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, COO, Financial Planner

Areas of Specialty: Retirement Income Planning, Family Goal Planning

Karen Richardson, FPSC Level 1®

Cash Flow & Associate Financial Planner

Areas of Specialty: Cash Flow Planning, Retirement Planning

Kathryn Mandelcorn, FMA

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

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...

Design Thinking: Charitable Giving

by Julia Chung | October 15, 2019 | Big Picture, Design Thinking, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Autumn is a great time to think about charitable giving. As you are someone who plans ahead (or really, really wants to), getting these thoughts in place before the insanity of the holiday season truly hits your life and your pocketbook can help you focus on what’s...

The Because Money Podcast | Episode 11: Home Buyer’s Plan

by Sandi Martin | February 20, 2014 | Because Money, Blog, Home Buyer's Plan, Mortgages, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

In this week's episode of The Because Money Podcast, we finally got to fight a little. Agreeing all the time is so boring, isn't it? What did we cover that was so controversial? Only the Home Buyer's Plan, that allows you to withdraw up to $25,000 tax-free from your...

July 2018 Update

by Sandi Martin | July 24, 2018 | Monthly Spring Update, Personal Finance, Personal Financial Planning | 0 Comments

Have you ever experienced a period of time where anything that could go sideways did? Did it feel like nothing you planned to do turned out the way you thought it should? Did it feel like you were too busy to catch a breath, never mind catch up on the vitally...

Because Money Podcast: An American in Paris (Ontario)

by Julia Chung | November 15, 2016 | Because Money, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Julia joined the Because Money podcast to talk cross border planning, TFSAs and play silly money games with other money nerds.

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...

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...

What do YOU want?

by Julia Chung | January 18, 2017 | Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

It sounds like an easy question.

Thoughts on Privilege In Financial Advice

by Sandi Martin | November 8, 2016 | Blog, Financial Literacy, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Normally on the first or second Tuesday of the month I'm compiling and sending out a Top Three email to subscribers, highlighting the latest collection of thought-provoking, or informative posts on investing, the finance industry, retirement planning, or budgeting...

What We Want for You in 2019

by Spring Plans | January 28, 2019 | Design Thinking, 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....

October 2018 Update

by Julia Chung | October 29, 2018 | Fee Only Financial Planning, Goal Planning, Monthly Spring Update, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

For many of our clients, one of the most frustrating moments of working with expert advisors is when you have this realization: There is rarely one “right” answer. Even when you process this initial realization, and think to yourself, “Sure, everyone is...

June’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | June 12, 2018 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

Finally, summer is here! While I heartily encourage you to spend every possible minute outside (as I write this indoors because I’m tired of wiping pollen off my laptop screen), you may find yourself wishing for some great reads, and boy do I have some for you. If you...

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!).

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!

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...

The Power of Confusion

by Sandi Martin | May 9, 2013 | Blog, Personal Finance, Personal Financial Planning | 4 Comments

The point of this post: the world of personal finance can be as confusing as a room full of five-year-olds playing soccer, and the financial industry needs to stop pretending that it's not. Yesterday was my oldest daughter's first day of soccer. It...

Now What?

by Sandi Martin | January 12, 2016 | Blog, Clarity Model, Goal Planning, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Hi Sandi I know you are often looking for article ideas and I'm wondering if you would feel in the mood to write something to motivate folks who are doing okay, have a plan, no debt,....but need to avoid the temptation to go into debt (aka buy a cottage). It's nice...

September’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | September 18, 2019 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

Are you worried about your parents’ finances? Your own data privacy? Dating someone in a higher income bracket? This month’s top three might not have everything you need to alleviate your stress through the busy month of September, but they will provide you with some...

August’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | August 14, 2018 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

I’ve got a kind of dense, philosophical reading list for you this month, just in time for that Second New Year feeling that September always brings. Don’t miss the Top Three (below), but if you have more time be sure to check out Dan Bortolotti’s bond performance time...

Book Review: We Need to Talk by Celeste Headlee

by Sandi Martin | July 16, 2019 | Book Review | 0 Comments

Any book that promises to help me get better at something important, and that the work will be hard and take time (possibly even a lifetime), is a book for me. I stumbled across We Need to Talk by Celeste Headlee while I was browsing through my library’s e-book app¹,...

May’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | May 14, 2019 | Personal Finance | 0 Comments

If you like the idea of rental income, you may like the idea of dividend income – but is it really better than taking capital gains? Dirk Cotton takes you through the economic theory, behaviour, and history of these two strategies. In “Get More From Your Financial...

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...

Book Review: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

by Julia Chung | April 23, 2019 | Accountability, Big Picture, Book Review | 0 Comments

The Power of Habit and its follow-up, Smarter, Faster, Better, by Charles Duhigg were some of the bright shining spots in my nonfiction reading over the past year. You never know what you’re getting into with any kind of reading, but at least with fiction, you know...

Book Review: The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

by Sandi Martin | November 20, 2018 | Accountability, Big Picture, Book Review, 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...

