For the first 30 or so years of working, saving and investing, you’ll be first in the mode of getting out of the hole (paying down debt), and then building your net worth (that’s wealth accumulation.). But don’t forget, wealth accumulation isn’t the ultimate goal. Decumulation is! (a separate category here at the Hub).
Discover essential strategies and insights into succession planning to ensure a smooth transition and ongoing financial success for your small business.
Adobe Stock: Prostock-studio
By Dan Coconate
Special to Financial Independence Hub
As small business owners approach early retirement, ensuring the continued financial success of their business becomes a top priority. The journey of building a business is filled with hard work, passion, and dedication.
To ensure that successors are prepared to carry on the legacy and achieve ongoing financial success, delve into these essential strategies.
Succession Planning
Succession planning is a critical part of preparing for retirement. Identifying potential leaders within the team early on and providing them with opportunities to grow is key. This includes offering challenging projects, exposing them to various aspects of the business, and involving them in key decision-making processes. An effective succession plan ensures a smooth transition and continuity when the time comes for new leadership to take the reins.
Financial Literacy Training
Financial literacy is indispensable for any leader aiming to drive business success. Investing in comprehensive financial training programs that cover budgeting, financial analysis, risk management, and strategic financial planning is crucial. Developing a strong grasp of financial principles equips future leaders to make informed decisions that positively impact the business’s bottom line.
Executive Coaching
Executive coaching plays a significant role in developing leadership skills and ensuring alignment with business goals. There are several benefits to offering personalized executive coaching sessions, whether led by you or a third party. It’s an easy way to help potential leaders enhance their decision-making abilities, improve their emotional intelligence, and refine their leadership style. Continue Reading…
We recently conducted a “Value of Advice” survey of Canadian investors that reinforced to us how important financial advice really is. We found that while advisors enjoy high levels of client satisfaction and loyalty, younger investors are increasingly opting to manage their assets themselves through online discount brokerages and digital services.
Among Canadian investors, 44% feel their advisor provides high value, and 74% believe their financial advisor is worth every dollar they pay. Additionally, 71% say they plan to remain with their current advisor, with that figure rising to 80% among those aged 55 and over.
While these results were not surprising, the level of trust that financial advisors enjoy is changing with a cohort of younger investors. Among those aged 18-34, 40% use online platforms for investment management, while only 38% rely on financial advisors. By contrast, 70% of those over the age of 55 use a financial advisor, with only 17% turning to online platforms.
A Tale of 2 Investors
It’s clear that Canadian investors highly value financial advisors and the guidance they provide. However, there is a tale of two investors split by age in terms of the duration, method and frequency of financial advice they receive.
This presents both a challenge and opportunity for financial advisors to provide more holistic wealth management services and relationship-oriented advice to younger investors.
While younger investors are more inclined to go digital with investing, they also show a significant level of hesitation. Among younger investors, 35% report not fully trusting their financial advisor. When asked whether they can manage their own investments, many admitted to lacking the time (47%), knowledge (39%), or confidence (42%) to do so effectively.
The study highlighted that financial advisors remain the preferred source of advice for most Canadians, regardless of age. In fact, 89% of investors report that their go-to source for financial information and advice is their financial advisor or bank. Moreover, human advisors are perceived to deliver better investment returns, with 44% of respondents believing that human advisors generate higher returns, compared to only 9% who hold the same view of robo-advisors.
Almost half in regular touch with advisors feel optimistic about their financial future
The data revealed that frequent communication with clients is shown to make a significant difference in client satisfaction and optimism. Among those who communicate with their advisor monthly or more, 46% feel optimistic about their financial future, compared to just 18% of those who communicate only once a year. Additionally, 40% of those who have a financial plan created by an advisor express a high level of optimism about their financial future, compared to only 22% of those without a formal plan.
We have been looking at the impact of financial advice for more than 25 years and the utility and benefits are the same.
As the investment landscape evolves, financial advisors will need to focus on building trust, maintaining regular communication, and emphasizing the value they provide in an increasingly digital world. Doing so will enable them to serve both traditional and younger investors more effectively, today and in the future.
Mario Cianfarani is head of distribution for Vanguard Canada. Most recently, Mario was head of national accounts & institutional sales and was previously head of ETF capital markets. Before joining Vanguard in June 2015, he was a portfolio manager at First Asset Investment Management, responsible for domestic and global equity ETFs and sector-based, North American covered call ETFs. Mario has held senior sales and trading positions with a number of Canadian capital markets teams. His experience includes trading equity derivatives and marketing derivative-related risk management solutions to a broad range of clients.
Mario earned a BA in applied mathematics from York University and is a CFA® charterholder.
2023-2024 HireAHelper Moving Migration Report: Artwork by Esther Wu
By Volodymyr Kupriyanov
Special to Financial Independence Hub
When we released our last study of starting a moving labor company as a side hustle, it was a great time to get into the business. Home sales were at an all-time high, and the number of Americans who moved that year inched up for the first time in a decade.
However, after only one year, the housing market has cooled off. And even though sales of newly built homes are still up 6%, home sales as a whole aren’t as high as last year.
The cost of moving has also grown 4% in 2023 (ahead of inflation rates), and this is actually good news! It means movers’ earnings have most likely also increased. So if you’re interested in adding a side hustle to your income, starting a moving labor company is well worth considering.
Findings from 2023 Study on Moving Labor
In 2023, a typical moving company earns between US$90 and $150 per hour on average, or from $244 to $407 per move
Mover earnings in 2023 are highest in Birmingham, AL where average hourly earnings on a labor-only move reached $146
The state with the greatest demand is Mississippi, with 434 moves per moving company registered in the state
What is a Moving Labor Company, and can it work as a Side Hustle?
