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Serving the complex needs of business owners

As an entrepreneur myself, I understand the challenge and complexities of running a business and the importance of maximizing synergies between your personal and corporate finances.

Most of my clients own family businesses or incorporated practices. I have great respect for entrepreneurs who have spent time, faced risks and worked hard to build a business. I bring you customized advice and a comprehensive suite of strategies to help you preserve and grow your wealth and reap the rewards of your efforts.

BMO Private Wealth has a very strong offering for entrepreneurial and professional clients. With breadth and depth of financial options, specialists and resources, you'll be well positioned to invest your corporate reserve funds or retained earnings and make them a powerful component of your overall wealth plan.

I advise:

1. Young entrepreneurs who are growing their business and reinvesting their earnings;
2. Entrepreneurs at mid-career who wish to grow and develop their business while planning for the future;
3. Mature entrepreneurs who wish to divest and invest the proceeds from their liquidation event to boost their family and personal lifestyle and generate a steady stream of income for retirement.

Astute strategies for all stages of your business lifecycle

Before investing your assets or making any recommendations, I will get to know you and your business or practice very well; learning what drives you and your company or practice, your vision of the ideal retirement, your personal and professional goals, and your lifestyle priorities.

I can bring you access to banking, lending and point-of-sale payment solutions such as debit, credit, and automatic bill payments, plus a full holistic solution for all your wealth needs – under one roof.

I can help you:

• Invest the reserve funds in your holding or operating companies or professional corporation, working strategically to achieve your growth targets.
• Set realistic expectations and put a full-circle wealth plan into place and put you on track to reach your goals at all stages of your business or practice.
• Select the right investments to generate a regular income stream and keep cash on hand to buy into the markets on the downturn.
• Draw money from your holding or operating companies or practice tax-effectively using different strategies.
• Plan for and manage your cash flow requirements.
• Manage other complex business challenges.

Tax considerations

When you are incorporated, you can pay yourself through your corporation, which is taxed at lower rates than personal income tax rates. As well, your corporation enables you to own stocks directly rather than owning them through a mutual fund or pooled fund. This brings you much greater tax efficiency. As an incorporated individual, you can opt to receive your income through dividends, which are taxed at a much lower rate than income or capital gains.

I will work in collaboration with your accountant to:

• Understand the net impact of your investments and wealth plan from a tax standpoint,
• Help you structure your company and its shares to maximize your tax planning, and
• Maximize legal tax optimization strategies.

I will streamline the liaison between you, our team, your other advisors and BMO Private Wealth specialists. To save you time, I'll be involved in calls from a consultation standpoint. At your business year-end, I will send out tax packages to you and your accountant(s) documenting all income, dividends, and capital gains. And I will consult with legal and tax advisors to look at your business or practice from all angles and manage your money in the best way possible.

Succession planning discussions can involve:

• Determining how much you would need to be able to step away from the business and retire comfortably.
• Estate equalization solutions to help you bequeath an equitable amount to each of your beneficiaries when some of them are involved in your business and others are not.
• If you are not transferring the company or practice to a family member, working with BMO Private Wealth business succession planners, estate planners and business valuation experts to help you find the right buyer to get the best value for all your sweat equity including:
  • Hire business valuators to assess the value your business (at least a ballpark number to use in financial planning).
  • Prepare your business or practice for sale
  • Plan for a smooth succession to help you get the best possible return for the time and sweat equity you have invested:
    • Interview and consult with prospective buyers, and
    • Guide you through negotiations and provide insights on what to look for.

• Once the business has sold, I'll help you to:
  • Create a reliable income stream for retirement from the proceeds of your liquidation event.
  • Transition smoothly from driving forward as a business leader or professional to moving actively into the next phase of life.
  • Transfer your wealth to your heirs tax-efficiently.

Personal and commercial banking – under one roof

BMO Private Wealth can serve multiple financial needs under one roof to save you time and money and guide you through all the red tape. We offer professional credit solutions to help you enjoy the convenience of managing your family and business or practice banking at the same firm. For example, we can finance your business and the building in which it operates as well as provide your personal mortgage and line of credit.

When you wish to borrow money or source venture capital, I will liaise with my network of Private Bankers, lending specialists and corporate finance professionals. I have deep relationships with BMO Private Wealth partners and will connect you to the right financing opportunities according to your level of need:

• Business Banking (below $1M)
• Commercial Banking ($1M to $10M)
• Corporate Finance ($10M and over).

Individual Pension Plans (IPPs)

If you are a professional who owns and operates your own practice, an IPP is a beneficial strategy to provide financial security in retirement.

