursuing money because of what it is (medium of exchange) and what it provides (i.e. converting once asset (e.g. time) into another (food/shelter/…)) then it can not be wrong. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t unethical (i.e. evil) means of pursuing it (theft, fraud etc) but it doesn’t make the pursuit of it in itself evil.
Once we can get past the mindset that money is evil, than we have a chance at accumulating some. The next step after accumulating some is to convert excess in to wealth. But that is a topic for another post.
*Yes, love and hate are not opposite sides of the same coin but rather the positive and negative versions of the same emotion…
When you think of Financial Advisor, what do you think of?
This must be one of the greatest challenges a Financial Advisor must deal with. We are not Stock Brokers. We don’t just pick investments.
Investment selection IS one component of Financial Planning. But there are many more components.
My role as an Advisor is to help you navigate all of these components to varying degrees. Some of these components I can advise directly; others I must bring in team mates. Who works on what part is dependent upon who has what licenses.
There is a logical order to take care of these components:
Here are a couple of pictures that tell the same story in a few different ways.
And the most important aspect of those three graphics? It’s not money. It’s behavior. Read here to find out why!
If you want to get started on taking care of these components, give me a shout!
A statistic within the financial services industry is that those clients who have a financial advisor for just 15 years accumulate 4 times the wealth compared to their peers who do not have the advisor.
Do financial advisors have some magic tools for picking investments then?
Would you believe that the reason has less to do with the specific advisor and more to do with the use of an advisor?
An advisor will help you document your goals so that you can focus on them. With them in plain sight, you can set targets, and determine the actions that need to be taken to reach them. With regular (financial plan) reviews, you can determine if you are on track or not. With this implicit accountability partner, you will tend to stay on track more, so you will reach your goal faster.
Another benefit to regular reviews is that you can check whether your goals have changed. Or perhaps your circumstances have. If so, then maybe the actions to take need to also change.
Can you do these on your own? Sure. But how many people do?
Contact me if you don’t already have an advisor and you would like to start your journey!
Did you know: The dollar amount of death benefit payouts that seniors forfeit annually through lapsed, or surrendered life insurance policies is $112 billion! (2015). This is more than the net worth of either Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) or Jeff Bezos (Amazon)!
That is $112 billion worth of cash value down the drain. These could have been death benefits, inheritance, or donations to charities. This is $112 billion that insurance companies get to retain. All because policyholders surrendered their policies or allowed them to lapse.
A life insurance policy lapses when a premium isn’t paid. This results in all benefits of the policy being lost!
However, there is a brief grace period during which a premium payment for the life insurance policy can be made.
Yes, there are a few circumstances in which the life insurance policy can be recovered.Â
In short, pay your premiums.
Most insurance companies can automatically withdraw the monthly payment from a bank account.
Some companies may take missed premium payments out of the policy’s cash value. Note: term life insurance has no cash value.
If you’re in danger of a lapse, contact me today. Together we can review your financial strategy to help you and your loved ones stay covered.
With the current “social distancing” restrictions in place, the traditional method of your agent/broker sitting down with you and discussing your needs, providing a recommendation and then writing an application has had to change.
However, things have changed for the better.
As an independent broker I deal with many insurance carriers. Pretty well all of them have changed their plans and processes. No longer are face to face meetings required for ID verification. As well, policy limits have been adjusted so that I can now offer up to 1M of coverage without a para-medical exam. For larger policies, each company has their own processes. Some will offer the 1M for now with the promise to cover the rest once face to face restrictions are eased (so para-medicals can occur). Other companies are allowing alternative ‘evidence’ such as attending physician statements to replace the para. I’ve also heard that at least one company will “rate” (i.e. charge a higher premium) each customer until such time as the para can be completed. If the para brings the rating down, then a refund is retro-active to the in-force date.
The long and short is, don’t let the Covid-19 pandemic prevent you from moving forward on your insurance needs.
For a complimentary assessment of your needs, please contact me to line up an appointment! You can use the FB Messenger chat window on this screen, you can email kevin@ksfraser.com or you can phone 1-587-600-0013.
The following effects have been felt:
Many carriers (insurance companies) are not accepting paper applications. These companies are accepting electronic applications.
Managing General Agencies have closed their office space to non employees. Curbside drop-offs is still possible (so we can still submit paper documentation if absolutely required).
Paramedical companies have limited or suspended their in person appointments. This means that any applications that require a nurse visit (vitals, fluids) are on hold. However, they are still doing the tele-interviews for policies not requiring the in person.
Agents have to adapt their practices. While we can still do in person applications, the social distancing rules strongly recommend doing the applications non face to face.
The good news is you can still purchase insurance. You may have reduced policy amounts available for immediate placement due to the paramedical change in the short term, but you can always top up your policies once things return to normal. As well, permanent policies still have the Temporary insurance available.
