This page was archived on June 27, 2021 and will not be updated. Refer to this article for up-to-date information.

When you first become a client of High Level Wealth Management, there is some initial work required to get you up and running.  After setting up your client portal, we’ll start the process of creating your first financial plan, assessing your investment risk profile, considering your insurance needs, and ultimately developing an action plan that outlines the steps needed to achieve your financial goals.

To start working on your financial plan, we’ll need a variety of documents and pieces of information from you.  Below is a list of items we will want to review during your first planning meeting.  The list is fairly long but 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.  Our philosophy is that financial planning is an ongoing process, and we will work to refine your plan over time as your circumstances change and as more information becomes available.

If you have any of the below items in digital format, the best way to share them is using the “My Dropbox” folder that is accessible from within the Financial Planning project in your client portal.  For paper records, please bring the physical document with you to your first planning meeting.

To reduce the amount of information you need to collect, you can grant us read-only access to your account information at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).  This consent gives us access to things like your prior tax returns, your notices of assessment, and your RRSP/TFSA contribution history.  We will discuss this option in more detail at your first planning meeting.

People

Basic information about you:

  • Legal name

  • Preferred name (if different from legal name)

  • Date of birth

  • Marital status

  • Address

  • Contact information

  • List of people in your life (e.g. spouse/partner, children, grandchildren, parents)

Additional information required only if utilizing investment, insurance, or tax services:

  • Social insurance number

  • Citizenship status

Income

Employment income

  • Information about your occupation and employer

  • Prior employment income history (if available)

  • Current employment income (e.g. salary, bonus, commission)

  • Future expected changes to employment income

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

Pension and retirement income

  • Details of employer pension plan (if applicable)

  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits (if currently being received)

  • Old Age Security (OAS) benefits (if currently being received)

Other income

  • Income/rental property revenues and expenses

  • Investment income (e.g. interest, dividends, capital gains)

  • Expected windfalls or inheritance

Savings & Investments

If possible, provide a recent statement for each account showing the financial institution, account type, holdings, and market values.

Bank accounts and savings products

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

  • GICs (Guaranteed Investment Certificates)

  • Term deposits

  • Annuities

Investment accounts

  • RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) including personal, spousal, and 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/withdrawal history for registered accounts

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

  • TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account)

  • RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan)

  • RDSP (Registered Disability Savings Plan)

Property

Details of any property you own

  • Principal residence (current market value)

  • Recreational properties (current market value and original cost)

  • Income/rental properties (current market value and original cost)

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

Debt

Details of any debt you owe including amount outstanding, interest rate, payment frequency

  • Mortgage

  • HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit)

  • Credit cards

  • Student loans

  • Other

Insurance

Details of any personally-owned insurance policies

  • Term life insurance

  • Whole life insurance

  • Universal life insurance

  • Disability insurance

  • Critical illness insurance

Details of any group insurance policies

  • Life insurance

  • Disability insurance

  • Critical illness insurance

  • Mortgage insurance

Expenses

To create a more comprehensive financial plan, we’ll need information about your household expenses.  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

If you have the following documents available, they will be helpful in creating a more comprehensive financial plan.

Tax documents

  • Last three years of income tax returns

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

Financial planning documents

  • Any financial planning documents from your previous advisor

  • Any investment planning documents from your previous advisor

Legal documents

We don’t typically need to see the contents of your legal documents, but it is helpful to know whether they exist or not.

  • Will

  • Power of attorney

  • Personal directive

If you made it this far in the list, congratulations!  While collecting all of this information isn’t the most exciting undertaking, it will go a long way to improving the quality of your financial plan.

If you have any questions about the items in the list don’t hesitate to contact us and if you identify additional documents which are not listed above but which you think should be incorporated into your financial plan, please include them.  The more information we have about you, the more comprehensive your financial plan will be.

For clients with more complicated financial planning needs, we may require additional information as outlined in the sections below.

Corporations

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

  • Corporation name

  • Listing of shareholders and ownership stake

  • Province of incorporation and taxation

  • Corporate year end

  • Details of any unanimous shareholder agreement(s)

  • Corporate tax account values such as RDTOH, CDA, and GRIP

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

  • Expected earnings and future earnings growth rate

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

Trusts

If you are the settlor, trustee, or beneficiary of any trusts, we’ll need additional information.

  • Settlor

  • Trustee(s)

  • Nature of the trust

  • Beneficiaries

  • Listing of trust assets

  • Legal and tax advisors