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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 31 Don't Have a Financial Plan? You're Not Alone. INVESTMENT AND INSURANCE SOLUTIONS lawyersfinancial.ca Not-for-profit. All for Lawyers. EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE LEGAL COMMUNITY /DZ\HUVÀQDQFLDOSURGXFWVDQGSODQVDUHVSRVRUHGE\7KH&DQDGLDQ%DU,QVXUDQFH$VVRFLDWLRQ&%,$/DZ\HUV)LQDQFLDOLVDWUDGHPDUNRI&%,$ Sponsored by The evidence is in – financial advice is invaluable. Research by CIRANO in Quebec (2012) found that households who use a financial advisor accumulate consider- ably more wealth than those who do not, and this wealth increases over time. After four years, the invested assets of households working with an advisor were 1.9 times greater than those who did not have an advisor. After 15 years, house- holds with an advisor accumu- lated 3.9 times more wealth than those who did it on their own. Simply put, working with an advisor results in higher household wealth. For most, not having life insurance is plain irresponsible. Even if you have no debt and no responsibilities (which would be rare), not having life insurance is likely a poor financial decision – especially for lawyers. Life insurance can be a valuable financial tool in the operation of a firm. As a registered corpora- tion, insurance can be used to create a tax-free pipeline of cash to shareholders. Having life insurance will improve one's ability to obtain financ- ing and can be used to fund a buy-sell agreement with other partners to ensure your fam- ily gets full value should any- thing happen to you. And, life insurance instead of mortgage insurance is a clear choice. Are investment management fees (IMFs) important? Definitely! Lower IMFs can save you hundred of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. As a rule of thumb, a 1% decrease in investment fees could result in a 20% increase in assets by retirement. And, in retirement, a 1% decrease in fees can result in a 20% increase in invest- ment income. A global study conducted by the Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC) in 2015 found that 69% of Canadians don't have a comprehensive financial plan. Since 2011, a number of Canadian major banks have also conducted similar research and the results were the same – reporting that any- where from 46% to 65% lacked a financial plan. /DZ\HUVÀQDQFLDOSURGXFWVDQGSODQVDUHVSR VRUHGE\7KH&DQDGLDQ%DU,QVXUDQFH$VVRFLDWLRQ&%,$/DZ\HUV)LQDQFLDOLVDWUDGHPDUNRI&%,$ Q

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