This page was archived on January 28, 2025 and will not be updated. Refer to this article for up-to-date information.

When you initially become a client of High Level Wealth Management, there are a few tasks required to get you up and running. After providing you with access to My High Level Wealth (our secure online client portal), we’ll start the process of creating your first financial plan, assessing your risk profile, determining a suitable investment portfolio for your circumstances, and developing an action plan to achieve your financial goals.

To start working on your financial plan, we’ll need documents and information from you. Below is a list of items we will want to discuss during your first planning meeting. The list is fairly long but it is meant to be comprehensive for a variety of financial circumstances and not all of the items will apply to you. The more information you can provide, the more comprehensive your financial plan will be, but don’t stress over tracking down every single item on the list. We can always add in more information to your plan when you have it. We view financial planning as an ongoing process, and we will work to refine your plan over time as more information becomes available or your circumstances change.

If you have any of the below items in a digital format, the best way to share them with your advisor is by creating a new document in My High Level Wealth and attaching one or more digital files. For paper records, please have the physical documents with you for your first planning meeting.

To reduce the amount of information you need to collect, you can authorize High Level Wealth Management as your Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) representative. This consent gives us read-only access to your prior tax returns, your notices of assessment, and your RRSP/TFSA contribution history. We will discuss this option in more detail as part of the new client onboarding process.

Personal

Basic information:

  • Legal name

  • Preferred name (if different from legal name)

  • Date of birth

  • Marital status

  • Address

  • Contact information

  • Social insurance number

  • Citizenship status

Income

Employment income

  • Your occupation and employer

  • Employment income (e.g. salary, bonus, commission)

  • Expected changes to employment income in the future

  • Taxable benefits received in-kind (e.g. employer-paid parking or health benefits)

Pension and retirement income

  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits (if currently receiving benefits)

  • CPP contribution history (if not yet receiving benefits)

  • Old Age Security (OAS) benefits (if currently receiving benefits)

  • Number of years resident in Canada since age 18 (if not yet receiving OAS benefits)

  • Details of employer pension plan (if applicable)

  • Details of individual pension plan (if applicable)

Other income

  • Rental property revenues and expenses

  • Annuities

  • Expected windfalls or inheritance

Savings & Investments

Bank accounts and savings products

  • Bank accounts (e.g. chequing, savings)

  • GICs (Guaranteed Investment Certificates)

  • Term deposits

Investment accounts

  • RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) including personal, spousal, employer-sponsored

  • TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account)

  • Non-registered

  • DCPP (Defined Contribution Pension Plan)

  • RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund)

  • RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan)

  • RDSP (Registered Disability Savings Plan)

  • DPSP (Deferred Profit Sharing Plan)

  • LIRA (Locked-in Retirement Account)

  • LRSP (Locked-in Retirement Savings Plan)

  • LIF (Life Income Fund)

Contribution and withdrawal history for registered accounts

  • RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) including personal, spousal, employer-sponsored

  • TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account)

  • RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan)

  • RDSP (Registered Disability Savings Plan)

Property

Details of property you own

  • Principal residence (current estimated market value)

  • Recreational properties (current estimated market value and original cost)

  • Rental properties (current estimated market value and original cost)

  • Other assets (e.g. vehicles, boats, RVs, jewellery, artwork, collectibles)

Debt

Details of debt you owe

  • Mortgage

  • HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit)

  • Credit cards

  • Student loans

  • Other

Insurance

Details of personally-owned insurance policies

  • Term life insurance

  • Whole life insurance

  • Universal life insurance

  • Disability insurance

  • Critical illness insurance

Details of group insurance policies

  • Life insurance

  • Disability insurance

  • Critical illness insurance

  • Mortgage insurance

Expenses

Providing information about your typical household expenses will allow for a more comprehensive financial plan. If you aren’t sure how much you typically spend, we can still create a plan based on the factors you do know.

  • Household budget (if one exists)

  • List of your typical living expenses and estimates of their frequency/amount

Other Documents

Tax documents

(Not necessary if we are authorized as your representative with the Canada Revenue Agency)

  • Last three years of income tax returns

  • Last three Notices of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

Financial planning documents

  • Financial planning documents from your previous advisor (if applicable)

  • Investment planning documents from your previous advisor (if applicable)

Legal documents

(We don’t typically need to see these documents but it is helpful to know whether or not they exist)

  • Will

  • Power of attorney

  • Personal directive

Corporations

If you are a shareholder of a private corporation, we will need additional information.

  • Corporation name

  • Listing of shareholders and their respective ownership stakes

  • Province of incorporation and taxation

  • Corporate year end

  • Details of any unanimous shareholder agreement(s)

  • Corporate tax account values such as RDTOH, CDA

  • Listing of corporate assets and liabilities (e.g. savings, investments, property, debt, shareholder loans)

  • Current earnings and expected future earnings growth

  • Expected corporate distributions (e.g. salary and dividends)

Trusts

If you are the settlor, trustee, or beneficiary of a trust, we will need additional information.

  • Settlor

  • Trustee(s)

  • Nature of the trust

  • Beneficiaries

  • Listing of trust assets

  • Legal and tax advisors