Think Smart with TMFG

The McClelland Financial Group of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.
  • 4.0 (2)
  • Investing
  • Updated Biweekly

Take control of your financial future with expert insights, tips, and guidance from Senior Financial Advisor Mike Connon, Senior Financial Advisor Carlo Cansino, and Financial Advisor John Iaconetti at the McClelland Financial Group of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.

  1. 4d ago

    Episode 376: What Is Sequence-of-Returns Risk? - The Retirement Withdrawal Order That Can Make or Break Your Plan

    Two people retire on the same day with the same savings, the same investments, and the same average return over 20 years. One still has money in their 90s. The other runs out in their early 80s. Same numbers, completely different outcomes. In this episode of Think Smart with TMFG, we break down sequence of returns risk: why it barely matters while you're saving, but can make or break your retirement depending on whether the good years or bad years show up first. We also cover a wrinkle unique to Canadian retirees: RRIF minimums, and why most people don't realize a RRIF withdrawal doesn't have to be taken in cash. We also talk through practical ways to manage this risk: building a cash wedge, using CPP and OAS to reduce reliance on your portfolio in down years, and why fixed income is a strategic tool, not just a conservative one. 📌 Want to know how your retirement plan would hold up against a downturn hitting early? Feel free to reach out, we'd be happy to run the scenarios with you: Schedule a meeting here 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube. Follow us: LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/ Hosting this episode: Mike Connon (Senior Financial Advisor) and Ingrid Kucera (Financial Advisor).

    Episode 376: What Is Sequence-of-Returns Risk? - The Retirement Withdrawal Order That Can Make or Break Your Plan

  2. Sep 29

    Episode 375: The 2026 Scam Report - What Scams Are Targeting The Everyday Canadian?

    The phone rings on a busy afternoon. It sounds like your grandchild; the voice is right, and they need money wired overseas right now. Scams like this are built to catch you with your guard down, and AI is making them harder to spot. In this episode of Think Smart with TMFG, we talk about the scams targeting everyday Canadians: family emergency calls, fake CRA messages, spoofed banking websites, and the small recurring charges that slip past business owners. We also cover why even careful people get caught, and how AI voice/video replication has raised the stakes. From there, we walk through what to do if you have been scammed, including contacting your financial institution, placing a fraud alert with Equifax and TransUnion, and reporting to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. We also share the habits that protect you and your family, starting with never acting on urgency. 📌 If you have questions about protecting your finances and your family's wealth, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help you through those decisions: Schedule a meeting here Question for our listeners: Have you or someone you know been targeted by a scam? Share your story in the comments to help warn others 👇 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube. Source: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre Follow us: LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/ Hosting this episode: Mike Connon (Senior Financial Advisor) and Carlo Cansino (Senior Financial Advisor)

    Episode 375: The 2026 Scam Report - What Scams Are Targeting The Everyday Canadian?

  3. Sep 22

    Episode 374: How to Build a Proper Emergency Fund for an Unplanned Business Expense

    A piece of equipment fails, a big client walks, or a lawsuit lands on your desk, could your business cover it without touching your personal savings? In this episode of Think Smart with TMFG, we go back to square one on business emergency funds: why it's easy to put off when things are going well, and why the businesses hit hardest are usually the ones doing fine right up until they weren't. We dig into why mixing personal and business emergency savings is a mistake, your corporation should be self-sustaining on its own cash flow, and why pulling personal money in to bail it out undoes that separation for good. From there, we talk about how to size your fund based on your expense ratio and industry risk, why a revolving credit line is a shaky substitute for cash, and why keeping it liquid inside a holdco, not the operating company, protects it from quietly getting spent. Finally, we share practical strategies: carving out a consistent percentage of revenue, treating it with the same discipline as setting aside for a tax bill, and why liquidity beats rate of return for this particular pool of money. 📌 If you're not sure where your business stands on emergency reserves, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help you work through the numbers: Schedule a meeting here 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube. Follow us:  LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/  Hosting this episode: Mike Connon, Senior Financial Advisor and Carlo Cansino, Senior Financial Advisor

