Holly Vipond - Certified Financial Planner

One of my favourite things is offering free financial literacy in my community, and I love partnering with my local libraries. So I'm happy to tell you about my next library session--October 24, 6:30pm, at Parkgate. The topic this time will be Debt & Credit Management.

Go to https://nvdpl.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=120680 or use the QR code in the image to register. :)

And please share with any locals who may be interested!

Thoughts on investor behaviour: I tell my students not to follow "hype". The more hyped people are about something, the more cautious we should be. A great example these days is crypto. On September 15, I listened to a conversation in which some acquaintances of mine were going on and on about their crypto holdings and how awesome they were. One of them said that he *guaranteed* that Ethereum was going to "melt your face off" (his exact words) by the end of 2021. He repeated these words several times: "guarantee" and "melt your face off". Words like these should be huge red flags for any investor. I didn't argue, just listened. On that day, Sept 15, Ethereum was trading for $3,614 USD. At the end of the year, Dec 31, it was trading for $3,676. Not exactly melting my face off (the high in between was around $4,800 in November--still not melting my face off). Now, am I saying not to buy crypto? Not at all. I own some myself. What I am saying is to tread carefully any time someone is making huge promises, or any time there is a large amount of excitement around a specific investment or even sector. Keep your head on and keep the emotions and ego out of the equation. 👍

A 13yo boy just called my class "dope". That's high praise. 😎

Pro Tip: Stop fixating on MERs, and ignore people who do. I'm reading yet another document that keeps going on about how MERs are eating into your returns. I don't care what my MERs are as long as I'm getting the results I want. In the end, when you're 70 and retired, what's the most important thing? It's this: Do you have the security you need? Did you accomplish your goals? MERs are irrelevant to that. I don't even know what my MERs are on my mutual funds, but I know that my returns are currently sitting around 21%. That's good enough for me. (Sales fees are another story--go for no-load every time....) End rant. :)

What's on my mind: Cancer and insurance. I've been doing what I do since 2013, and in that time I've only had two clients make insurance claims. (I'm thankful for that, although I think the reason my claim numbers are so low is that the majority of my clients are young families.) In both of the claims, the client had malignant cancer. :( In the first one, she had an old cash value life insurance policy that she had been paying into for years... when she found out she had cancer and would need aggressive treatment, she called me to see if she could access the cash value in her policy to help pay for her stay at the cancer lodge and other expenses related to her treatment. And yes, we were able to pull enough cash from her life insurance policy that she did not have to add financial stress to the emotional, mental, and physical stress that she was already under. This was a massive eye-opener for me; it was the first time I was seeing a *life* insurance policy being used like a critical illness policy, and I thought, "This is exactly what we tell people the cash value policies are supposed to do--to be a lifeboat--and it's doing its job."

Now, a few years later, I have another client making a Critical Illness claim for malignant thyroid cancer. This is going to provide her with $100,000 tax free to pay for her treatment and living expenses while she focuses on doing what she needs to do for herself, her health and her family.

It's not lost on me that it has been cancer both times. Cancer is so rampant in our world these days and even in Canada with our excellent health care system, it doesn't come cheap. This is why I believe wholeheartedly in critical illness insurance--just as much as in life insurance. It's inexpensive and it's there for you if the worst happens. I have a policy for myself and it's non-negotiable, because I believe so strongly in it. I'm covered not just for cancer, but heart attack, stroke, MS, Parkinsons, and a number of other possible conditions.

Think about it, and talk to your advisor for more information.

Doesn't have to be money-related: tell us about the latest greatest book you've read! I just recently read The Feather Thief, and it was fascinating--not at all what I expected (get it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/357hMYd).