Retirement Planning With MC Wealth Management
Are you confident you’re allocating the right amount of your finances towards reaching your retirement goals?
If you have one, has your current financial advisor discussed doing a retirement/financial plan with you?
As of right now do you feel 100% confident that you will be able to retire exactly how you desire?
If you did not answer yes to all of those questions let’s talk about how to achieve that peace of mind.
At MC Wealth Management we view financial/retirement planning through 2 main lenses.
1) To ensure that your future goals and desires are attained from a financial standpoint
2) Provide peace of mind along the journey while enjoying the present
The value of building a financial plan is not just in reaching the end goals, for example, retiring at a certain age or having no more debt in “x” number of years. There is also value in knowing that the plan in place will let you enjoy the present.
Did you know…
- According to FP Canada only 4% of Canadians work with a Financial Planner.
- An additional 17% work with a financial advisor (there is a difference)
- BUT 60% of Canadians DO NOT work with any financial professional (Canada, 2024)
Working with a professional when it comes to building a financial plan will provide you with many benefits. First, it takes sufficient time and dedication to build a comprehensive plan. Software programs can help but the best ones are often expensive. A professional will likely have the software, saving you money and does a significant portion of the work, saving you time.
Next, they will provide a secondary point of view and thought process, potentially uncovering things a person may forget or overlook. In addition, a professional will help provide accurate projections, through standard guidelines and experience.
Finally, they will help with the implementation process and the commitment. By providing regular check ins and check ups an advisor can help keep you accountable to your goals and suggest adjustments be made as necessary.
If you have a clear vision of how you want your retirement to look, are committed to doing what it takes to achieve those goals and have a base level of retirement savings either personal or through work, building a plan may benefit you.
When starting the process of retirement planning, we like to establish a saving habit, baseline amount of net worth (nothing crazy, don’t feel like you need to be a millionaire!) and a mostly clear vision of where you want to go. This is because, in our experience, to build a successful plan requires something to build the plan around (net worth and saving habit) and a set of targets to set our sights on (mostly clear vision). Of course things need to be fluid and able to change, but too much change just results in chasing our tail and little accomplished.
Once these thresholds are reached, we will begin the discussion and data gathering process. We want to learn all about your goals and vision for your future. We will determine where you’re at now and what may be a risk factor moving forward.
From there we will work on building your plan. I mentioned software previously and we do use a software program to help build these plans. However, don’t worry! Our software creates plans that aren’t just a bunch of spreadsheets and numbers. Instead, there are lots of charts and visuals, an example of some below.
Planning software example
This small piece of the plan shows each goal we are working towards achieving with the current standing of each goal. Previously, we would have applied our recommendations on how to achieve that goal more efficiently. This also shows how you can progress to each goal by taking the recommended advice.
Moving forward we provide yearly reviews. This gives us the opportunity to revisit the plan and make any necessary changes. It also gives the ability to discuss any challenges or difficulties in relation to these goals and recommendations.
If you are interested in learning more about MC Wealth Management and the process of building a retirement/financial plan with us, follow this link where you can book an introductory phone call with Matthew Cresswell QAFP directly.
https://mcwealthmanagement.zohobookings.ca/#/introductoryphonecall
Our desire as financial professionals is to provide exceptional service while helping as many people as we can reach their financial goals.
If that interests you, we would love to hear from you!
References
Canada, F. (2024, May 23). 2024 Financial Stress Index finds 91 per cent of Canadians are taking steps to improve financial wellness amidst stress increase. Retrieved from FP Canada News detail: https://www.fpcanada.ca/newsdetail/fp-canada--2024-financial-stress-index-finds-91-per-cent-of-canadians-are-taking-steps-to-improve-financial-wellness-amidst-stress-increase