As the 20th anniversary of my Mother’s death comes closer I am reminded of how much I miss her, how she drew us all together like a magnet within our family, kept us all close & cohesive, feeling loved & cared for. Our four year emotional roller coaster from; breast cancer diagnosis to surgery to cancer free to cancer back to treatment to remission to “how do you want to spend the time you have left” is firmly imprinted in my memory & my heart. She died at the age of 64 & I was 36, my youngest brother was 27 & his kids were so young, they can barely remember her. We were very fortunate as we received a ton of support from friends & family members both during my Mother’s illness and after my Mother passed away. When I first heard of The Gilda’s Club providing support to anyone dealing with any type of cancer I thought, “wouldn’t that have been nice to have available to us throughout my Mother’s four year ordeal with cancer”.

I have been involved in many charitable pursuits including my most recent one, last summer, where I swam the length of the lake I live on to raise money for my local community – Lyndhurst. I managed, with the help of many supporters, to raise close to $4500.

Challenging myself physically is something I love to do so the 200km Lung Association two day bike ride was something I had my eye on & so was very pleased when I was one of the top fundraisers the year I completed it.

Pictured Above: Gilda's Club - Original Group

I have organized & completed many fundraising events for a number of different charities & organizations. My dream has always been to leave my own legacy with my goal to leave half a million dollars to charities, when I die. You see, at this point in my life, the only way I could possibly do that is by using life insurance as a tool. Given I am a Financial Planner & I love helping people understand how insurance works, it was, as they say, a “no brainer” to purchase my own life insurance policy, making the Gilda’s Club the owner of the policy, the premiums I pay of approximately $80/m are treated as a charitable donation & I get to leave $50,000 as part of my Leave a Legacy Goal. If I had started this process earlier, when I was younger, what I pay monthly would certainly be less. I structured the life insurance policy so I would have it all paid for, in a few years.

Finding that balance between living for today & planning for the future is a basic tenant in Financial Planning. When it comes to charitable giving I try to do that as well, help charitable organizations now by making cash donations while trying to make a bigger impact for the future by leaving much larger sums of money through life insurance. Making my dreams a reality & that of the charitable organization. Therein lies my passion.

Betty-Anne Howard, B.A.(Hons), M.S.W.
Certified Financial Planner,
Making Dreams a Reality Financial Planning

What is money? A piece of paper, coin, plastic, all seeming very simple. And yet it controls our lives in so many ways.

Viewing money compassionately means looking more closely at the complexities of this commodity, how we feel about it, how we treat it & what we do with it, physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychically. Examining our attitudes & perceptions about money means looking at the messages we received as we were growing up; from our parents, our community & the society around us. Examining how those beliefs help or hinder us in reaching our life goals & realizing our dreams.

Many of us tend to have an ambivalent relationship with money. We love it at times & loathe it at other times. We ignore it, neglect it, hoping it might go away & yet each day it’s there, a part of our everyday lives.

Recognizing that we have a relationship with money and working on keeping it a healthy one, is all part of the soul process – going deeper, looking at the meaning behind the money & treating it with the respect it deserves – how you handle it, what you do with it & being mindful of your intentions.

To do otherwise keeps it stark & cold, with no meaning other than what we can buy with it. Money is infused with spirit & I believe in the importance of treating it respectfully, like all relationships.

Let me start by providing you with some background information.

I moved to Bass Lake (near Lyndhurst) just over a year ago.  One of my dreams was to live on a lake in a home with a panoramic view, quiet setting, clean lake & thanks to my partner, it came true.

Whenever I get into a body of water I always need a place to go, a destination, preferably one where I can go there & then get back.  For example, I see an island within eye shot, I have to swim to it, I see another shore, same thing  so, when we got to Bass Lake I thought “I’d really like to swim this lake” – meaning the entire length of lake because it’s a long & narrow lake.  Long is not that long – it’s about 3km in length.  It’s also a very beautiful lake with one shore that has virtually no development on it which gives it a more rugged &  Algonquin Parkish feel.   Not only did I decide that I would indeed have to swim the length of Bass Lake, I also decided to make it a fundraiser for the Lyndhurst Rejuvenation Committee by seeking sponsors & added to that a goal of raising $5500.

Continue reading SWIMMING & FINANCIAL PLANNING – WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY HAVE IN COMMON?

Visiting Iceland & Audur Capital
April 15, 2011

I read an article* over two years ago about Audur Capital, written by Ruth Sunderland, in The Guardian, which is a very popular newspaper, published in the United Kingdom. I was amazed at what they had accomplished, having left behind successful careers within the traditional banking sector in order to create a new way of doing business in Iceland. They managed to make their way through the financial crises & meltdown during 2008 & 2009, largely unscathed, while attributing their success to their feminine values & principles.

I was invited to visit them, should I ever be in Iceland. I finally got my chance last week & returned to Canada filled with even greater admiration for these incredible women who are devoted & committed to making a difference in the lives of women, businesses & investors.

Continue reading Visiting Iceland

March 17^th is St. Patrick’s Day where we celebrate the death of the patron saint of Ireland, who hails from the Emerald Ise (that’s why we wear green) and, as the legend goes, was the saint who drove the snakes out of Ireland. I bet you didn’t know all that! You may be wondering how the leprechauns fit into all of this. Did you know that if you can catch a leprechaun (the male version of a fairy) you can make him tell you where he hides his gold. Notice how the male fairies have the money and the girl fairies grant wishes. So what prey tell does this have to do with Financial Planning?

Continue reading St Patrick’s Day