Our Mission

We believe that you need the tools to create financial success on your own terms.

Conflict-free financial planning equips you to make educated decisions about your future with the information available to you today.

Our Mission

We believe that you need the tools to create financial success on your own terms.

Conflict-free financial planning equips you to make educated decisions about your future with the information available to you today.

Julia Chung, CFP, CLU, FEA, TEP

Partner, Sr. Financial Planner

Areas of Specialty: Retirement Planning, Private/Family Business, Cross-Border Planning

Sandi Martin, CFP

Partner, Financial Planner

Areas of Specialty: Retirement Income Planning, Family Goal Planning

Kathryn Mandelcorn, FMA

Director, Cash Flow Strategies

Areas of Specialty: Money Coaching, Cash Flow Planning

Karen Richardson, FPSC Level 1®

Cash Flow & Associate Financial Planner

Areas of Specialty:
Cash Flow Planning, Retirement Planning

Meet the whole team

Connect with the team on social media

What We Do at Spring

To treat you as the unique person you are by listening, understanding what’s important, and working together to create your life, well spent.

We want our recommendations to our clients to be influenced only by what’s in your best interest, and never by the potential for referral fees or third-party compensation.

We don’t sell products , accept commissions, pay or receive referral fees, or earn affiliate income.

We sincerely believe that financial planning – done well – can benefit everyone, and are actively invested in mentoring and developing new financial planners.

We’ve been running a practice management peer-mentoring group since early 2016…it’s how we met, in fact!

Comprehensive Financial Planning
Retirement Income Planning
Cross-Border Planning
Family/Private Business Planning
Portfolio and Cash Flow Audits

Our Process

What We’re Writing

Book Review: The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

by Sandi Martin | November 20, 2018 | Accountability, Big Picture, contentment, Debt Management, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

When I picked up The Year of Less by Cait Flanders at the library, my friend at the front desk told me she read the first part, but only leafed through the rest. “Minimalism is nice, I guess, but not for me,” she said, as she handed the book to me.I wish she had read...

January’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | January 8, 2019 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

Welcome back!!! We hope you made good use of your Free Pass throughout the holiday season, and that when you look back on 2018, you’re feeling really proud of what you accomplished. If that pride has oddly led to stress and anxiety, you’re not alone. We...

Dear Everyone, Mutual Funds Are Boring. Please Go Buy Some.

by Sandi Martin | July 10, 2013 | Blog, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance | 3 Comments

Mutual funds are profoundly boring, although their ETF cousins have been known to be a little saucy. As an investor, you probably have a vague feeling that by buying mutual funds, you're performing the financial equivalent of buying a pink tract home and driving the...

Canada Pension Plan Maximums January to December 2016

by Julia Chung | December 30, 2015 | Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

With few exceptions, Canadians over 18 who work in Canada and earn more than the minimum amount ($3,500) must contribute to the Canada Pension Plan. Your contributory period starts at the time you begin work and ends at retirement.

Practice News: Collaboration with JYC Financial

by Sandi Martin | July 5, 2016 | Blog, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

It's the best time of the year! Summer in Muskoka with three young kids means lots of late afternoons at the beach, so if you happen to be in Gravenhurst on a sunny day right before dinner...you'll know where to find me.Typically, the summer months are when I try to...

A Week in the Life of Kathryn

by Kathryn Mandelcorn | May 25, 2018 | Week in the Life | 0 Comments

Monday, May 7th 6:00am I wake up without an alarm (I have been an alarm rebel for 6 years since leaving the investment industry when I had to wake up at 4:45am every day) and today was an hour earlier than usual. Thank goodness, as I have numerous emails to respond to...

A Week in the Life of Julia

by Julia Chung | August 23, 2018 | Week in the Life | 0 Comments

This ended up being a week where I didn’t actually work on plans as much - next week, there is a lot of working on plans. This week was…. A lot of the other stuff I do... Monday, August 13 5:00am My alarm goes off and I snooze it a lot. A lot. I was at the Jack White...