    Episode 374: How to Build a Proper Emergency Fund for an Unplanned Business Expense

  4. Sep 15

    Episode 373: Is a Financial Advisor Worth It? The Numbers Don't Lie

    Discount brokerage ads keep telling Canadians they don't need "their parent's advisor." So is that true? With robo-advisors, low-fee ETFs, and endless free information online, do you still need a financial advisor? In this episode of Think Smart with TMFG, we talk about what advisors actually do beyond picking investments, and why the two biggest objections, fees and trust, don't hold up the way people assume. We break down Russell Investments' 2026 Value of an Advisor Study, which puts that value at 4.92% annually, most of it from behavioural coaching, plus tax-smart planning, family wealth planning, asset allocation and many more. We also cover why cheap, diversified funds have made basic investing easy, shifting the real value of an advisor toward retirement income planning, tax-efficient withdrawals, and wealth transfer, and how trust with an advisor gets built over years, not a first meeting. 📌 If you've been putting off finding a financial advisor, or you're wondering whether the one you have is earning their fee, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help you through those decisions: Schedule a meeting here 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube. Source: Russell Investments, 2026 Value of an Advisor Study Follow us: LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/ Hosting this episode: Mike Connon, Senior Financial Advisor and Ingrid Kucera, Financial Advisor

    Episode 373: Is a Financial Advisor Worth It? The Numbers Don't Lie

  5. Sep 8

    Episode 372: Recession-Ready: The 14-Minute Financial Defence Plan

    Canada technically slipped into a recession over the winter of 2025 and pulled right back out of it. With tariff headlines still swinging back and forth, it's worth knowing what actually signals trouble versus what's just noise. In this episode of Think Smart with TMFG, we break down how to prepare for a recession: what the technical definition actually requires, why the stock market moves as a leading indicator rather than a warning sign after the fact, and how long recessions typically last compared to how deep the headlines make them sound. We also dig into one of the most common mix-ups: treating a scary tariff percentage as the full picture. A tariff rate applied to a small slice of total trade volume tells a very different story than the headline number alone, and knowing that distinction changes how you should actually react. From there, we break down the three pillars of protecting your money in a downturn: income, expenses, and portfolio defence, and why a "no sell, no loss" approach using the fixed income portion of a balanced portfolio can keep you from locking in losses during a correction. Finally, we share practical strategies for getting ahead of the next cycle: building an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, assessing how exposed your industry is to economic shocks, and structuring your portfolio so you're never forced to sell equities while they're down. 📌 If a potential recession or market volatility has you rethinking your financial plan, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help you through those decisions: Schedule a meeting here 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube. Follow us: LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

    Episode 372: Recession-Ready: The 14-Minute Financial Defence Plan

  6. Sep 1

    Episode 371: CPP & OAS - Eligibility, Payment, and The Deferral Decision

    Only 36% of Canadians correctly understand that CPP payments increase the longer you wait to take them, and just 17% understand the same about OAS, according to a survey of 8,600 Canadians by Employment and Social Development Canada. In this episode of Think Smart with TMFG, Gabriel Zitoli, financial advisor, joins Mike today to discuss the difference between CPP and OAS, two benefits people often assume are the same thing. CPP is contribution-based, built from what you and your employer paid in over your working life. OAS is based on residency alone, with full eligibility at 40 years of Canadian residency after age 18. One is your money. The other is a government benefit you don't pay into directly. We also dig into what these benefits are actually worth. The maximum CPP payment at 65 is just above $1,500 a month for 2026, but the average recipient only gets $877, a gap most people don't expect. OAS tops out around $750 a month. Taking CPP early costs you 0.6% permanently for every month before 65, up to a 30% reduction if you start at 60. Delaying CPP past 65 adds 0.7% a month, and delaying OAS adds 0.6% a month up to age 70. From there, we break down the OAS clawback, which kicks in above $95,323 in individual income for 2026 at a rate of 15 cents per dollar, why the RRIF meltdown strategy exists to get money out of registered accounts before mandatory withdrawals at 72 trigger that clawback, how income splitting between spouses can help you stay under the threshold, and why losing a spouse can quietly push the survivor into a higher tax bracket by eliminating one OAS payment and capping combined CPP at the individual maximum. 📌 If you're approaching CPP or OAS decisions, or want to understand what deferring could mean for your specific numbers, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help you build a plan around it: Schedule a meeting here 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube Follow us: LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

