During the discovery meeting, you will have a conversation with a planner so they can find out more about you, the things you enjoy, and what you want to achieve. They will also ask you about your current and anticipated future situation. Basically, they want to get a snapshot of you, your current lifestyle, your finances, and how things may change in the future.
This information, once documented, gives you and your planner your “state of the nation” big-picture view of where you are now and where you are headed. Depending on the advisor, they will present this to you in the form of a report, video, computer modelling, or some other medium. This gives you a baseline to work from as you begin planning and visualizing how you would like your future to be. I refer to this stage as scenario planning.
Scenario planning is about testing different lifestyle and financial decisions to see what impact they will have on your future. It is like stepping into a flight simulator, with your planner beside you providing feedback. You test different decisions, like your husband retiring now or in two years, and see the results before you commit to anything in the real world.
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Doing scenario planning lets you know what is possible so you can start making good decisions and setting goals. If your husband’s goal is to retire now, will you have enough income? If not, what can you do? There will likely be a number of solutions you can follow to create the income you need, but which one is the right one for you? It is the solution you believe in, and you are willing to implement.
Your solutions are going to be based either on lifestyle or finances, or a combination of both. You have control over your lifestyle decisions, and they often have a larger impact than financial strategies. Examples of lifestyle decisions include working longer or part-time, downsizing your home, traveling less, and so on, and financial strategies may include delaying Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and/or Old Age Security (OAS), investing for higher expected returns, or deciding which accounts to draw from: non-registered, registered retirement income fund (RRIF), tax-free savings account (TFSA), etc.
From problem to solution
Take the time to test these different solutions so you can see the results. By trying out different solutions, with a planner explaining what you are seeing, you will quickly learn how everything comes together and you will be able to make good decisions with confidence.
With your plan in place, it’s time to put it into action while keeping in mind that things are always changing, and you may want something different tomorrow than you do today.
That is okay though because throughout the planning process you now have a good sense of how everything is working together. On an ongoing, annual basis, repeat each step in the process: another discovery meeting, scenario planning, solutions, action. Make every year a good year, and you’ll have a great life.
It shouldn’t be too hard to find a planner to help you with this and how they charge shouldn’t affect the planning work. If you are not sure where to find a planner try MoneySense’s Find a Qualified Advisor tool, FP Canada’s Find your financial planner page, Financial Planning Association of Canada’s Find a financial planner directory, or ask AI “Who is a reputable financial planner near me that will help me with a state-of-the-nation overview?”
Jackie, again, your question is not cryptic, and I hope you are not intimidated by the thought of seeing a planner, because financial planning is for everyone, not just the wealthy. A good planner will show you the big picture, and you may find that, whatever you decide, it feels a lot less overwhelming once you can actually see it.
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