Financial Planning in Ontario
Financial planning services help you build a clear path toward your goals – offering strategies to grow, protect, and manage your wealth with confidence.
Supporting Ontario business owners and employees with financial planning
Whether you are an employee looking to invest in your future, or a business owner who needs advice on securing your assets, Acera Benefits offers professional guidance for financial planning. In fact, we have a special division to help our clients and their employees achieve a stress-free financial future.
The following illustrates the process we use to determine a client’s wealth management goals:
- Assess and catalogue specific financial security requirements based on personal needs
- Create a cost-effective way to save money while building a better retirement strategy
- Discuss tax-effective wealth creation, insurance protection and estate preservation
- Fully explain how taxes will affect personal and business strategies from one generation to the next
- Make recommendations and help implement these plans over time
Acera Benefits: Your Ontario financial planning guide and resource
We created a Financial Health Team to examine and meet the needs of every employee’s financial goals. Our team helps employees build a better plan for savings and retirement in addition to their group retirement plans (if applicable).
Initially, a financial health specialist can hold an employee presentation on “retirement readiness,” and then offers one-on-one meetings with individuals looking to enhance their savings strategy.
We also work with business owners in corporate tax planning, wealth management, tax and estate planning, just to name a few. As part of our service, we use partnered resources to allow for informed and accurate decisions, such as legal council, tax and estate planning lawyers, HR services, private wealth management and more.
Our overall goal for clients is to put themselves, their families, and their businesses in a better financial position for many years to come.
Comprehensive financial planning for Ontario business owners
Did you know that households who stopped using an advisor lost, on average, 34.2% of their assets while those working with advisors saw assets increase by 26%?*
For Ontario business owners, we want to make sure the following tactics are fulfilled:
- Allow desired/specific assets to transfer from one generation to the next, in the most cost-effective and tax-effective way.
- Allow your family to maintain the same standard of living now and in the future.
- Create an investment that allows corporate dollars to grow in a tax free environment.
- Use tax free dollars to cover future estate taxes.
- Create liquidity for your business today and in the future.
As an example, we will help guide you through various types of life insurance policies that best fits your financial needs. Below are some different policies to consider:
- Private wealth management (transparent fee-based asset management)
- Estate freezes and share restructure
- Corporate reorganization or structural change
Whatever stage you are in your financial planning, we will help you achieve the best results for your future.
*Centre for Interuniveristy Research and Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO), ‘The Gamma Factor and the Value of Financial Advice, 2016’.
Financial Statistics:
The FP Canada™ 2024 Financial Stress Index indicates that money remains the primary source of stress for Canadians, rising to 44% in 2024 from 40% in 2023 and 38% in 2022. 1
The special report on financial wellbeing by TELUS Health from last year highlights the importance of enhancing financial literacy and education. It reveals that 25% of Canadian workers are worried about their readiness for retirement, and 30% emphasize the need for financial planning resources within their benefits plans. 2
Reference:
1 FP Canada™ 2024 Financial Stress Index (May 2024) – fpcanada.ca
2 TELUS Health (November 2024) – telushealth.com
Our Ontario advisors deliver effortless financial planning for employees
With debt levels per person higher than ever before, there is an alarming trend of employees who do not possess the regulation or tools to responsibly save for a stable retirement. This also causes high levels of stress for people, which trickles down into their everyday lives.
In response to this challenge, we created a unique division and solution at Acera Benefits for our members – access to our Financial Health Team. This program is a complimentary service and an opportunity for our clients to support the financial wellbeing of their employees.
Significantly, millennials are worried about their finances more than any other age group, according to BlackRock study. 58% of people ages 18 to 34 said they are too focused on their current financial situation to save for their future, and 47% of respondents to a survey conducted on behalf of insolvency firm MNP said they don’t expect to be able to cover basic living expenses over the next year without taking on more debt. A slightly greater proportion (48%) of respondents said they have less than $200 remaining at the end of the month after covering living expenses and debt payments.
We specialize in focusing on how individuals or families obtain, budget, save and spend their monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events.
Below are just some of the tools we use in our financial planning process to assist you in your goals:
- Individual life insurance
- Mortgage Insurance
- Segregated fund policies, RRSPs
- Payout annuities, RRIFs and LIFs
- TFSAs (Tax Free Savings Account)
- Leveraged loans
- Tax and estate Planning
Connect with our financial planning advisors in Ontario
Simply complete our online form to receive free, no obligation quotes and advice from an expert broker.