    Episode 371: CPP & OAS - Eligibility, Payment, and The Deferral Decision

  7. Aug 25

    Episode 370: Is AI Changing What Your Business Is Worth?

    In the first episode of the Think Smart with TMFG Expert Advice subseries, we sit down with Peter McCarroll, CPA and founder of Fuel Accountants and The AI Accountant, to break down what's driving that split, how AI adoption is already reshaping business valuations, and why the businesses that started preparing years ago are pulling ahead now. We also dig into one of the sharpest shifts Peter's seeing: buyers aren't really buying businesses anymore; they're buying cash flow. A business that depends heavily on its owner to run day-to-day is often worth less at sale than one that can operate without them. From there, we break down what "sale-ready" actually looks like, separating personal and business finances, building consistent cash flow, and reducing owner dependency, and why trying to compress that work into a single year before selling usually means settling for a fire-sale price. Finally, we share practical strategies for business owners: plan cash flow instead of reacting to it, keep personal and business finances cleanly separated, and start treating AI as something to work with rather than something to outrun. 🔗 Connect with Peter McCarroll: Fuel Accountants: https://fuelaccountants.com/ The AI Accountant: https://theaiaccountant.ai/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petermccarroll/ 📌 If you're a business owner thinking about your next chapter, whether that's two years out or ten, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help you think it through: Schedule a meeting here 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube. Follow us: LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

    Episode 370: Is AI Changing What Your Business Is Worth?

  8. Aug 18

    Episode 369: The Sandwich Generation - Caring for Aging Parents and Grown Kids at the Same Time

    Right now, 1.8 million Canadians are raising their own kids and caring for aging parents at the exact same time, and Statistics Canada says it's most common for people right in the middle of their careers, not after they've retired. In this episode of Think Smart with TMFG, we unpack the sandwich generation: what it means to be squeezed between two generations at once, why it's becoming more common as adult kids stay home longer and parents live longer, and why so many Canadians in their prime earning years don't realize how close they are to this until it hits. We also dig into the real cost of being sandwiched, and it's not just financial. Roughly a third of these caregivers report financial hardship tied directly to their caregiving role, and about 30% end up adjusting their work schedules while 11% have had to give up a career opportunity entirely because of it. It's a slow bleed on retirement savings and career growth that often goes unnoticed until years later. From there, we break down why in-home care can run $150,000 to $200,000 a year, why waiting too long to have "the conversation" with aging parents can make things harder emotionally and financially, and why having that discussion while parents are still fully capable, in their 70s, not their 90s, changes the entire outcome for everyone involved. 📌 If you're caring for aging parents, supporting your own kids, or you can see this stage coming in the next few years, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help you build a plan that protects your future while you're taking care of everyone else's: Schedule a meeting here Check out the full analyzed source here: Statistics Canada: "Sandwiched" between multiple unpaid caregiving responsibilities Want to dive deeper? Check out Tyler Robertson’s TMFG article on managing the Sandwich Generation financial strain: Read the article here 🎧 Listen to the full episode on YouTube. Follow us: LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

    Episode 369: The Sandwich Generation - Caring for Aging Parents and Grown Kids at the Same Time
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4
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Take control of your financial future with expert insights, tips, and guidance from Senior Financial Advisor Mike Connon, Senior Financial Advisor Carlo Cansino, and Financial Advisor John Iaconetti at the McClelland Financial Group of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.

Information

  • Creator
    The McClelland Financial Group of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Think Smart with TMFG

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