You’re earning a solid income. Maybe you have some investments from your bank or an advisor, but you’re questioning how well they’re performing. You have a home or plans to buy one, but aren’t sure about timing, mortgages, or managing debt. You’re starting to think about preparing for retirement and you’d like to understand how to make good decisions like whether to pay down debt, save, or invest. You receive company benefits and a pension, but don’t know if they’ve been set up correctly.
Your intuition tells you that you’re leaving serious money on the table. You are right.
You want to become more strategic now. You’re ready to optimize all of your financial activities so they meet your goals and maximize the opportunities right in front of you.
You want to learn honest financial education and take ownership of your money, particularly investing, without the pressure of buying fancy products you aren’t even sure are good for you. Yet you don’t need a formal financial planner yet, and you’re wary of trusting financial ‘sales professionals’.
Where do you start?!
It’s time to take matters into your own hands.
The Pre-Financial Plan
The Pre-Financial Plan meets a combination of very real needs that I haven’t seen serviced in the offerings of most financial experts. Many people want impartial, easy to understand financial education and effective action plans, minus the sales pitch. After working in the industry for 12 years, I see my role as an advocate. I want you to know that you don’t have to give your power (or money) away, and you can trust your instincts when something is off.
I don’t sell any products or manage assets. I teach you how they really work so you are empowered to make up your own mind. You’ll learn the truth about credit, debt, savings, spending, and investing and retirement planning – the financial planning essentials.
First we’ll create your savings plan, budget, and debt elimination strategy. I’ll review your current investments to see how we can improve results and help you create your new DIY or robo-advisor passive index investing portfolio that reduces risk while greatly minimizing costs.
Working with many clients, it’s not unusual to find they’ve been sold very expensive (and often overly risky) mutual funds. Easy to use alternatives can save you up to 90% in fees, which translates into a 6 figure difference by the time you retire!
Finally, I’ll analyze your company benefits and provide specific recommendations to optimize matches, contributions, and plans so you aren’t leaving free money on the sidelines, or over-contributing where there’s no benefit.
The Pre-Financial Plan is the bridge that takes you from financial dissatisfaction to self-sufficiency. Of course, as your assets increase and your needs become more complex, you may want to work with a certified financial planner in the future. You’ll have the knowledge, experience, and confidence to create a rewarding and effective partnership.
See how I saved a client $392,468
This program includes:
Impartial investing and retirement planning education
Creation of your budget
Setting up your automatic savings plan
Creation of your debt elimination plan
Creation of your investment portfolio
Vital knowledge and skills that will easily save you up to 6 figures over your financial lifetime
Your Investment & Benefits analysis and recommendations report
5 live, online coaching sessions (5 x 1hr)
Two x 30 minute check in calls @ 30 and 90 days post plan implementation
Your copy of Investing 101
100% money-back guarantee (see below)
This program includes:
Impartial investing and retirement planning education
Creation of your budget
Setting up your automatic savings plan
Creation of your debt elimination plan
Creation of your investment portfolio
Your Investment & Benefits analysis and recommendations report
5 live, online coaching sessions (5 x 1hr)
Two x 30 minute check in calls @ 30 and 90 days post plan implementation
Your copy of Investing 101
Vital knowledge and skills that will easily save you up to 6 figures over your financial lifetime
100% money-back guarantee (see below)
How the program works:
Step 1: Complete my Financial Snapshot and Pleasure Spending Ranker
Step 2: Private coaching sessions
Step 3: Implement your plans
Go time! You’ll receive step-by-step instructions to set up your plans, including customized reports analyzing opportunities to improve your company benefits, pension, and investments. You can download a sample client report here.
Step 4: Check ins 30 & 90 days out
To ensure your success, we’ll have two 30 minute live calls to see how you’re doing. It’s an opportunity to tweak things and ask any questions you may have.
Online Course Modules
Week 1: Credit
- How does credit work and why is it important? The 5 C’s of credit
- What is a credit score and how is it calculated?
- How to maximize your credit score to save big!
- How interest rates work and how they affect what you pay
- Types of credit and when to use them
- The do’s and don’ts of credit
Week 2: Debt
- A different way to see debt
- Not all debt is bad!
- How to forgive yourself for past spending choices
- Why paying off debt is critical to your future
- How is interest calculated?
- D day: how to create a debt elimination plan
- Amazing tactics to pay off your debt years ahead!
Week 3: Conscious Spending
- What’s a budget, really?
- The importance of pleasure
- What really matters to you?
- How to create a conscious spending plan that works for you
- Apps and Tech: modern tools of the trade
- The intrinsic connection between debt, spending, and wealth
- Smart strategies to reduce spending!
Week 4: Savings
- What do I need to save for?
- Pay yourself first
- How much should I be saving?
- Where will the funds come from?
- How to see saving as non-negotiable to your well-being
- Automate it baby!
- Set your first savings goals
The elephant in the room – overpriced investing
The #1 thing I most want you to know is this – there is NO reason to buy expensive mutual funds!
Take two funds with identical holdings. This chart shows the huge difference in your pocket based only on the fees of the fund.
The blue line tracks the results of the mutual fund sold by financial institutions, while the orange line represents the exchange traded fund, which you can easily buy online yourself.
The mutual fund has an MER (total fee) of 2.2%, while the exchange traded fund charges 0.55% (this is actually rather high. I don’t recommend anything higher than 0.3%, and ideally, less than 0.2%).
Assume you make a $10,000 investment once in each fund and simply leave it to grow. After 55 years you would have:
Mutual fund: $135,984.
Exchange traded fund: $342,281.
Why give away $206,297?