Design Thinking: Post-Retirement Income

by Sandi Martin | November 21, 2019 | Big Picture, Design Thinking, Personal Finance, Retirement, Retirement Planning | 0 Comments

Congratulations! You made it to retirement, and are living off of a combination of personal savings, company pension, and government benefits ...and here’s where most of the retirement income planning resources stop, as if retirement is a finish line instead of a...

Holiday Financial Gifts

by Sandi Martin | November 19, 2019 | Christmas, Meaningful Spending | 0 Comments

It’s time for the second annual holiday financial gift guide from your Spring Planning team! What follows are gift ideas for the financially inclined, but before you start making your list, check it twice¹ to make sure the recipient receives it as the kind, generous...

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...

October’s Great Reads

by Sandi Martin | October 10, 2017 | Canadian Personal Finance News | 0 Comments

A real short list this month since we’re all still figuring out how this back to school stuff works (are those of you with kids surprised every year? I’m surprised Every. Single. Year.). You have to check out the top three, but if you have time for more there’s a...

Because Money Episode 14

by Sandi Martin | March 21, 2014 | Because Money, Blog, Fee Only Financial Planning, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Despite +Robb Engen's absence from this week's podcast, +Jackson Middleton and I had a great time talking with our guests about why regular Canadians should care about the regulation of financial advice. I've written about the incentives that are holding even the most...

How Much Is Enough for Your Emergency Fund?

by Julia Chung | January 28, 2016 | Personal Finance | 0 Comments

While the basic rule of thumb is to have enough money to cover at least three months of net income, even that may not be enough, says certified financial planner Julia Chung of Spring Financial Planning in B.C.

“Most people severely lowball their expenses; they think they spend way less than they actually do,” Ms. Chung says. “If you spend 100 per cent of your paycheque when it comes in, as many people do, then your expenses equal your net income.

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

by Kathryn Mandelcorn | October 23, 2018 | Book Review, 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...

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...

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.

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.

Spring’s 2019 Summer Reading List

by Spring Plans | June 21, 2019 | Personal Finance | 0 Comments

We love, love, love reading at Spring Plans. Immersing ourselves in data, research, and stories about people is how many of us spend our downtime. We vigorously wave our nerd flags, and each summer build our own individual reading lists to trundle through on our...

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...

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...

RRSPs: Hunting Season

by Sandi Martin | May 21, 2013 | Blog, Inside the Bank, Personal Finance, Retirement | 2 Comments

The point: buying an RRSP sometime between January and March doesn't mean you have a retirement plan. Go into any bank between January 2nd and February 28th and you will be haunted by the specter of an underfunded retirement. You will be offered "retirement planning",...

Not A Litre Of Milk: Evaluating The Utility Of Management Expense Ratios, Part One

by Sandi Martin | September 27, 2013 | Blog, Investing, Management Expense Ratio, MER, Personal Finance | 1 Comment

The point: When you buy mutual funds from the bank, or an advisor, or through your employee plan, how do you know if you're getting what you're paying for? I'm not a fortune teller, but I can probably guess what mutual funds you hold in your RRSPs. You have at least...

RESP Rules & Tips with Sandi Martin & Julia Chung

by Julia Chung | August 8, 2016 | Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

Summer is the best time to learn about saving for post-secondary education. Julia Chung and Sandi Martin chatted with Modern Advisor on July 21st. Click here for the recording.

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...

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.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Retire Alone (And Other Helpful Advice)

by Sandi Martin | November 15, 2019 | Retirement, Retirement Planning | 0 Comments

(This article is reposted with the permission of the author. It was originally published here.) Let me introduce you to my three imaginary friends: Rory, Amy, and Rose. Earning only $35,000 a year at most, each has managed to sock away 5% of that income every year,...

VIDEO SERIES: Carrick Talks Money

by Sandi Martin | June 10, 2015 | Blog, Budgets, Fee Only Financial Planning, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

I had a chance to meet with Rob Carrick at the Globe and Mail in February and record three Carrick Talks Money segments. Our goal was to demystify financial planning for regular people and to demonstrate that it's not an exclusive exercise for the wealthy. Carrick...

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...

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...

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.

Announcement: Sandi Martin

by Julia Chung | July 5, 2016 | Personal Finance, Spring Original | 0 Comments

Announcement! A new collaboration with Sandi Martin of Spring Personal Finance…

New Love: A Retirement Dream – or Nightmare?

by Julia Chung | June 1, 2016 | BBC Capital, Media | 0 Comments

You’ve found true love in your 60s. It might be a dream come true, but there’s far more to consider than just companionship. BBC Capital interviewed Julia Chung from Spring Financial Planning for her tips on starting successfully.

Sorry, Who Is It That’s Suffering? Advocis Doesn’t Want Embedded Commissions Banned, Because Financial Advisors Will Suffer

by Sandi Martin | July 9, 2014 | Banning Embedded Commissions in Mutual Funds, Blog, Fee Only Financial Planning, Personal Finance | 0 Comments

Sometimes, someone says something that is so egregiously wrong that it can’t be ignored. Take, for example, this piece, published this afternoon on Advisor.ca, an online magazine for financial advisors in the investment and insurance industries, which elicited this...

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, FPSC Level 1®

Kathryn Mandelcorn, FMA

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