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

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, COO, Financial Planner

Areas of Specialty: Retirement Income Planning, Family Goal Planning

Karen Richardson, QAFP™

Cash Flow & Associate Financial Planner

Areas of Specialty: Cash Flow Planning, Retirement Planning

Kathryn Mandelcorn, FMA, PFP®, QAFP ™

Director, Cash Flow Strategies

Areas of Specialty: Money Coaching, Cash Flow Planning

Darryl Brown, CFA®, BComm

Director of Portfolio Strategies

Areas of Specialty: Investment Consulting,
Portfolio Analysis

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

CERB and COVID-19 Cash Flow Clinic

by Spring Plans | April 3, 2020 | Big Picture, Cash Flow, COVID-19, Investing, Personal Finance, Wealth Management, Webinar | 0 Comments

Note: For more information on the coronavirus and how it relates to your finances, see our dedicated COVID-19 resource page. Cash Flow Clinic Transcript Kathryn Mandelcorn (KM) 0:16 Good afternoon everybody, everybody’s admitted in, we are recording this call. So...

Making it on his own

by Julia Chung | November 15, 2016 | Media, MoneySense | 0 Comments

Sam Omeretti feels financially ready to live on his own. His parents aren’t so sure.

Why You Don’t Want Your Child to Be a Genius

by Julia Chung | November 18, 2015 | BBC Capital, Media | 0 Comments

“Find experts in the fields that your child is interested in,” said Julia Chung of Spring Financial Planning. “Talk to them and ask them for help and support. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to help.”

A Week in the Life of Karen

by Karen Richardson | September 14, 2019 | Week in the Life | 0 Comments

Tuesday, September 3rd 5:50 am I wake up because it is pouring outside and I sleep pretty close to a big window. Even though it is Tuesday, my schedule dictates it is more like a Monday. Labour Day was yesterday, and in the part of Ontario where I live, the first day...

December 2019 Update

by Julia Chung | December 17, 2019 | Cash Flow, Investing, Monthly Spring Update, Personal Financial Planning, Retirement Planning | 0 Comments

Your Spring Plans newsletter arrives a little earlier than usual this month because we are very hopeful that you have the opportunity to walk away from your email and enjoy some relaxation in the last few weeks of the year. Of course, we know you’ll want a few things...

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...

Salesman or Advisor?

by Sandi Martin | May 2, 2013 | Blog, Carnival of Wealth, Fee Only Financial Planning, Personal Finance, Retirement | 0 Comments

The point of this post: If your financial advisor is paid a commission based on what products they sell to you, instead of a straight fee for their advice, that advice is compromised by self-interest. What if I told you that your otherwise competent and experienced...

An Admittedly Biased Argument in Favour of Banning Embedded Commissions and Instituting a Fiduciary Standard

by Sandi Martin | June 26, 2013 | Banning Embedded Commissions in Mutual Funds, Blog, Fee Only Financial Planning, Fiduciary Standard, Personal Finance | 2 Comments

The point: I stand to benefit if embedded commissions in mutual funds are banned, and if a fiduciary standard for advisors is enacted. I don't think it invalidates my argument, but - unlike some of the voices clamouring against the increased safety for investors - at...

Design Thinking: Taxes

by Julia Chung | April 22, 2019 | Design Thinking, Income Tax, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Yum... taxes. As Canadians, we may have love-hate relationships with taxes. Or, like many of our cousins to the south, just flat-out hate-hate relationships. Regardless of how we might feel about taxes, they’re a part of our lives. We can choose to ignore them, we can...

January’s Top Three Reads

by Sandi Martin | January 14, 2020 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

If you - like someone else on the Spring team :coughSandicough: - recently welcomed a dog into your home and are now suddenly A Person Who Has Time for Podcasts, our reading list this month has a beautiful series about Fred Rogers that’s perfect to start the new...

April’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | April 14, 2020 | Canadian Personal Finance News, COVID-19, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

COVID-19 Top Reads As we write this, we’re in the middle of what feels an awful lot like a world-changing event. By the time you see these COVID-19 top reads, we might be already experiencing some kind of recovery, thanks to our doctors and nurses working the front...

