When we got married in 1981, my wife thought she had landed an up-and-coming guy! This was because I had a nice car, some money in the bank, a job, and some decent clothes. My car loan was only $4,000 and I had $7,000 in the bank. My wife, on the other hand, had just started her career as a teacher. She also had benefits, a pension, and no debt. Her car was a 1967 Meteor Rideau that she owned outright. Its best feature was a massive trunk that could haul hockey equipment and sticks in with no effort at all! Our combined net worth at that time was around $5,000. We felt that we were loaded!

It only took several months to realize that our financial future was not as rosy as we thought. Within two months of our wedding, my car’s transmission died which cost me almost $1,000 to fix. I was thankful that I had cash to pay the bill, but our savings rate was near zero because our fixed costs like rent, utilities, charitable giving, groceries, and the excitement of starting our lives together was using up all our cash flow from our combined wages.

The job that I had at the time was with the Government of Canada. The job was considered a good job in that there was a pension and some benefits. I had been assured by people that seemed to know what a good job was, that if I stuck with it for several years, I would have a secure future. The challenge with the job was that it was monotonous and routine. Each successive day got more and more difficult for me because I was very bored with the humdrum of that job.

When my wife and I talked about our future, we talked about what it would be like when we could have a combined income of over $40,000 per year. That amount of money seemed astronomical to us, as we did not know anyone in our age and social group who earned that much money. This all changed when we met a person who earned over $80,000! (Remember, this was 1981). When we analyzed the person, his skills, and his job, we realized that this person was not much different that we were. The difference was that this person did not let his past life define his future.

I grew up as the 8th child in a family of 10. My worldview was that of a farm boy from rural Saskatchewan who understood that the secret to success was being faithful and diligent to the job at hand. I did have an education and those small-town experiences reinforced that belief. The issue that I came to understand over time was that one can be diligent and faithful to a job that you are not cut out for.

I left the government job in the fall in 1981 and enrolled into the University of Regina in the Winter of 1982. While in university, I took as many classes as I could, while working at different jobs. Some jobs were in labor, some were in retail, one was in social services and the most lucrative was in sales. Once I learned about time management, I always earned more than $25,000 per year. In my fourth year, I surpassed that, earning $30,000, and in my last year of university, I earned over $40,000. In 1987, with no debt other than the mortgage on the house that we had built in 1986 and still driving the Meteor Rideau, our combined net worth on graduation day was just over $100,000.

The big life lesson that I learned was that I was happiest in sales and most discontent when I had a “job”. Whenever I got a “sales” position, I loved the opportunity to serve people and really loved the commission cheques! It took me about a year to make peace with the idea that a good salesperson can be a valuable person in society. I do not know why I wrestled with my self-worth while learning where my talents really lay, but it was a wonderful day when I decided to follow my talent instead of childhood beliefs.

Al’s Nuggets:

1) Opportunity usually shows up in working clothes.

2) Self-employment is about seeking opportunity whereas jobs are usually about security.

3) Bloom where you are planted. If you are not content, it’s your responsibility to be become happy with your position in life.

4) We can do much more than we realize. Being organized, dedicated to a goal, and working energetically can take you a long way!

5) Net worth = Assets – Liabilities (what you own – what you owe)

Financial Planning is as varied and perhaps as weird as the people who engage in it. Everyone who is engaged in the marketplace must organize their financial affairs to some degree. In the classic book, “Basic Economics”, economist and author, Thomas Sowell, asserts that “scarce resources have alternative uses”. Everyone that I have met lives with some sort of a budget. People spend their money in ways that make sense to them. To make this point, just look at your banking transactions over the last six months. You will see patterns of inputs (income) and patterns of outlays (spending). These financial patterns are your budget.

Albert Einstein coined a phrase “a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Many people want different outcomes in their lives, however, cannot or will not make the positive change(s) required to achieve these desires. From the experience I have gathered over the years, habits and beliefs prevent many people from changing their income levels and spending patterns. Small changes can make a big difference over many years. That is the power of compound interest in one’s life. That said, I will recount a story early in my financial planning career.

