1) Care more about you & your money than anyone who doesn’t share your last name. 2) Ask questions in order to understand your needs and objectives. 3) Help you determine where you are at present. 4) Guide you to think about areas of your financial life you may not have considered. 5) Help organize your financial situation. 6) Formalize your goals and put them in writing for you. 7) Help you prioritize your financial opportunities. 8) Help you determine realistic goals. 9) Study possible alternatives that could meet your goals. 10) Prepare a financial plan and/or investment policy statement for you. 11) Make specific recommendations to help you meet your goals. 12) Implement those recommendations. 13) Suggest creative alternatives that you may not have considered. 14) Review and recommend life insurance policies to protect your family. 15) Assist you in setting up a company Retirement plan. 16) Assist you in setting up an Individual Pension Plan. 17) Assist you in preparing an estate plan for you. 18) Review your children’s custodial accounts. 19) Help you determine your RRIF required minimum distribution. 20) Help you plan for the transition of your business. 21) Liaise with other professionals such as Accountants, Actuaries, Tax lawyers etc., as needed. 22) Persuade you to do the things you know you ought to, even if you don’t feel like doing them.
23) Prepare an asset allocation for you so you can achieve the best rate of return for a given level of risk tolerance. 24) Perform due diligence on money managers and mutual fund managers in order to make appropriate recommendations. 25) Stay up to date on changes in the investment world. 26) Monitor your investments. 27) Review your existing annuities. 28) Review your investments in your company Group RRSP. 29) Review and revise portfolios as conditions change. 30) Guide you through difficult periods in the stock market by sharing historical perspective. 31) Improve your investment performance. 32) Look "inside” your mutual funds to compare how many of their holdings may duplicate each other. 33) Convert your investments to lifetime income. 34) Help you evaluate the differences in risk level between various fixed-income investments such as government bonds and corporate bonds. 35) Help handle exchanges, tenders and special stock dividends. 36) Hold and warehouse stocks, bonds and other securities. 37) Record and research your cost basis on securities. 38) Provide you with unbiased stock research. 39) Provide you with personal stock analysis. 40) Help you consolidate and simplify your investments. 41) Provide you with technical, fundamental, and quantitative stock analysis. 42) Provide you with alternative investment options. 43) Provide you with executive service involving restricted stock and employer stock options. 44) Provide introductions to money managers. 45) Show you how to access your statements and other information online. 46) Shop for top GIC rates from financial institutions throughout the country. 47) Provide access to answers from a major investment firm.
48) Work with your tax and legal advisors to help you meet your financial goals. 49) Suggest alternatives to lower your taxes during retirement. 50) Help you reduce your taxes. 51) Reposition investments to take full advantage of tax law provisions.
52) Monitor changes in your life and family situation. 53) Proactively keep in touch with you. 54) Remain only a telephone call away to answer financial questions for you. 55) Provide excellent service at all times. 56) Provide referrals to other professionals such as accountants and attorneys. 57) Refer you to banking establishments for loan and trust alternatives. 58) Provide you with a chart showing the monthly income from all of your investments. 59) Suggest alternatives to increase your income during retirement. 60) Use the experience of dozens of my clients who have faced circumstances similar to yours to help you through. 61) Help educate your children and grandchildren about investments and financial concepts. 62) Help with the continuity of your family’s financial plan through generations. 63) Facilitate the transfer of investments from individual names to trust or from an owner through to beneficiaries. 64) Keep you on track. 65) Identify your saving shortfalls. 66) Develop and monitor a strategy for debt reduction. 67) Educate you on retirement issues. 68) Educate you on estate planning issues. 69) Is someone you can trust and get advice from in all your financial matters. 70) Is a wise sounding board for ideas you are considering. 71) Is honest with you.