2021 November Update

November is Financial Literacy Month, and the theme for 2021 has been “make change that counts.” Over the month, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada maintains a database of events put on by organizations across the country designed to strengthen the financial literacy of individuals and families.

The underlying premise of financial literacy, of course, is that if people just knew better, they’d manage their money and debt wisely to save for the future. They’d have emergency funds and own homes and own insurance and build wealth and start businesses and pass them on to the next generation and give to charity. In the face of adversity their knowledge will give them confidence to make good decisions and the resilience they need to survive and thrive.

It seems like a nice, well-meaning idea, but the concept of knowing your way to financial success is actually nice, well-meaning baloney.

Just knowing more about finance doesn’t help you make good decisions about your own life (or else we could hand everyone a textbook and call it a day)…but knowing more about you does.

Unless you’re a Model Canadian Citizen Robot Mark 1™ fresh off the factory floor, the financial decisions you have to make for yourself, your business, and your family are not the same as the ones your neighbour has to make. The outcomes you’re looking to achieve might be wildly (or just mildly) different from anyone else’s. Applying general financial principles and knowledge of how taxes work is not the way to create a life well spent, unless your life is the same as everyone else’s life.

Nope. You don’t need financial literacy – at least, not on its own.

Rather, you need financial support: the kind of compassionate safety net that creates equitable outcomes for everyone, not just those who are lucky enough to begin running the race a couple of strides ahead of everyone else at the starting line.

You need financial guidance: the applied knowledge of people whose whole job is knowing so they can support you in what you’re doing.

You need financial empowerment: the wisdom that comes from deeply understanding who you are, what you value, and what success looks like for you.

We are all for making change, personally and professionally. We built Spring around a unique (at the time) set of values, top of which is identifying what “change that counts” means for each individual and family we work with before developing a plan to make it happen.

This need for financial empowerment over financial literacy is the reason we’ve been encouraging you all year to reflect on your own values and consider how you can live them out everywhere – yes, even in (and especially in) your estate plan.

In this month’s feature, the second to last article in our Values Series, we’re diving deep into how you can express your values in the way you plan for your own death, which is one of the most loving things you can do for those you leave behind and one last way to make change that really counts.

Practice Notes:

In the first half of December, the entire Spring team will be working to finish off the year strong before the holidays begin.

Darryl is finished for the year on December 10th, Julia and Sandi are finished for the year on December 17th, and Kathryn finishes up on December 16th. Lindsay and the rest of our stellar administrative team will be taking much-deserved holidays over December 17th to January 4th.

“Free” Fridays remain booked permanently in our calendars. These days are free to us at Spring in the sense that they give us the opportunity to work on becoming better planners, whether through collaboration and discussion, education, research, or even a little downtime. 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.

Spring in the News:

In a recent podcast interview, Julia chats with Shyam Ganesh of Grow Your Wealth Financial Planning about her journey of becoming a Financial Advisor, and the CEO of two remote companies and discusses the importance of building relationships with people based on Values. Listen to the full episode here!

If you didn’t get a chance to join Darryl’s last Market Q&A live, you can access it here.

Are your adult children asking for financial support often? In this article, Julia Chung explains the risks in putting your children’s financial support before your own. Read more.

In this podcast episode, Julia discusses with Seth Greene from the Sharkpreneur Podcast how Spring Plans operate with an Advice Only strategy. Allowing us the opportunity to support our clients personally, rather than selling them a product. Listen to the full episode here!

Planning News Digest:

Ironing out the planning details: This article about one founder’s succession journey, both from his lens and his children’s, offers us some insights and reflections on what a good succession planning process includes.

Councils help families ease into more formal governance: Thoughts and tips on how families committed to successful continuity can embed good family governance through the structure of a family council.

Feature from the Archives:

There are a couple of inevitable moments we can all expect to face, one of them being our eventual death. While this can feel scary at first to think about, we want to encourage you to use Design Thinking when looking to your future. This process gives us a map for thinking things through and alleviates some of the pressure. This article from our archives details 5 steps to use Design Thinking when planning your Estate. Read more. 

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