The Hierarchy of Financial Needs

by Julia Chung | April 23, 2018 | Accountability, Budgets, Cash Flow, Credit Cards, Debt Management, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

In the world of financial planning, there are different kinds of planning, with different areas of focus and levels of complexity. At Spring, we divide that complexity up into Cash Flow, Comprehensive, and Advanced planning. But here’s a secret: It always comes down...

Because Money Episode 21 | The Rise Of The (Not) Robo-Advisors

by Sandi Martin | August 26, 2014 | Because Money, Blog, Investing, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

This month, we were delighted to welcome Michael Katchen of WealthSimple to the show to talk about what's wrong with the asset management industry, how he and others like him plan to break it, and why regular Canadians who, for whatever reason, shouldn't or can't DIY...

April’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | April 10, 2018 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

I have a short reading list for you this month, since most of us are either rushing to file our taxes or rushing to get outside after a long, cold winter. Notable articles that didn’t quite make the top three include this one from Andray Domise on how - if 40% of...

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...

Subscription-based financial advice begins to take hold in Canada

by Sandi Martin | October 31, 2019 | Media | 0 Comments

Some financial advisors are adopting a new, innovative subscription-based model for Canadians to pay for financial advice that could be especially attractive to middle-class and young, professional investors. The new model sees investors pay a regular monthly or...

May 2018 Update

by Sandi Martin | May 28, 2018 | Fee Only Financial Planning, Monthly Spring Update, Personal Financial Planning, Real Customer Service | 0 Comments

You might not know this, but at Spring, we kiss a lot of frogs. In my neck of the woods, it’s spring peeper season, which means that if you’re near a pond at dusk you’ll hear a chorus of tiny little frogs making some of the most beautiful music on earth. (Have a...

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...

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...

Women & Money ebook

by Julia Chung | March 8, 2017 | Personal Finance | 0 Comments

On March 8, 2016, we released the Women & Money ebook in honour of International Women’s Day. It’s still relevant, and still free.

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.

Managing Uncertainty

by Julia Chung | January 22, 2018 | Accountability, Big Picture, Investing, Personal Finance, Personal Financial Planning | 0 Comments

Oh, January. The calendar New Year starts smack-dab in the middle of winter, and as much as we try to gear up and get excited about this first month, there’s something so exhausting about January. It’s cold. The bills from the holidays are rolling in. We had holidays...

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...

Price Shock: The Sting of Moving Abroad

by Julia Chung | August 25, 2014 | BBC Capital, Media | 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.

Women & Money

by Julia Chung | March 9, 2016 | Personal Finance | 0 Comments

In honour of International Women’s Day, Julia Chung of JYC Financial collaborated with Sandi Martin of Spring Personal Finance and Krysten Merriman of Modern Advisor to create a free e-book for women (with tips men can use too!).

Book Review: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

by Sandi Martin | August 15, 2019 | Book Review | 0 Comments

You know the nagging feeling that something - even a lot of somethings - are wrong, but the language to express what that something is and why it’s wrong eludes you? Enter Shoshana Zuboff and The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. Here’s an example: loyalty rewards....

Financial Markets & COVID-19

by Darryl Brown | March 24, 2020 | Big Picture, COVID-19, Investing, Personal Finance, Portfolio IQ, Wealth Management, Webinar | 0 Comments

Note: For more information on the coronavirus and how it relates to your finances, see our dedicated COVID-19 resource page. Financial Markets and COVID-19 Q&A Transcript 0:00 Thanks for joining this call to review what’s going on in the financial markets, and...

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!

June 2018 Update

by Julia Chung | June 26, 2018 | Big Picture, Monthly Spring Update | 0 Comments

SUMMER!!! Despite the fact that our name is Spring, we have a strong affinity for summer. It’s what we often spend the spring season planning for - and now you can see just one of the reasons why the name resonates: we’re all about creating plans that work. Even the...

February 2020 Update

by Julia Chung | February 25, 2020 | Cash Flow, Investing, Monthly Spring Update, Personal Financial Planning | 0 Comments

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that we spent a few days at the end of January and beginning of February reviewing our 2019 and thinking about our 2020. We were lucky to be able to bring together seven of our team members from across the country for strategy,...

Book Review: The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist

by Kathryn Mandelcorn | May 24, 2018 | Book Review, Budgets, Cash Flow, Relationships | 0 Comments

The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist is not a personal finance book. It’s a book that will have you exploring your values, how you define money and how you use money. Twist’s work stems from 4 decades of experience in fundraising to eradicate world hunger. She has...

