By Brad Brain
Recently I connected the dots on a series of apparently unrelated events.
The first event was when my wife, who was in Vancouver at the time, went into the bank to transfer some money to me back home in Fort St John. She was advised by the bank clerk to do this by wire transfer. This is shockingly bad advice.
As a financial advisor, I move money around for clients all the time, under all sorts of circumstances. In my lifetime I have done exactly one wire transfer, and that was by necessity.
The reason that people don’t use wire transfers very much any more is because they are expensive, and they take a long time. Of all the ways that spouses can transfer money to each other, a wire transfer is probably the least desirable. Nonetheless, that was the bank clerk’s proposed solution.
The next event was when my daughter, who has started her second year at the University of Alberta, texted me that she has paid her tuition but still needs money for rent, and can I send her some money from her Registered Education Savings Plan.
The part that I took notice of is that she didn’t just say “Dad, send money”, but rather she specifically asked for funds from her RESP.
The third event was when I was speaking with a life insurance advisor, who was proposing a permanent life insurance solution for a particular situation where other solutions were potentially a better fit for the client. It was unclear to me whether these clients were looking for protection and security, or if they wanted a pure investment.
What struck me is that, while these events are independent of each other, there is a common theme. Using the right tool for the job.