For a lot of us, the words “financial planning” conjures up a vision of someone who has all their financial ducks all in a row. Or maybe someone who has more money than they know what to do with. (Now wouldn’t that be a nice problem to have? đ)
But you don’t need to be either of those in order to start in a small way. In fact, the first step is just finding out where you could begin. You don’t know what you don’t know!
If you want to get started on a financial planning journey, just get in touch, and we’re happy to help you begin.
Okay, so while we’re not offering you a cool million, asking yourself this question helps to really hone in on some of your priorities. From there, the next question is how to get there.
Here’s what our community said they’d do:
Buy a home
Get a horse đ
Put it in savings
Invest in stocks
Travel!
We hear these aspirations all the time, almost always tinged with a sense of how difficult they are to achieve. If you want to get started on a financial planning or a life insurance journey, just get in touch!
Sometimes itâs hard to play the long-game. Especially with finances. And considering that most of us werenât taught that much about ways to grow our money.Â
Do you hear yourself here?
If so, don’t worry! Weâve got some resources to help. At any age! Itâs never too early or too late.
If youâre unsure where to start, just reach out and weâre happy to point you in the right direction. You can email me at danielle@allanfinancial.com or call me at 604.688.9151.
Things have changed since our parents were navigating the financial decisions that would help shape their adult lives.Â
Millennials and zillenials are navigating a laundry list of challenges that are impacting their lives in ways their parents never had to:
Increased student debt and longer repayment periods after graduating from post-secondary education
Skyrocketing housing prices that make it difficult, and sometimes impossible, for many to enter the housing market and become homeowners
The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including economic challenges such as rising inflation and cost of living
These examples illustrate just a few of the factors that shape the financial decision-making process for the next generation of adults. Unlike previous generations, they face these challenges at a later stage in life and at a higher cost.
For many of us, this means our parents were able to think about and plan for their long-term futures sooner and with greater returns on their investments. Â
Many people tell me they want to make progress on their financial planning and life insurance journeys, but donât know where to get started. Have questions? Get in touch! You can email me at danielle@allanfinancial.com or call me at 604.688.9151.
It’s common not to think about life insurance until later in life. But if you wait until you “need” life insurance, it can be more expensive and challenging to get. When insurance companies look at your life insurance application, they look at age and health as key factors.Â
The younger and healthier you are when you apply for insurance, the better your chances of securing a policy at a more affordable rate.Â
Weâre known for our custom life insurance solutions
What if you and your family could experience life insurance that would help you enjoy your life today?Â
Our recommendations typically involve a life insurance product called universal life. Universal life gives you flexible payment options. It can also allow you to to build up an investment account within your insurance policy. The money you put into your policy covers the costs and any excess funds grow sheltered inside your policy account.
It’s never too early to start your life insurance journey. Have questions about what this could mean for you? Get in touch! You can email me at danielle@allanfinancial.com or call me at 604.688.9151.
Over the last three decades, Iâve built a team of some of the most skilled and talented people in the life insurance industry, and itâs time for them to take over leadership. I’m now focusing on what drew me to this industry in the first place â connection with my clients and community. Iâll be here as Director of Sales to support Danielle and the team as they look ahead to this exciting new chapter for Allan Financial. ~ Ross
I go to bat for our clients and advocate for their needs and priorities. Because of our long-term relationships with insurance providers, we work directly with them to ensure our clients get the best offer and coverage. Especially with clients that donât have insurance yet, we make sure theyâre covered as fast as possible. ~ Hardeep
I’m here for our clients long after they get a policy, including annual client check-ins and policy adjustments to ensure things continue to run smoothly year after year. As your life changes, so should your life insurance. ~ Rachel
One of my favourite parts of my job is managing all the data we receive, like watching for account values, monitoring policies, and managing any changes. If I can keep all the important âstuffâ organized for our clients, then they donât have to worry about it. ~ Jill
Experience you can trust, coverage you can rely on
With nearly 30 years of experience, I know the industry inside and out. Iâve built trusted relationships that allow me to go to bat for our clients and ensure they get the coverage they need to enjoy their lives. ~ Kal
Working behind the scenes to manage this team, shape strategy and the ensuing communications, is such a meaningful part of my job. Ultimately bringing all the pieces together to deliver the best product and experience for our clients is my goal every day.
~ Holly
Life insurance is not usually something that most people either really understand or care too much about. I love that I can change that – by creating a plan that is truly unique and designed just for them. I hope this not only brings peace of mind but also a personal touch.
~ Chriselle
Iâm really looking forward to this next chapter â both for myself and for Allan Financial. Weâve always been innovators and now I get to shape the next evolution of this company, and what life insurance and financial literacy can mean for generations to come.
~ Danielle
We’re excited to announce a change in leadership here at Allan Financial with Danielle (Allan) Kanengoni as our new President! Learn what that means for our future:
Thanks to our community, more than 3,000 women in over 35 countries have been empowered to grow their businesses, care for their families and invest in their communities.
In 2014, we partnered with Kiva with the goal of lending $250,000. Over the last 7 years and with the help of our community, together weâve lent over $1 Million to women around the world.Â
Microfinance loans not only have the power to transform the lives of the women that receive them, but they also have ripple effects into their communities and beyond. Studies show that when you lend money to women, those dollars are reinvested into their communities at much higher rates.