An IPP allows you to:

• Contribute more tax-deductible assets annually than an RRSP
• Adjust your annual contribution amounts according to available capital
• Enjoy the highest degree of creditor protection in Canada
• Invest in asset classes that are not allowed in an RRSP
• Deduct your investment, pension management and other IPP fees
• Enjoy the assurance of having fiduciary oversight from the pension committee and compliance officers
• Transfer wealth to your loved ones without triggering a tax event

An IPP’s funding commitments can be onerous and the nuances can be challenging. Let’s discuss if an IPP is right for you.

Your farm. Your family.

Your financial future.

Specialized wealth advice for agricultural business owners

Making a living in agriculture has never been more challenging. Profit margins have never been thinner and today, many members of the younger generation do not want to take over the family farm.
 

• We understand the issues and complex agricultural tax rules that affect the farming industry, and actively track the trends that drive the industry.
• Most importantly, we have specialized strategies to help you maximize your financial success while minimizing the emotional stress of running and transferring ownership of your agricultural operation.
   

We can help you to reap the rewards of your hard work, and retire comfortably, while ensuring you transfer your farm tax-effectively.

Our Strategies and Services

Before advising you and designing strategies that help you preserve and grow your wealth, we will get to know you, your family and your business. We'll take the time to discover your needs, goals, financial situation, time horizon, risk profile, and liabilities.

From here, our team can help you to structure a plan based on important details, including the size of your operation, your livestock count, estimated production, quotas and growth objectives.

Our targeted conversations can provide guidance on:

Disciplined investment management for farmers:

• We can help you invest your surplus cash reserves or the proceeds of your farm sale.
• We invest in proven, well-capitalized, businesses with sound management teams that fit into our conservative, tailored, disciplined, long-term approach.

Risk management:

• In an unpredictable industry, we help farmers plan to weather all financial storms. We have planning solutions that can help protect you and your family and farm from economic adversity.

Cash flow management:

• We'll delegate your assets as either core capital (to fund regular farm and family expenses) or surplus capital (that can be invested to help you achieve important goals).
• We can also help you plan to fund major capital purchases to avoid dipping into your long-term retirement fund.

Tax relief. We can help you to:

• Understand the requirements and benefits of the farmers’ capital gains exemption,
• Comply with the complex tax rules that you must follow to obtain this significant tax relief.
• Plan properly to take advantage of this valuable benefit.

Borrowing:

• Every successful farmer needs a good banker who believes in the long-term potential of their business and understands how thin farm margins can be.
• We will introduce you to a seasoned ag-focused Private Banker or Commercial Banker to ensure you get the operating loan or mortgage solutions you need.

Insurance:

• This can help you mitigate financial risks, minimize your tax bill, maximize the amount of your estate you leave to your heirs, and diversify your investment portfolio.
• The Globe and Mail ranks farming in the top ten most dangerous industries – visit https://www.surehire.com/canadas-deadliest-industries-workplace-risk-prevention/. And agriculture is ranked within the top 10 most dangerous industries in Ontario, according to the Occupational Safety Group among other organizations.

Education funding:

• We will advise you regarding funding options that take advantage of government programs and alternative strategies available to agricultural business owners.

Real estate:

• In the form of an investment or a vacation property, real estate provides diversification from the equity markets.
• We will work with mortgage and real estate professionals at BMO Private Banking to ensure you receive tailored advice from an agricultural lending specialist.

Retirement planning:

•   We will determine how much you need to set aside to retire comfortably.
•   Then we will create a customized investment plan that can provide a reliable income stream and cover expenses for the duration of your retirement.
•   Too many farmers rely solely on the sale of their farm operation to fund their retirement, which leaves them vulnerable to risk. We will help you diversify your investments to protect your family.

Farm succession planning:

• Together with BMO specialists, we can help you maximize the value of your farm or related ag business and transition it tax-efficiently to a relative or buyer, with:
  • strategic succession tax planning
  • farm or business valuation advisory services
  • wealth planning
  • other considerations
• We can help you to determine the best philanthropic strategies to leave a meaningful legacy.
• We understand the emotion that can be involved in transitioning a farm property that you can walk on and touch into proceeds that can seem strangely intangible. Our team has the sensitivity and strategies to help you manage the transition with minimal stress.

Your Personalized, Evolving Wealth Plan

Our team will prepare a complete, customized financial roadmap uniquely designed for your family and farm. We will revisit this wealth plan and provide updated solutions to help you address major life events.

We will consult with other BMO specialists as needed:
 

Your wealth plan can include:

• Retirement and estate planning
• Tax minimization strategies
• Life and disability insurance
• Customized Private Banking, Business Banking, Trust and Commercial Banking services
• Farm succession planning
• Philanthropic strategies