2022 May Update

Happy May! 

Now that you’ve filed your taxes (right?), it feels as though 2021 is firmly packed away and we might be ready to actually focus on 2022, despite being nearly halfway through the year. That’s okay though. As per the proverb:

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The second best time is now.

The tumultuous change we’ve been experiencing since before the pandemic really hit continues unabated. While provinces reduce mandates, relieving some pressure, the change continues in other parts of our lives. For many, inflation and interest rate increases have reduced cash flow, and market fluctuations have created uncertainty. For others, labour shortages have impacted already stressful workplaces, creating even greater demands on individuals and teams. 

What many of us need right now is not just rest, but a reset. 

A reset, in this context, is an opportunity to fill our battery stores, so heavily depleted through the last few years, and at the same time assess what might keep us from emptying these stores in the future. A chance to determine what kind of changes in our lives, ones we could have a degree of control over, might keep our personal batteries replenished for the long term. 

As we all explore these opportunities, it’s delightful to work with you, our clients, to find out how these potential new changes and ideas might be supported by family and business financial systems. To determine if the resources being accessed now, and the ones that could be created under these shifts, might not only be sufficient but perhaps even abundant with these changes. 

Each day, we are finding that our amazing clients want so much more than just feasibility analyses and technical solutions. Instead, you’re looking for a partnership to support ongoing growth, one that also provides education, multi-generational conversations, and planning beyond the end of individual lifetimes. We are finding that your questions aren’t tax-forward or investment-forward or even cash flow-forward, but centered around your values, your families, and the lives you are thoughtfully evolving each day. 

Many years ago, when our planning team members began our individual journeys into providing advice in a different way, we decided that our name would be Spring Plans. Not Spring Financial Plans, but Spring Plans. It gives us a lot of room to evolve with you. Our tagline, “Your Life, Well Spent” has always meant to put you and your life first, with your finances supporting that, and not the other way around. 

Your plans include not only how to build your individual life, but also how to transition and continue your business, or sell it to your competitors. Your plans include maintaining the strong values around which your family has grown, into the next generation. Your plans include supporting your community through gifts of time, expertise, and, of course, money to the organizations that mean so much to you. Your plans include finding new ways to think and talk about what’s important to you, to your spouse, to your children, to your grandchildren, to your friends, to your community, to your industry. 

We’re here for all of it, and we can’t wait to talk to you – if we haven’t started already – about how we can help you achieve the next steps in your evolution.

Practice Notes:

Darryl hosted his regular Quarterly Market Clinic on April 21, focused on providing clients with an update on the major themes impacting the investment markets and economy along with a discussion on diversification and why it matters to clients. Click here to watch the entire presentation. 

Julia will be out of the office May 30 through June 1st, attending (and speaking at!) the Family Enterprise Canada Symposium in Vancouver. 

Sandi will be spending two full days, June 13 and 14, immersed in the Family Enterprise Advisor program, and will be taking a well-deserved rest day on June 22. Outside of that, we all plan to be present! 

You may be aware that both Julia and our behind-the-scenes partner, Krysten, have been leaders and owners in Admin Slayer, a virtual assistant company, since its inception in 2015. Over the past few months, we’ve exited that company, leaving it in the excellent hands of our co-founders, Tracey and Shannon, so that we could focus even more heavily on the work we do with you, at Spring. If you’re curious about that transition, you can read a bit about it right here.

“Free” Fridays remain booked permanently in our calendars. These days are free to us at Spring in the sense that they are our opportunity to work on becoming better planners, whether through collaboration and discussion, education, research, or even a little down time. It’s been a regular practice since the summer of 2017, and we will continue to set aside the time to become better versions of ourselves every week. Even 1% better is solidly worth it, because we know that will be reflected in the work we do for you.

Planning News Digest:

Prescribed Loan Rate to Rise July 1: Now is the time to lock in the 1% prescribed rate on family loans, and achieve an income-splitting opportunity.

What have the unfortunate public feuds in the Rogers and Stronach families taught us about business and continuity? It’s complicated. 

Most business owners don’t have much, if any, experience in selling a company. Here are two different perspectives on how transitions can impact families for generations.

Success is defined quite a bit differently from generation to generation, with sustainability, responsibility, and innovation all being prioritized by today’s youngest adults at an unprecedented level.

Feature from the Archives:

This month, we’re covering the value of family. With tips on how to plan your finances with them in mind, and going over why it matters to you. Read more.

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