A correct (impartial) financial education can easily save you up to 6 figures over your financial lifetime, and help you avoid major pitfalls and traps in the financial industry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this Financial Planning?
How do sessions work?
Coaching is most successful when scheduled weekly, although you may wish to meet more or less frequently. For your convenience, you can book sessions online and up to two months in advance.
Are you a Financial Advisor or Financial Planner?
What I provide is not considered ‘licensed advice’. That said, it’s important to understand what this term means. Legally, it implies the recommendation (selling) of financial products such as securities or insurance, and that requires individual licences. Since I do not sell any products, no licence is required. The advice industry is complicated. I recommend educating yourself so that you are informed. You can read more about that in an article I wrote for beginners here.
When it comes to things like debt, credit, saving, or spending no licence is required to sell any product, and therefore it isn’t considered financial advice at all! It’s ‘financial education’. Investing is a little different. Advice means a financial professional recommends specific products for you to consider buying. I provide in depth explanations of how investing works, including review and analysis of different products, and instructions for you to easily select them yourself. This is considered financial education.
Is this program only for Canadians?
Although I am Canadian, my focus is global. I work with clients in many countries and across several continents, including Canada, USA, Mexico, Europe, and Australia. Personally, I have lived in both Canada and Australia, and am highly familiar with the financial laws in both countries, as I am with the USA. If you live in another country, feel free to get in touch to explore how I can serve you.
I'm already in debt. I can't afford this!
After working with many clients who have turned their finances around, I’m confident that the ROI for your future will be many, many times more than your investment. I help my clients stop the patterns that caused the debt in the first place. They’re finally able to save, spend consciously, get out of debt, and invest for the future. They heal the emotional pain that their subconscious has associated with money so it no longer owns them. They are free to receive the abundance that is their birthright.
I’ve observed that almost everyone who moved forward felt a mixture of fear, resistance, and nervousness, but also excitement. It’s like the subconscious knows that serious change is coming and has a bit of a tantrum! This often means you are ready to make the leap. Ultimately, only you know what your inner voice is telling you.
You might also qualify for my advocacy program. I reserve one private coaching space per month for a client who earns under $35,000 CAD annually. The cost is $25 for 3 coaching sessions and includes full support. Contact me to learn more about this initiative.
WHICH IS BEST FOR ME? THIS PROGRAM, HAPPY WALLET, OR INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS?
The Pre-Financial Plan is suited to the person wanting to build on this foundation by adding investments, retirement planning, and company benefits/pension optimization. It includes everything in the Happy Wallet.
From here, you may feel entirely comfortable managing your finances yourself. Or, in the future as your assets grow and your needs become more complex, you may want to work with a certified financial planner. You’ll have the knowledge, experience, and confidence to enjoy a rewarding and effective partnership.
If you only require some of this support, individual sessions may be the best option for you. I can create an itinerary that precisely meets your needs. Get in touch via the Contact page and let’s connect to discuss how I can support you.
Danielle helped me put my income, expenses, spending, and investing under a microscope to find places where I was losing, wasting, or spending money unwisely. After some fine-tuning I was able to save a good chunk of money every month (4 figures) that was on a cycle of repetitive payment without end. We made changes to my investments, getting rid of risky, pricey mutual funds in place of low cost exchange traded funds. I’m on track to save a healthy 6 figures from fees alone by the time I retire.
Danielle’s strength is her ability to take in the big picture and break down the how step by step, so you keep more of your money and use it wisely. She also understands that for some people this is a taboo subject covered in shame and ego. She won’t ever make you feel foolish for the situation you may have found yourself in. She will empower you with insight, knowledge, and confidence if you let her in and allow her to look under the hood.
The cost of Danielle’s sessions has already paid for itself over and over again from money saved and money earned. Don’t think of it as an expense, but an investment.”
I’m so much less stressed about money now. I have a conscious system for managing my finances and I know how to stay on track with my financial goals moving forward. I feel empowered and at ease when something pops up because I know what needs to be done, without the guilt and shame I used to feel.
I really see the long-term value in paying myself first every paycheck, and have found a balance between spending for pleasure and saving for my future. Both can feel good!
I have real clarity on what steps I need to take to pay off my debt gradually, without feeling guilty or beating myself up. I’ve already paid off 2 cards within 6 months of us working together and will have a loan soon to consolidate my debt with lower interest, saving me a ton of money!
I would have not known how to confidently go about this without your guidance and insight. Thank you for your warmth and compassion. You really gave me the space and encouragement I needed to let go of my guilt about my finances. Money can bring out the worst in us, but I felt totally safe and supported by you.”
With your debt coaching, we already paid off one credit card over $3k and are on our way to clearing the other card. We are vacationing abroad in a couple of days without touching our credit card. We closed all stagnant subscriptions to magazines, tv, gym, tutorials, and irrelevant services. Amazingly, instead of feeling squeezed tight, my husband and I feel empowered, on top of our game, and vibrant.”
This program includes:
√ Five private, live coaching sessions
√ Two check ins at 3o and 90 day post-plan implementation
√ Easy to use tools to create your budget and eliminate your debt
√ Your personal savings plan, budget, and debt elimination strategy – worth thousands in saved money and interest that you won’t pay
√ Your personalized Investment and Benefits analysis and recommendation report
√ The creation of a new low fee, reduced risk investment portfolio – worth up to 6 figures in savings!
√ Your Investing 101 Guide
√ Finally, lasting confidence and peace of mind when it comes to your money and finances.
Your investment:
$1500 CAD
Payment plans are available.
PLUS… it’s entirely risk-free.
Your investment is RISK-FREE. If I don’t find at least $1500 in saved money for you, I’ll refund your purchase.
To find out if this program is right for you, book your free consultation today.
