Our Problem-First Philosophy
We don't start with products or services. We start with the retirement challenges that keep you awake at night, then build solutions that actually work for real people.
From Crisis to Breakthrough
Back in 2019, we had a client—let's call her Sarah—who walked into our Calgary office with a retirement account statement that made her cry. She'd been following conventional advice for twenty years and somehow had less purchasing power than when she started.
That conversation changed how we approach retirement planning. Instead of pushing standard portfolios, we started asking different questions: What specific expenses worry you most? How do you actually spend money now? What would "enough" really look like?
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Reality-Based ProjectionsWe calculate retirement needs based on your actual spending patterns, not textbook percentages. Turns out most people need 95% of their current income, not the mythical 70%.
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Tax-Smart SequencingWe developed a withdrawal strategy that saves most clients ,000+ in unnecessary taxes over their first decade of retirement.
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Inflation Shield PlanningOur clients' portfolios include specific hedges against the kind of inflation that destroys fixed-income retirees—because we've seen it happen.
Technology That Actually Helps
We built our own retirement modeling software because the industry-standard tools kept producing fairy-tale projections. Our system factors in sequence of returns risk, healthcare cost inflation, and longevity uncertainty—the stuff that matters when you're actually retired.
The result? Retirement plans that work in the real world, not just on paper. Our clients sleep better because their projections account for market crashes, medical emergencies, and the possibility they might live to 95.
The Pension Replacement System
Most of our clients worked for companies that eliminated pensions before they retired. So we reverse-engineered what made pensions work: guaranteed income, inflation protection, and survivor benefits.
Using a combination of immediate annuities, dividend-growing stocks, and strategic RRIF withdrawals, we create what we call a "synthetic pension"—predictable monthly income that lasts as long as you do.
Process Innovations Born from Necessity
Every procedure we follow exists because traditional approaches failed a real client. These aren't theoretical improvements—they're battle-tested solutions.
The 90-Day Reality Check
We learned this the hard way: people's spending habits change dramatically in their first year of retirement. So we schedule three check-ins during those crucial first months to adjust the plan based on how retirement actually feels.
Healthcare Cost Fortress
Medical expenses destroy more retirement plans than market crashes. We created a three-tier healthcare funding strategy: basic coverage through government plans, supplemental insurance for most scenarios, and a separate emergency fund for catastrophic care.
Legacy Protection Protocol
We saw too many families lose their inheritance to probate fees and tax inefficiency. Our estate planning integration ensures your retirement withdrawals set up your beneficiaries for success, not tax headaches.
Melanie Hartwell
Senior Retirement Strategist
Melanie spent fifteen years watching traditional retirement planning fail real people. She developed our problem-first methodology after helping over 400 families navigate market crashes, job losses, and unexpected health crises during their retirement years.
Why Our Approach Works
We've guided clients through three market crashes, a pandemic, and inflation levels nobody saw coming. The plans that survived weren't the most optimistic—they were the most realistic.
Our clients aren't just weathering uncertainty; they're thriving through it. Because when you plan for problems instead of hoping they won't happen, you build retirement security that actually lasts.