Who, When, What, Where, & How...

The Role of a Financial Planner

A Financial Planner plays a vital role as the "third member" of your business team, acting as an intermediary between your accountant and lawyer. The planner is a trained and certified professional who can help you construct a bridge between your profession or business, your investments, and family estate. He or she is an individual who has made it his or her career to look backwards at your history and circumstances, and forward to guide you through the ever changing taxation maze. The Financial Planner helps you to design your future to grow your investments with prudent security, and to minimize taxes at both the corporate and personal level.

Who Needs a Financial Planner

Anyone whose business activities and personal net worth generates the taxable income that supports ownership of secondary real estate, stock investments, the hope of leaving an inheritance to their children and, has the desire to build a carefree retirement lifestyle. A qualified Financial Planner can help you make the right decisions today to avoid the pain and anxiety that a lack of forethought and poor planning can bring upon a once secure family situation.

When Should You Engage The Services of a Financial Planner

Of course, the earlier on in your career the better as the longer horizon you create for yourself, the more time your investments and tax planning have to grow and mature into signitifcant value. A long-term plan helps to establish the necessary criteria demanded by many tax shelters allowed by Canada Customs and Revenue, and help to smooth out the day to day fluctuations of the stock market. However, as you can't turn back the hands of time, whenever you begin to evaluate your investments and estate, is better than having no plan at all.

Choosing the Right Financial Planner for You

More Canadians are seeking out Financial Planners to help guide them along a path to economic security. With today's rapidly changing tax environment and volatile stock markets, it's wise to get professional guidance when making decisions about your business assets, property, and investments, either on a one-time or ongoing basis. A Financial Planner will help to analyze your family's total needs in areas that include investments, taxes, insurance, educational goals, retirement and estate planning, and put it all together in a workable plan that provides you with peace of mind and eliminates many regrets later on in life.

What Should Be in a "Financial Plan"

For professionals and executives, a comprehensive plan should ensure that your present lifestyle continues no matter the state of your future earnings or personal health. A properly designed plan should create: Sufficient money for retirement or for major purchases such as a house or education Sufficient money to support your family when you die or if you become ill and are unable to continue working For business owners, it should ensure in addition, that through sound planning you are able to: Obtain a fair price for your business when you die or if you are disabled Transfer the business to your children on a tax reduced basis Provide for the payment of capital gains tax on death Use your business to provide tax deferred retirement funds in addition to RRSPs Reduce costs of plans such as employee benefit plans and pension plans Minimize the costs of losing a key employee

How Do You Engage the Services of a Financial Planner

There are many different means by which planners are compensated for their services:

• Fee-only financial planners charge a flat rate of $75 to $200 an hour, alternatively a pre-negotiated fee ranging between $1,500 to $5,000, or a percentage of an individual's total assets in return for managing the investment account.
• There are also planners who sell financial products, from which they derive commissions ranging from 1 percent to 6 percent.
• Many planners combine fees and commissions.

In all cases, the planner should carefully explain the fee or commission schedule up front. Every planner should also offer an initial free consultation just to get acquainted and to assess the compatibility of the prospective client with the planner.

Use your initial visit to get acquainted with the planner, to see whether your personalities and goals match, and to get an estimate of what a plan would cost. If you do become a client, expect a written plan that clearly states objectives and goals and gives specific recommendations for attaining them.

Who is Baywood Financial Group

Baywood Financial Group is a small, "boutique" style, wealth management service specializing in assisting self-employed professionals and small business owners to more prudently manage and plan the evolution and conversion of their business assets into personal retirement and estate wealth. The company endeavors to provide a holistic approach to financial planning, taking into consideration the ability to effectively shelter income at the pre-tax corporate level, investment growth, succession charges, spousal and heir relationships, and of course, growth through wise investment.

Richard Segal, B.Com., CLU, CFP, FPSC is the president and principal of Baywood Financial Group. He is a past president of the Scarborough Estate and Financial Planning Council, the Toronto chapter of the Chartered Life Underwriters, the past Director of the Canadian Association of Financial Planners, a member in good standing of the Financial Standards Council, and is a guest lecturer at Seneca College. He is the co-author of "Wealth Creation for Canadian Executives" and for several consecutive years was a featured guest on Cable Pulse 24.

To Contact Baywood Financial Group: Richard Segal Baywood Financial Group 235 Yorkland Blvd Ste 1200 Toronto, Ontario M2J 4Y8 Canada Tel (416) 221-1313 Email rsegal@baywoodfinancial.com