Self-Employed & Corporate Income Taxes: Installments, Penalties, and Planning Ahead

by Kathryn Mandelcorn | March 26, 2018 | Income Tax, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Your accountant, the tax software companies, and that place down the block have all been sending you endless lists of deductions, paperwork, and requests for information. It can feel a little daunting. If you’re self-employed, a...

The “Invest Better” Calculator

by Julia Chung | November 23, 2016 | Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

Our own Sandi Martin collaborated with John Robertson, author of the Value of Simple, to create this useful calculator to help investors make an educated decision when choosing from the variety of low-fee robo-advisors now open in Canada. You can try it out...

Introducing Darryl Brown

by Spring Plans | October 18, 2019 | Announcement, Cash Flow | 0 Comments

We are so excited to announce - as you may have seen already on our home page and in our social media channels - that we have another great expert on our team at Spring Plans. Please join us in welcoming: Darryl Brown, Director of Portfolio Strategies Darryl is a...

Book Review: Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

by Sandi Martin | September 18, 2018 | Book Review, 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,...

See, Now This Just Makes Me Angry

by Sandi Martin | April 19, 2013 | Blog, Fee Only Financial Planning, Financial Planners, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

"If you were to assume that many experts use their information to your detriment, you'd be right. Experts depend on the fact that you don't have the information they do. Or that you are so befuddled by the complexity of their operation that you wouldn't know what to...

Variable Income Case Study: Terri

by Karen Richardson | May 25, 2020 | Cash Flow, Debt Management, Personal Finance, variable income | 0 Comments

We’re back with another case study, this time with “Terri.” Terri is 42 years old, single, and works as a pharmaceutical rep earning commission income that varies wildly from month to month. With variable income, it’s hard to save money without knowing when the next...

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...

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...

Book Review: Your Digital Undertaker by Sharon Hartung

by Sandi Martin | January 15, 2020 | Book Review | 0 Comments

I thought when I picked up Your Digital Undertaker: Exploring Death in the Digital Age in Canada, that I’d learn more about how digital assets are treated after death, how to plan properly for my own digital assets and to guide clients in planning for theirs, and...

July’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | July 10, 2018 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

I don’t know about you, but the solid build up of backward progress (on what feels like all fronts) has left me feeling a little indifferent to reading personal finance stuff, as if nothing’s wrong with the world and all we need to worry about is our net worth or...

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...

Integrated Investing by Bonnie Foley-Wong Book Review

by Sandi Martin | May 21, 2020 | Book Review, Investing | 0 Comments

I had the pleasure of sitting in on a talk by Bonnie Foley-Wong of Pique Ventures on the concept of Integrated Investing for a small group of other advice-only planners. I now have a huge crush on her because of her passion for making a difference in the world through...

Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan, Step One

by Sandi Martin | May 27, 2013 | Blog, Personal Finance, Retirement, Series: Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan | 0 Comments

The point: A realistic retirement plan doesn't start with a number and work backwards; it starts with the question "why?" Quick, go to the personal finance section of you newspaper or feed reader and count how many articles and posts from last week start with the...

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...

June 2019 Update

by Julia Chung | June 24, 2019 | Personal Finance | 0 Comments

You made it! You’re halfway through 2019, and by the time this newsletter reaches you, will have already experienced the longest day of the year. Your sunshine time is shrinking now - get out there and take advantage! After all those start-of-summer, Father’s Day, and...

Money 201 with Yours Truly and John Robertson

by Sandi Martin | January 29, 2015 | Blog, Money 201, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Once you’ve already mastered the basics of paying off debt and saving, what are the next steps to take in your financial life? We’ll walk through long-term planning to provide the context for how to fit the financial pieces of your life together, that takes into account your individual needs and goals, and will help you make sensible investing decisions.

Renovation: Profiting from Real Estate

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

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

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.

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,...

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

Karen Richardson, QAFP™

Kathryn Mandelcorn, FMA, PFP®, QAFP ™

Darryl Brown, CFA®, BComm

Connect with the team on social media

What We Do at Spring

Our Process

What We’re Writing

Success!

Don't Be Shy