When it comes to financial advice, Investors Group Consultant Toban de Rooy says that products are not always the most important aspect of helping clients make decisions and choose a direction. The value in financial services is the advice the clients receive with the solution, he adds.
“Within our office I plan for people’s lives,” explains Toban, who recently received two designations: Registered Retirement Consultant and FPSC Level 1® Certificant in Financial Planning. “I am not selling products off a shelf, we are facilitating solutions based on our clients’ objectives in life and what they want to achieve.”
Relationships between clients and Toban are more than just transactional and involve creating friendships and asking questions about the lives they want to live.
“It becomes more about serving clients and motivating them into change,” says Toban, adding that his job is part financial advisor and part life coach. “What if there were no limitations? What would they want their life to look like?
Throughout the process of creating a financial road map, clients’ main concerns are discussed, whether they involve purchasing a home, protecting their loved ones or a desire to spend three months in Hawaii every year during retirement.
“I help quantify the goals, hopes and dreams of clients,” says Toban. “Then we work our way backward and find out where we need to start.”
This is done with consideration of all variables that may affect clients’ financial well-being. The advice is tailored to what people want out of life, says Toban.
“Advice is unique to a client’s needs and accessible to everyone, no matter the balance of their accounts,” he adds.
In addition to Toban, Investors Group Financial Services Inc. Consultants Jeff Sauve, Scott Mastrodonato, Sandy Sleath, Lois Vanderkemp and Blake Rice are also based in the Powell River office and help clients create synchronized plans and offer solutions based on needs specific to their goals.
“This is a two-way relationship,” says Toban. “When a great advisor is provided with good information from clients, they are going to be able to produce a solid road map to achieve the lifestyle and financial targets that have been set.”
Toban says it is important for a financial advisor to place a higher importance on a client’s ideas surrounding their life and family, and helping to achieve them, than on the money they have.
“I don’t work with everyone I meet,” explains Toban. “Our passion is to work with people who are motivated to change their financial fortunes and reach the heights they want in life. The clients I work with exhibit commitment and sacrifice.”
While having realistic expectations is important, Toban says dreaming big can create that motivation.
“We have to think about limitless possibilities to take every step possible to say, ‘How can I get there today?’” he says. “By taking one step today, another tomorrow, and continuing that each day, before you know it, you get there because you worked at it one step at a time.”
“Age is not necessarily a factor in needing solid financial advice,” says Toban, “because there is always a need for active management. I have clients from age 18 into their 90s.”
For those interested, Toban will host a seminar entitled Are You Life Ready? at 6 pm on Tuesday, March 27, at the ARC Community Event Centre, 7055 Alberni Street. RSVP is required as space is limited; see contact details below.
“People see advertisements on television asking if they are retirement ready, but how can we get into a discussion about retirement if we haven’t delved into the 30 or 40 years before that point?” says Toban. “I’m not asking if clients are retirement ready, but rather asking if they are life ready.”
For more information:
• 604.485.2552
• 200-6975 Alberni Street
• [email protected]
