The topic of money is stressful for a lot of us; it keeps us up at night, causes tensions in our relationships and can affect all aspects of our day-to-day lives.

I am sure none of us need reminding that we are also dealing with the extra stress around our health with the current COVID crisis. The impact this is having on all aspects of our lives, financially, socially, plus our mental health and well-being, is enormous. 

Financial Planners of Canada (FP Canada) benchmarked the population’s feelings around finances and, much like 2014 and 2018, the Financial Stress Survey shows money was the number one cause of stress for Canadians in 2020. The survey highlighted that the top three concerns we have are paying bills, saving enough for retirement, and managing debt levels. The negative impact of these concerns and worries beyond our wallet is that the stresses can affect our health physically, our relationships, and productivity at work and family life. 

However, there is hope: the survey shines a positive light on the work financial planners do with their clients to help alleviate some of this stress and anxiety.  It showed that clients with a financial planner were significantly less likely to consider money as their leading cause of stress than those without a planner.

Our goal as financial planners is to help alleviate some of the stresses that your finances can have on your day-to-day, and we sincerely hope that you aren’t as worried about saving for retirement as you may have been before stepping through our doors. Should you have friends or family in a difficult situation or are just concerned about saving, we are happy to help.

One of the aspects of my role that I enjoy the most is working with clients to build a retirement plan, so it concerns me to see this was the second-highest worry Canadians have. We know that we are working hard and saving regularly to have a prosperous or at least comfortable retirement. Sometimes, however, life gets in the way. We can also factor in a pause in our savings strategy if our income and expenses are under pressure from a specific situation. Working with a financial planner can help you see how these interruptions in our plan (like COVID-19) will impact your bottom line. It might not be as bad as you think.

To end on a positive note, if you are worried about your financial situation, then I encourage you to contact us so we can help put a plan in place to reduce this worry and anxiety.

_{The comments contained herein are a general discussion of certain issues intended as general information only and should not be relied upon as tax or legal advice. Please obtain independent professional advice, in the context of your particular circumstances. This article was produced by Advisor Stream for the benefit of Rick Irwin, Financial Advisor at Trinity Wealth Partners, a registered trade name with Investia Financial Services Inc. The information contained in this article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Investia Financial Services Inc. and comes from sources we believe reliable, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy or reliability. The opinions expressed are based on an analysis and interpretation dating from the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Furthermore, they do not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities.
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