I went to my first big financial planning conference in 1996. This event was in San Francisco, and it was a big deal for a guy from small town Canada. The event had people attending from all over the world and there were more people at the convention than were living in my hometown! At that conference, I was introduced to a gentleman by the name of Bruce Etherington. Mr. Etherington, a Canadian, was licensed to do business in both Canada and the United States. (I was very impressed by this!) His presentation was simple and easy to understand. His three questions became central to my presentations to my clients for the remainder of my career. Mr. Etherington’s three questions are:

1) What if you live too long? It is not uncommon for Canadians to live on average, well into their mid to late 80’s. This means that people can live in retirement for more than 20 years.

2) What if you get sick or disabled in your working years or in your retirement years? Being sick or infirm can be very costly, either in lost wages or in having increased care costs.

3) What if you die too soon? No one knows the hour of one’s death. Having money in the form of life insurance or substantial cash on hand, is a responsible thing to have.

I recently finished a course that educated me about the Canada Pension Plan. In one chapter on “Longevity”, the author cited that those living in 1800, had an average lifespan of about age 40. Life expectancy has consistently increased since and now stands at 82.7 years in the year 2021. All things being equal, life expectancy is expected to rise by 0.2 years per year for at least the next 20 years or more. This is important because if people are looking to retire in their 60’s, then your money need to last at least 20 years!

Al’s nuggets:

1) See the world as it really is! Loose the rose-colored glasses!

2) Embrace the discipline of developing and following a budget. Spend less than your income and you will have a rosier future! The sooner you start, the better it will be for you and your family.

3) Insurance and Investments work hand in glove as part of sound financial plan.

4) Make time your friend. 30 or 40 years of saving and investing, coupled with debt elimination, is better than getting it going when you are in your 50’s or 60’s.

 In early 1992, I got caught up in a downsizing within the oil and gas industry.  It was not hard to figure out that when one lives in a small rural community that I was out of job and needed to find out what I was going to do next.  When I looked at my options for employment, I knew that I needed something that would provide us more opportunity than security.  I chose opportunity, because I had always admired the entrepreneurs around me.  The successful self-employed people seemed to have the cool things in life whereas, many people that were employees seemed to complain a lot.  I chose the financial services business because it did not cost a lot of money to get started and because I knew that I had an aptitude for sales.

In the early days, my earnings were very intermittent as I only earned money if I sold something.  Life Insurance provided the best revenue as commissions were paid when I sold a policy.  Investments paid a much lower commission because the rate of commission is very low.  That meant that if someone invested some money, like a few thousand, the revenue from that small sale would only amount was only pennies, whereas when I sold a life insurance policy, the commission paid was based upon the amount of the premium.  The company that I represented had another motivator; they paid me another $500.00 when I sold a 6^th policy.  So, my goal was to sell at least 6 policies every month!  The business was so easy that in my 8^th month of business, my commission cheque was $37.85 (Thirty-seven dollars and eighty-five cents)!   This early lesson in cash flow management taught me to be  grateful for savings, lines of credit and my wife’s income and support.

Despite a few rough spots along the way, my first full year was a success.  I earned enough money to cover my business and personal expenses, give some money to charity and squirrel something away for the future!

It was always important to me to be true to my Christian worldview.  It was a matter of integrity to perform my business life the same on Monday as I purported to be on Sunday.  The challenge in the early days was to sell my goods or services in a way that conveyed that I cared more for the client than about my commissions.  There were many times that this was difficult, especially when the demands on personal time and money were tight.

I learned that being a small business entrepreneur is a difficult but noble profession.  Over 90% of people starting in this business are doing something else within 3 years.  My first sales manager suggested early in my career, that I develop a 3- or 5-year view of my business.  I am glad I had that advice.  Thank you, S.G!

It is comforting to have an optimistic picture of where you want to be in the not to distant future.  Having goals and developing processes to support your goals is vital to having an optimistic future!

Al’s Nuggets

1.  Surround yourself with wise council
2. Have cheerleaders to encourage you
3. Have many different advisors who are aligned with your goals
4. Develop processes that you can commit to for many years
5. Be a constant learner
6. Be inquisitive as to how things really work