Book Review: Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

by Sandi Martin | September 18, 2018 | Financial Literacy, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown is one of those few books that I want to keep multiple copies of, so I can press it into people’s hands and say, “Just read it, trust me.” Brown, if you’ve never heard of her, is a research professor who studies vulnerability,...

How CPP and Social Security Integrate

by Julia Chung | September 24, 2018 | CPP, Personal Finance, Retirement, Social Security | 0 Comments

If you’ve worked in both the USA and Canada, you have likely contributed to both the USA’s Social Security program and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). How will CPP benefits impact your Social Security benefits? How will your US residency impact your CPP and...

September’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | September 8, 2017 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

In my world, September is a BIG month. Summer effectively ends on Labour Day, the kids are at school, and it’s time for a hard reset (what I privately think of as a second New Year) to prepare myself for the whirlwind of the last three months of the year. In your...

Financial Facelifts, Eric and Ilsa, Soundbites, and Showing Your Work

by Sandi Martin | January 23, 2015 | Because Money, Blog, Eric and Ilsa, Personal Finance, Personal Financial Planning | 0 Comments

Most of the value in a financial plan (or facelift, or makeover, or what-have-you) is in showing your work, not in the answers themselves. That is, the fact that recommendations are made for you is equally – if not more – important than the fact that recommendations are made at all.

Dear Big, Enormous Bank With Little Competition, Please Blow My Mind

by Sandi Martin | October 24, 2013 | Blog, Inside the Bank, Personal Finance, Real Customer Service | 11 Comments

Hi. You probably don’t remember me. I was one of a series of warm bodies in that cubicle in Newmarket, the office (with a door!) in Huntsville, and the other office (with a window!) in Bracebridge. I mostly didn’t meet my sales targets and never made my cold-call...

Important Changes to the Principal Residence Exemption

by Julia Chung | December 14, 2016 | Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

On October 3, 2016, Finance Minister Morneau announced new measures to address the housing market, with the intention of improving fairness and integrity of the tax system as it relates to the principal residence exemption. The changes include new reporting requirements, modifications to the calculation of the tax-free amount for individuals based on a residency requirements, and an extension to the period in which a reassessment may occur.

Couple Money

by Sandi Martin | March 14, 2013 | Blog, Financial Infrastructure, Personal Finance, Personal Financial Planning, Relationships | 0 Comments

The point of this post: if you can't be honest with your partner about money and financial planning, why are you with them? A healthy financial infrastructure is cost-effective, simple, flexible, and intuitive. It keeps you on budget, moves you closer to your goals,...

Fill in the Blank (Part One): I Don’t Want to Spend Money On…

by Sandi Martin | September 11, 2014 | Blog, Goal Planning, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

At first glance, it sounds like an incredibly stupid exercise, I grant you. Um, I don't want to spend money on insurance, on my mortgage payment, on those never-ending, teeny-tiny little school activity requests that dribble home every other day, on fixing my car...

Cooking At Home To Save Money Will Still Cost You

by Sandi Martin | February 16, 2015 | Blog, Meaningful Spending, Personal Finance, The cult of frugality | 0 Comments

If you want to get your spending on food or any other category to line up with your income and goals, you’ll have to spend one of your other resources – your time, your capacity, even your social capital – until it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice anymore.

Why Budgets Don’t Work (The Real Reason)

by Sandi Martin | June 18, 2015 | Blog, Budgets, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Sandi's note: I'm not happy about the introduction to this post anymore. Helaine is right: budgets don't work if there's not enough money go go around and government can do something about it. She's been a pretty vocal advocate for policy change on poverty, and...

February’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | February 13, 2018 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

Your portfolio is probably down right now, and I don’t want to minimize the worry some of you are feeling, especially those of you who are about to start, or are already relying on withdrawals from your investments for income. It’s no fun, but it’s also not something...

Price Shock: The Sting of Moving Abroad

by Julia Chung | August 25, 2014 | BBC Capital, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Imagine being asked to do your job in an exotic city in a far flung country… Julia gives BBC Capital her planning tips.