That money is having a direct impact on the lives of women likeLindiwe, a 22-year-old business owner in Zimbabwe.Â
photo courtesy of KIVAÂ
She operates 3 businesses in her villageâââa poultry business, a small shop and Lee Juiceâââall under an umbrella company she named Lee Investments. Her business savvy and work ethic is clear in everything from her creativity to her bookkeeping to her pricing.
For Lee Juice, she thought about the thirsty workers at the mine near her village and asked herself how she could have a competitive advantage for something they needed. So she started making her own juice and soda from scratch, and priced it at half the price they would pay for a national or international brand.
Her plan worked. With the business training and guidance provided by Kivaâs Field Partner Camfed, and a $500 loan from Kiva, her business grew quickly.
âThe loan boosted this business up. I used to make only 20 liters a week, now Iâve expanded to 200 liters a week.â
With her business success, Lindiwe has seen a change in how she feels about herself, and her standing in her community.
âI am independentâŚand if I am independent I can do anything that I want at any time,â she says. âIf I want to help someone who is in need I can just take my money and help.â
Lindiwe is currently training one woman from her community to work with her, and has started saving $10 each month from her profits for her future. With the rest of her profits, she wants to expand her production and also add a large run to her poultry house.
Lindiwe is just one of thousands of women that youâve helped empower with a microfinance loan. Thank you to everyone who lent and joined together to have this collective impact.Â
Meet Casey and Rich, a couple who have created a plan for retirement and are building an investment inside their life insurance policy.
Life insurance is something thatâs usually only thought of as a payout after you die. We want to ensure that you can benefit from your life insurance right now. And we have so many stories of clients who are able to do just that.
Now that weâre back in the office, please join us in welcoming our newest team member, Jessie Mejia!
Jessie joined us in early March as our Senior Executive Assistant (you can thank her for keeping Ross in line). Onboarding remotely at the onset of a pandemic was no easy feat, and Jessie took it in stride. She came to us highly recommended as a seasoned pro with over a decade of experience in high-level administration.
We love Jessie for her gentle and empathetic presence in the office, and her sharp organizational skills. Coming from the public health world, her expertise in client care and confidentiality are a huge asset to our team.
If you havenât met her yet, Jessie is the first friendly face youâll see when you walk in to AF. We canât wait for you to meet!
Prior to the onset of the pandemic, we updated our technology to give our team the capability to work remotely. We didnât know weâd need it so soon, and have a few small pieces still to implement. This should all be completed by early next week, but in the meantime, our team is taking advantage of our new capabilities.
With that in mind, we continue to be available to provide you with service regarding your existing insurance, to continue working through the design and implementation of new insurance currently under way, and to start any new planning and insurance reviews. We can easily arrange any meetings using screen sharing and teleconferencing to avoid the need for face to face meetings.
A number of our core values are being put to good use at this time – leading with heart, being thoughtfully driven to do more, and stretching to change.
This is an unprecedented situation for all of us, but rest assured that your needs continue to be our priority.
Our community of Bowen Island comes together at the end of every summer to put on the annual community festival, aptly named “Bowfest.” We have participated for more than a decade now, by sponsoring and volunteering to man the rides. This year, we were responsible for the inflatable Bungee Run that had kids straining to race against one another.
Giving out our signature Enjoy Your Life t-shirts celebrating each years event, and spotting these around the lower Mainland throughout the year has become a tradition for a generation of Bowen Islander, big and small. We would LOVE to get tagged if you see one of these t-shirts out and about. On facebook we are @allanfinancial and on instagram we are @enjoyyourlife.af
If you were there you know all about it, but if not, you can tell from the photos that we had a blast catching up with friends and clients all day long!
Change is inevitable, but certain things will always stay the same. One of those constants in *our* world is Kal Sangha who just celebrated 25 years with Allan Financial. She’s seen our business and our family grow, but one thing is the same – she’s always here for our clients.
We are thrilled to announce that Rachel Rogers is a Licensed Life Insurance broker at Allan Financial. Rachel joined the company six years ago and has advanced through progressively more responsible positions in Client Service and Product Design to her current role as Director of Client Service.
Rachel brings her wealth of experience to this new role providing services to individuals seeking life insurance and tax-advantaged investment strategies. We are pleased that she will now advise clients on these issues at Allan Financial.
Please join us in congratulating Rachel on this exciting next step in her career!
As Rachel says here, âHaving good people in your corner is key to helping you make the right choices.â We couldnât have said it any better.
The first is that Hardeep Arreaga, our Director of Underwriting, is on her second maternity leave with baby boy Cruz joining his brother Kiaan. At this point in time, Hardeep plans to return around May of 2020. We canât wait to meet this new addition to the Allan Financial family!
The news of growth and change doesnât stop there though. Youâve all gotten to know and appreciate Katie Erickson in your dealings with Ross, and we are pleased to say that she has been in training to take on the role of Underwriting Associate. The addition of her natural care and concern to this position is such a natural fit for clients during the many complexities of the underwriting process.
But you neednât fear that once Katie transitions to Underwriting that you will need to rely upon Ross alone to manage all the many details of his life! We have brought a new team member, Laura Jane âLJâ Klassen, to be the Executive Assistant to both Ross and Danielle as of April 1st. Coming from a background in program coordination, working with youth in and around the Downtown East Side, Laura Jane brings the ability to (in her own words) âherd cats gently and effectivelyâ. If you need anything of Ross or Danielle, LJ will now be your go-to contact at laurajane@allanfinancial.com.
Always growing and stretching into change, just like our clients!
