2022 September Update

September hit us like a whirlwind, and we can finally, tearfully, say that summer has officially passed, and autumn has arrived in Canada. Long holidays are behind for most of us who haven’t yet transitioned into what we like to call your “third act” (but most people still call retirement). Students are back at school and that gas pedal feels like it’s been pressed to the floor.

Holidays that involve families and friends are coming at us, and for the first time in a few years, we might be celebrating them in person. At least, that was the case when we wrote this. We’re re-learning how to be together again, figuring out how to do it safely, and trying to remember which fork we’re supposed to be using. The Spring team was mostly using spoons throughout the pandemic, and we think that might be the safest bet going forward.

There’s a word that’s been bandied around for a few decades when it comes to figuring out how we piece together all these competing interests in our lives:

Balance.

At first it felt like figuring out your comfort zones in each area, which sounded pretty good. Over time, balance started to become something we could potentially solve with a formula – and that there was a “right” way to achieve that balance.

If you’ve been hanging out with the Spring team for a while, you know that we don’t believe that there’s one “right” way to do much in your life. Whether it’s spending time alone, with your family and friends, engaging in activities that invigorate you, or even those less-fun activities that keep us alive and on the right side of the Canada Revenue Agency or the IRS…the way that you do it – and how you pay for it – needs to be unique to you.

Why?

Well, there’s only one you. You only have this life. (Right now, anyway; we withhold any commentary on past and future lives.)

What is important, and has always been important, is that you create the life you want to live. That’s why we keep harping on about designing your life and why we wrote an entire series of articles about it.

When you have a good idea of what your best life looks like, what success really feels like to you – at least for now – it gets a whole lot easier for us to do the job of helping you create the financial structures to support it.

It’s also a lot easier for you to find the energy to do all the boring things to create and maintain those structures. Managing, maintaining, and learning about your finances is not everyone’s idea of a good time (it’s ours, but we’re weird). Everyone’s idea of a good time is creating and living out their best life.

This autumn, as the world throws various curveballs at you and you figure out how to do this family and friends thing again, think about what’s going to serve you best going forward. Make tweaks to what was normal so it feels even a little bit more like the life you want to live.

Just because you always attended 15 winter holiday parties, made boiled brussels sprouts, spent more than you could afford on gifts, or mailed out hundreds of cards, doesn’t mean you have to (unless you really want to).

If you could do anything…. What would you do? Let’s build your finances around your best life.

Practice Notes:

Let’s talk about Estate Planning! On Wednesday, October 12, Julia will be one of two expert speakers, invited by Steadyhand Investment Management, to talk about persnickety end of life financial details. You can join us by registering here.

We’ll be enjoying a long weekend on Monday, October 10 (Thanksgiving). Sandi will be back in the FEA program on October 12 and 13, continuing to upgrade our advisory toolbox. Outside of that, we’ll be here and working away all month!

“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:

What’s Your Money Story?

Our friend Leah Goard is holding a free Masterclass on September 23. You can register right here (and yes, there’s a replay if you can’t make it live).

US Tax Filers

IRS Provides Penalty Relief For Some 2019 & 2020 Late Returns. Read more here.

Retirement: The Biggest Retirement Challenge No One Talks About 

Read more here.

Decision Making: Why Do We Have a Harder Time Choosing When We Have More Options? 

Read more here.

Financial Industry Regulation: The Financial Planning Association of Canada Fights For Fee Transparency 

Read more here.

Estate Planning: What Is a Letter of Wishes in Your Estate? 

Read more here.

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