Valuation – How Much is Your Company Worth?

by Julia Chung | November 15, 2016 | Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

Ever wondered how to do a company valuation? Mary Gamble, Chartered Business Valuator at iValue Solutions, provides answers to common questions she receives from business owners.

Withdrawing from RESPs

by Spring Plans | May 28, 2018 | Financial Literacy, Personal Financial Planning, Registered Education Savings Plan | 0 Comments

You’ve been diligently saving in your children’s (grandchildren’s, nieces’, nephews’, neighbour kids’) RESP accounts for years. You’ve maximized your contributions, you’ve collected those fabulous CESGs, provincial grants, Canada Learning Bonds, and deliciously...

September 2018 Update

by Sandi Martin | September 24, 2018 | Fee Only Financial Planning, Goal Planning, Monthly Spring Update | 0 Comments

Now that summer is officially over (boo! hisss!) it’s time for one of our all-time favourite activities at Spring: using what we’ve learned about ourselves to make life better - for ourselves, our families, our team, and our clients. (We swear we’re fun at...

November’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | November 13, 2018 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

Halloween has passed us by, but there are still some slightly daunting things to contemplate throughout the month of November, including talking to your parents about money, what really happens when interest rates rise, and how disclosure isn’t necessarily the...

Violating the Foundational Tenets of Personal Finance for Fun and Profit

by Sandi Martin | November 26, 2013 | Blog, Budgets, Financial Infrastructure, Personal Finance, Personal Financial Planning | 0 Comments

The point: There's no universal equation into which you can plug your details and receive a perfectly optimized solution to all your personal finance questions. I still pay bank fees. (Hear that? That's the sound of ten thousand personal finance bloggers...

Another List: The Best Personal Finance Posts This Week

by Sandi Martin | September 13, 2013 | Blog, Canadian Personal Finance News, Personal Finance | 1 Comment

The point: Last week, I started adding the best Canadian personal finance posts I read to a weekly list. Great idea, since whether I share something to Google+, Facebook, or Twitter is largely dependent on where I happen to be sitting at the time, and adding posts to...

Profiting from Real Estate

by Julia Chung | August 24, 2016 | BBC Capital, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Planning on earning a fortune in the real estate market? Read this first.

The RDSP: 10 Years in 2019

by Julia Chung | May 15, 2018 | Disability, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

In December 2008, the federal government implemented the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), a tax-deferred savings vehicle designed specifically to help people with disabilities, and their families, plan for long-term financial security. An RDSP allows people...

March 2019 Update

by Julia Chung | March 25, 2019 | Budgets, CPP, Monthly Spring Update, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Budgets, budgets and more budgets. The Federal Budget was released on March 19, and you can find our summary here. Some provinces have already released their annual budgets and more are rolling in. If you’re reading as many finance newsletters as we are, you’ll have...

What We Want for You in 2019

by Spring Plans | January 28, 2019 | Goal Planning, Personal Finance, Retirement Planning | 0 Comments

A wish for our readers for the year ahead is becoming a tradition for us. If you’ve been reading the Spring blog for a while, you may remember that past years included wishes for clarity, ownership, structure, and momentum. If you’re new here: welcome—and buckle up....

Paying Your Taxes With Plastiq is a Bad Idea.

by Sandi Martin | March 27, 2013 | Blog, Credit Cards, Debt Management, Income Tax, Paying your taxes with a credit card, Personal Finance, Plastiq | 2 Comments

The point of this post: don't pay your taxes with your credit card. Ever. The big news today (for money nerds who read every scrap of money-related news, that is) is that through the online payment system Plastiq, you can put your income tax payment on your credit...

February 2019 Update

by Julia Chung | February 25, 2019 | Fee Only Financial Planning, Financial Planners | 0 Comments

Happy Lunar New Year! If you’re a regular reader, you already know that some of the team got together at the end of January to retreat and discuss what we did in 2018 and what we’re hoping to do in 2019. Our annual executive retreat, facilitated by the fabulous...

