A Beginner’s Mindset

In life, learning never stops.

The same is true for the financial advisory profession. I recently returned from Boston where I attended an international financial planning conference. There were roughly 5,000 attendees from all over the globe.

Continuing education is one of the founding principles of our firm. All financial advisors in our firm are required to hold the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation - the most widely recognized financial planning designation in Canada and worldwide. To maintain certification, CFP professionals must keep their knowledge and skills current by completing 25 hours of continuing education each year.

Our firm is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and every financial advisor within the firm is registered with IIROC. All individuals registered with IIROC are subject to rigorous, comprehensive training and screening. In order to maintain registration with IIROC, every financial advisor must complete a minimum number of continuing education hour for each cycle which runs for two years. This generally includes 10 compliance credits and 20 professional development credits.

In addition, every financial advisor at the firm is required to attend at least one professional conference per year - typically these would be multi-day national level conferences.

As I pore over my notes from the conference in Boston, I have a few takeaways I thought I would share.

Ryan Leak mentioned we average 6,000 thoughts per day – 4,800 are negative and 95% are repetitive. We need to do a better job of choosing our thoughts, which is in our control. He also  mentioned chasing failure took him further than chasing success ever did!

Ryan Avery encouraged attendees to stop spending time with people that challenge your big dreams and to spend time with people who can challenge you to think bigger.

Alex Banayan shared that success and failure are not opposites. The opposite of success is not trying. A profound statement that I’ve shared with my young children.

Wherever this note finds you in your journey of learning, we wish you an enjoyable and restful summer with family and friends.

Why do we plan?

Knowing where you are translates into knowing where you're going, and we hope to provide every client with the trust and confidence to navigate through the waters of their financial lives.

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