“I have been saving for just over a year, & I’ve already saved >$14,000. Sindy helped me set up an RRSP & a TFSA. It’s automatically taken out of my account each week, so that I don’t even have to think about it. I’m able to easily access it & make changes to my contributions as needed. Easy peezy! I’m so relieved that I finally started saving for retirement!”

Investors who work with an advisor have been shown to have almost 4 times the assets of investors who don’t work with an advisor over a 15-year period. And, despite the prevailing opinion that advisors only work with the wealthy, many Canadian investors had investable assets of under $25,000 at the beginning of the advisory relationship.

What does an advisor do for you? They can provide a detailed step by step, financial plan that is tailored to your individual financial goals and situation. Your plan will be monitored and updated regularly so it grows with you throughout your career and in retirement. An advisor can offer financial solutions for your investment portfolio, education to help you understand and gain confidence in your plan as well as guidance and support to instill good savings habits.

A good advisor will poke and prod the way a doctor does. Just as doctors listen to their patients regarding symptoms and ask questions to gain a better picture of their physical health, an advisor will ask questions to gain a better understanding of one’s financial health. A professional advisor looks at the whole picture to ensure your plan is comprehensive and will help you achieve your objectives. Services such as insurance protection and tax and estate planning go hand in hand with retirement planning. While an advisor will make suggestions based on your situation, you are the one who will ultimately decide what works best for you.

The BCNA is constantly evolving to better serve its members. In September 2013, they launched their group retirement savings plan. This plan allows members to save for their retirement and other life events by offering RRSPs and TFSAs. Since it is structured as a group plan, there are several benefits offered to you which are not available to many individual investors:

  1. Lower management fees – range from 1.86% -2.0% – which means more money in your pocket. As the BCNA plan continues to grow, the fee may be further reduced and
  2. Investors with over $25,000- fee will reduce “proportionately” over time as the account value grows
  3. Education and guidance- information and support, online plan information, tools and calculators designed to help you plan ahead
  4. Top of class investments- pension style investing with professionally managed portfolios
  5. Death benefit guarantee on the book value of your investment
  6. Personalized consultations – advisors who can help guide you through the process: how much should you save and into what accounts? What is the most tax-efficient way to structure your investments? As a member of the BCNA plan, this service is complimentary for you.

What could $25,000 have done for you, if invested in the BCNA Group Retirement Savings Plan? Since its inception in 2013, members who deposited $25,000 at the start of the plan and continued contributing $500 at the beginning of every month, would have accumulated between $72,700 – $80,400. This range is dependant on risk tolerance and consequently, which portfolio was selected. There are many investment options ranging from portfolios designed for the very conservative investor to those who are seeking aggressive growth. Regardless of which is chosen, the composition in your portfolio automatically changes as you approach retirement. This is another benefit available to the BCNA Group Retirement Savings Plan members. Over time, investments become more conservative to protect your investments when you are nearing retirement.

Those who set up an automatic debit for $1000 per month into the Melodia Maximum Growth Fund now have close to $89,255. Investors who took it one step further and invested their tax refund of approximately $3600 into their plan, have over $116,300+, in just 6 short years!**

Investment returns are important but saving on a regular basis is equally important when it comes to reaching your financial goals.

“Sindy and Saskia have helped me navigate the daunting world of insurance, investing, and retirement planning. Retirement planning especially is complicated and full of emotion. They explain everything so clearly and are always there to answer my questions and support me, which takes all the fear right out of it. I’ve been working with Sindy for a decade now and refer to her any chance I get and there’s a reason for that!”

Greater peace of mind comes with knowing you have set yourself up for success in your retirement. This allows you to choose if and when you would like to slow down your practice while being confident that you will be comfortable in your retirement. According to the 2019 Sun Life Barometer, people who work with a financial advisor feel more secure in retirement. In fact, 62% of Canadians with an advisor are satisfied with how much they saved for retirement, compared with 37% of those without an advisor. Investing in the BCNA’s Group Retirement Savings Plan allows you to save to secure your future and encourage and support your fellow colleagues for the same success.

With online access, online enrollment, online or telephone communication and personalised advise, makes it easy to get started.

“I have been working with Sindy since graduation from Naturopthic College. With her help saving for my future has been one area of my complicated professional life that I know is taken care of. From day 1, and ongoing, I feel like she has my best interest in mind.”

“Being self-employed and therefore not having a pension or employee retirement fund, thinking about the future can be somewhat stressful. Investing in the BCNA Group Retirement Plan has provided me with an excellent way to put money aside for retirement. Given that I’m not “investment-savvy”, I very much appreciate the time Sindy spent with me prior to my committing, educating me on the plan and its profile, and that I can communicate with her on a yearly basis to review my plan.”

For more information on this plan, please contact

Sindy Billan at sbillan@telus.net or

Saskia Vermeulen at saskia@southlandsfinancial.com  604-862-7891

*Past performance does not indicate future returns. Returns will be determined by the investments chosen and the markets and timing of deposits.

Assumptions: Melodia Moderate Growth fund, Melodia Maximum Growth fund Annual rate of return, net of fees, over a 5-year period, 4.07 and 6.34% respectively. Marginal tax rate of 30%.

Source: The Gamma Factor and the value of Financial Advice, Claude Montmarquette, Natalie Viennot-Briot, 2016

Source: Canadian Investors’ Perceptions of Mutual Funds and the Mutual Fund Industry, Pollara 2016.

This article has been provided by Sindy Billan, SB Wealth Solutions* and Saskia Vermeulen, Southlands Financial and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal, accounting, tax, investment, financial or other advice and such information should not be relied upon for providing such advice. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made by Sindy Billan or Saskia Vermeulen as to its accuracy, completeness or correctness. *SBILLAN Wealth Solutions Inc. doing business as SB Wealth Solutions E&O/E 2019

About Sindy Billan & Saskia Vermeulen

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Sindy Billan SB Wealth Solutions

#2000 - 1500 W Georgia St.

Vancouver, BC, V6G 2Z6
sindy@sbwealthsolutions.ca
+1.604.618.0482
+1.604.687.7773
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