Is my pension… a pension?

by Julia Chung | October 17, 2017 | CPP, Personal Finance, Retirement, Retirement Planning | 0 Comments

“I have a pension through my employer,” says Tim*, in a recent call. “But I don’t understand it.” If you’re like Tim, you’re not alone. In Canada, we have many different potential sources for retirement income, with all kinds of different names. Pensions can be...

HST and Small Business: Onus is a Dirty Word

by Sandi Martin | July 2, 2013 | Blog, HST, Personal Finance, Small Business | 6 Comments

The point: Trusting the government to tell you what you need to give them and when is like asking your three-year-old to make supper: remarkably inefficient. This post ends with an appeal to write your MP begging for a change in the way small businesses are notified...

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers: Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan, Step Two

by Sandi Martin | May 30, 2013 | Blog, Budgets, Personal Finance, Retirement, Series: Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan | 3 Comments

The point: You can't plan where you're going until you know where you want to go and where you're starting from. Do you know what you want out of life? If that sounds like a surprisingly navel-focused question coming from a financial planner, it's only because - dare...

Go Ahead, Spend Your Tax Refund

by Sandi Martin | March 29, 2016 | Blog, Income Tax, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Ah, spring. The time of year when flowers bloom, birds sing, and the entire internet starts yelling at you for getting a tax refund or - even worse - getting a tax refund and then spending it.The horror.The conventional wisdom goes something like this: You shouldn't...

Preparing for Retirement: Start Here

by Sandi Martin | June 19, 2018 | Retirement, Retirement Calculators, Retirement Planning | 0 Comments

When you think of retirement and everything you need to do to prepare for it, I suspect you might think that some of your success hinges on getting the answers to these questions right: When should I apply for Canada Pension Plan benefits to get the most out of them?...

UPDATED: Canadian Investment Fee Calculator

by Sandi Martin | February 10, 2016 | Blog, Investment Fee Calculator, Justwealth, NestWealth, Online Investment Management, Personal Finance, Portfolio IQ, ShareOwner Model Portfolios, Steadyhand, WealthBar, Wealthsimple | 0 Comments

NOTE: The calculator has outgrown its old Google sheet and is now at autoinvest.ca. As of 2017, Sandi no longer manages the site, and the new managers have chosen to set up referral fee arrangements with some providers Welcome to the investment fee calculator, built...

Income Splitting with Spousal Loans

by Julia Chung | August 21, 2017 | Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Ah, tax strategies. Eyed with hopeful suspicion by the uninitiated, a tax strategy can feel like a fun Spy Vs. Spy game - but that other spy? That’s the government. Many a newly minted spy would consider backing away from anything that might have you facing that...

Planning for Retirement: Uncertainty is Certain, so Pick Your Poison

by Sandi Martin | July 28, 2016 | Blog, Personal Finance, Retirement Planning | 0 Comments

If you're planning for retirement and make the mistake of scrolling through any finance section in a slow news week, you have to ask yourself: what kind of questions are they asking to produce breathless headlines like these? Half of Canadians don't think they'll be...

The Biggest Mistake New Entrepreneurs (Almost Always) Make

by Sandi Martin | July 23, 2013 | Blog, Personal Finance, Small Business | 2 Comments

The point: have a plan for the money you earn within your business, and be ruthless about it. Otherwise, you'll only succeed through sheer luck. A short meditation, today. Losing power for forty-one hours during the busiest week I've had in my practice has set me back...

Introducing: Kathryn Mandelcorn

by Julia Chung | December 12, 2017 | Announcement, Cash Flow, Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

We are thrilled to announce the addition of Kathryn Mandelcorn to our planning team!

If You’ve Ever Tried and Failed at Budgeting

by Sandi Martin | July 21, 2015 | Blog, Budgets, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

If you've ever tried and failed at budgeting, or if you've never tried at all because it sounds so hard and boring, this post is for you. Those of you with a budgeting system that works and that you possibly even love and want to have babies with are excused for the...