You can start a side hustle as a full-service mover. These are the huge van line companies, and they tend to offer the whole service package and charge significantly more. Moving labor companies are often responsible for loading, unloading, and, sometimes (though rarely), packing up people’s possessions.
Why is labor-only so profitable?
Here are a few more reasons why moving labor is a good choice for a side hustle:
You don’t require a special mover’s license in most states
No need to invest in your own truck or spend money on gas
With almost half (48%) of all moves taking place on the weekend, you can keep this side hustle alongside your main job or your studies
Fast Facts about Moving Company Earnings in 2023
Here are some estimates on moving marketplace earnings:
How much revenue do movers make per hour?
In 2023, the average amount a moving labor company earned on HireAHelper is $113 per hour (after fees). That rate is based on the service of two movers loading and unloading a customer’s belongings and does not include potential tips.
According to Forbes, local movers usually charge between $50 to $250 per hour in 2023. Continue Reading…
Investing in Artificial Intelligence: We feel it could have a huge positive potential, but watch for these risks and rewards
Deposit Photos
Artificial Intelligence (AI) only crossed the fiction-to-news barrier in recent years, after decades as a staple of Arnold Schwarzenegger films, but it’s already influencing the economy and is likely to increase its impact. We feel it could have a huge positive potential. This development has also caught the attention of many investors who are contemplating the prospects of investing in AI.
Media comments on this subject abound, as do surveys. The average person seems fascinated with AI’s potential for good, but wary of its potential for harm. You might say this resembles the atmosphere a decade or so ago when self-driving cars started appearing in the news.
In both cases, middle-of-the-roaders were in the majority. Extreme types came up with much different outlooks.
Negative observers said self-driving vehicles would lead to an economic collapse because multitudes of drivers of trucks, taxis, buses and so on would lose their jobs.
At the other end of the spectrum, a smaller extreme felt driver-less vehicles would balloon human productivity and expand wealth around the world. After all, people could do valuable work in traffic, just as well as in an office, or use the time for a nap. They looked forward to a day when owning your own car would be a needless extravagance. When you needed a lift, you’d just summon a driver-less limo on your cellphone. A little further along, new homes will be available with or without garages or parking spots. Your self-driver will be able to valet itself to a community parking lot.
Looking a little further still, your car might be able to take itself out for maintenance, service, fuel, or any number of errands. Artificial Intelligence just might speed the arrival of these advances.
However, there’s an even wider opinion spectrum on Artificial Intelligence. Rather than a booming jobless rate, the negative side foresees Armageddon: humans versus machines.
It seems conflicts of interest are playing a role, along with honest differences of opinion, in disputes over Artificial Intelligence. This reminds me of the debate over Y2K.
The Y2K debate showed there is big money in alarmism. Some of the top Y2K promoters used Y2K fears to build a following and boost their incomes from writing, consulting or public speaking. Pessimists worried needlessly about Y2K and made a lot of money. I expect the same reaction to AI.
Mainstream opinion or Al Gore on steroids?
Ratings for cable news pioneer CNN have been slumping for a decade. Coincidentally, CNN.com recently published an essay entitled: “Experts are warning AI could lead to human extinction. Are we taking it seriously enough?”
The essay begins: “Think about it for a second … The erasure of the human race from planet Earth. That is what top industry leaders are frantically sounding the alarm about … potential dangers artificial intelligence poses to the very existence of civilization.”
It passes along a warning: “… hundreds of top AI scientists, researchers, and others … voiced deep concern for the future of humanity, signing a one-sentence (italics added) open letter to the public … mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war …”
You have to give them credit for leaving climate change off the list.
Read MarcAndreessen’s essay on AI
If you’re investing in AI and Artificial Intelligence fears keep you awake at night, I’d suggest a 7,000-word remedy by Marc Andreessen, entitled, “Why AI will save the world.”
In all I’ve read about AI, this is the best comment I’ve seen. It describes AI in plain English; explains how AI can expand human intelligence; how we have used human intelligence over millennia to create today’s world. It also speculates about the gains we may see in the new era of AI. Continue Reading…
Over the last few years, discussions around personal finance have been louder – and more confusing – than ever.
Market volatility, rising interest rates, the high cost of living and global unrest have dominated headlines and made life increasingly complicated for most Canadians.
Today (October 9) is World Financial Planning Day, a time to dim the noise and focus on the basics: a financial plan, what it is and how it can help you feel financially prepared for your future. More importantly, it’s an occasion to recognize that working with a financial advisor on a personal plan has many benefits, including greater financial confidence and a higher quality of life.
A financial plan is not just an investment plan: in fact, it’s much more. An investment portfolio is certainly a component of a financial plan, but your investments don’t provide a clear direction for any life plans in the coming years. Your investments can indicate financial returns, but their value is not guaranteed at any point in time and investments alone cannot prepare you for the future.
A financial plan is a goals-based document that provides a road map for what you would like to achieve in the short- and long-term. The goals are not necessarily financial, but they need monetary support (like investment income) to be reached.
Goals within your financial plan may include:
When you want to retire, and the lifestyle you want in your golden years.
Affording major expenditures, including a home, vacations or post-secondary education for dependents.
Preparedness for untimely events, such as premature death, disability or critical illness.
Plans for your estate and the legacy you’d like to leave for your family and charities.
These goals are personal and involve answers to questions that address significant, and sometimes difficult, situations. It can be challenging to determine these responses on your own, so working with a financial planner can help you answer these questions, define your goals and create a strategy to achieve them. Your financial planner will get to know you on a personal level. Then, based on your aspirations, project what needs to happen and create a financial plan for your future. Continue Reading…
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