What I Want For You In 2015

by Sandi Martin | January 13, 2015 | Blog, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

My hope for you this year is that – no matter what your circumstances – you take the time to get really, really clear about what those circumstances actually are, and plan to repeat the process when they change.

On Hiring a Financial Planner

by Sandi Martin | March 26, 2014 | Blog, Budgets, Fee Only Financial Planning, Mint.com, Personal Finance, Personal Financial Planning | 0 Comments

The folks at Mint.com interviewed me a few weeks ago about working with a financial planner, getting started on a financial makeover, and advice for beginners on investing. When enlisting help to manage your money, what should you look for in a planner? You should...

Book Review: Mindset: The New Psychology by Carol S. Dwek

by Kathryn Mandelcorn | October 23, 2018 | contentment, Personal Financial Planning, Relationships | 0 Comments

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is the outcome of decades of research by Stanford University psychologist, Carol S. Dwek. Her findings produced the idea of fixed mindsets and growth mindsets. Dwek describes the Fixed Mindset as belonging to those who believe...

Incoming: Avoiding The Useless Retirement Plan, Part Three

by Sandi Martin | June 5, 2013 | Blog, Personal Finance, Retirement, Series: Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan | 2 Comments

The point: Retirement planning using general assumptions about your future income is just retirement guessing. And - surprise - it's useless. Seriously? Three posts into a retirement series and we haven't even answered the question "how much do I need to retire?" To...

May 2019 Update

by Julia Chung | May 27, 2019 | Cash Flow, Income Tax, Monthly Spring Update | 0 Comments

It has been an eventful month of May here at Spring, with tax season at an end and multiple statements, returns, and updates flowing in from all of you and your accountants. We hope you are as invigorated as we are about all the planning that you can do now that you...

How (Not) to Consolidate Debt

by Sandi Martin | August 14, 2013 | Blog, debt consolidation, Debt Management, Personal Finance | 1 Comment

The point: it doesn't matter what method you use to pay off debt, or if you use any method at all. What matters is that you stop creating new debt. It's out there: the mathematically precise, strictly rational formula for paying off your three credit cards, small car...

Money Matters: Take Control

by Julia Chung | May 2, 2016 | Personal Finance, PowHERHouse Magazine | 0 Comments

Julia Chung’s article in the Spring 2016 PowHerHouse magazine outlines the basics of goal setting.

Capital Dividend Account: Changes to Note

by Julia Chung | December 15, 2016 | IAFE, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

The March 22, 2016 federal budget has resulted in significant changes to the credit to the capital dividend account arising upon the receipt of life insurance proceeds. While these proposals are not yet final, it is expected they will be enacted before the end of 2016 with certain retroactive effect.

Working with Sandi was everything I hoped for. I felt like you got to know me well and very quickly. I feel like your recommendations reflected my current reality as well as my personality. That is, you didn’t recommend things that I would never commit to.

After going through this process, I feel like I have a much better understanding of my financial picture. I so wish that I would have done this years ago!! H. Bellerose

Having an impartial 3rd-party review our entire financial situation is one of the best business decisions my wife and I have made. We consider Julia our personal CFO and have incorporated her services into all aspects of our financial lives.

There’s no pressure to purchase any investment or insurance through her or any associate she has introduced us to; but rather an assessment and guidance on plans we have for the future. C. Dewar

Well, it’s been a year since we came to see you last and enacted our plan and we are writing to tell you that we are DEBT FREE on November 1ST ON SCHEDULE!!!

Coming to see you, using your services, was the best decision we ever made as a couple. We can’t thank you enough. We couldn’t have done any of it without you. Thanks, Kathryn.

K. & J. Shorrocks

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Our Mission

Our Mission

Julia Chung, CFP, CLU, FEA, TEP

Sandi Martin, CFP

Kathryn Mandelcorn, FMA

Karen Richardson, FPSC Level 1®

Connect with the team on social media

What We Do at Spring

Our Process

What We’re Writing

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