Tag: Financial Planning

Salary or Dividends?

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Roxanne Arnal, Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner© has made her article available in audio format.

Click the play button below to listen.

Dr. Roxanne Arnal, CFP®

The age-old question for corporation owners. Do I take salary or dividends?

First off, congratulations – you are earning enough money in your corporation to pay yourself! If you started your business cold, this is a day to celebrate. If you are fortunate enough to have sufficient profits to support your lifestyle, you are now asking one of the most common tax questions.

And the answer…it depends.

RRSP Contribution Room

The tax deferral benefit of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan is greatest when you expect to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement than the one you are currently in. This isn’t an easy calculation, because you also have to remember that retirement income is not all taxable, and actually, some forms of retirement income can have a greater negative effect than others [think Old Age Security (OAS) Clawback]. And, we really don’t know what the tax rates will be like in the future.

In order to deposit to an RRSP and defer taxation, you need to create RRSP contribution room. RRSP contribution room is created through earned income. Dividends and capital gain sources of revenue are NOT earned income and therefore do not create RRSP contribution room.

There is also an annual cap on the amount of new contribution room you can create in any one year. For 2021, this cap is $27,830, which corresponds to earned income of $154,611.

If you take dividends however, you will not create any RRSP contribution room. And, for good tax and retirement planning, I don’t recommend an all or nothing strategy for any client.

CPP Contributions

The Canada Pension Plan forms part of the basic framework of the Canadian retiree social system. It is designed, along with OAS, to provide Seniors with a base living allowance. I typically use this base as the safety net for my retirees. Everyone, even my super high net worth clients, like having a safety net.

CPP won’t likely make up a large part of your retirement income, but the program also has disability benefits that kick in for those that suffer severe and long-term disabilities preventing gainful employment. An additional top up to your personal income replacement plan.

Salaried income is subject to CPP contributions. For self-employed individuals, you are essentially paying both the employer and employee portions. For 2021, this rate is 5.45% for each side, for a total of 9.9%. I know this sounds like a nearly 10% additional tax hit, but there is a cap on this amount. For salary earned above $61,600, no further CPP contributions are required. Hence, for a salary at the RRSP contribution maximum, CPP accounts for just over 4%.

 Ideal Split

In all reality, most clients benefit from a split between salary and dividend income from their corporations. Finding the right balance between excess lifestyle withdrawals for additional investing vs corporate investing needs to be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Where lifestyle needs exceed the after-tax income created from an RRSP contribution maximum, $154,611, then I always recommend you pull the excess as dividends.

Let’s look at an example

Say you need $10,000 a month of spendable cash to cover off your mortgage, student loan payments, property taxes, utilities, groceries, and a little fun.

In Summary

There are several factors to consider on a salary or dividend split for those owning professional corporations. Part of it involves a conversation around your goals and retirement dreams. As a family CFO, I review all aspects of these decisions with my clients and work toward creating plans that meet your desires today and your dreams tomorrow.

This article should not be construed as personal financial advice.

ROXANNE ARNAL,

Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner

Roxanne Arnal graduated from UW School of Optometry in 1995 and is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO) and the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS).  She subsequently built a thriving optometric practice in rural Alberta.

Roxanne took the decision in  2012 to leave optometry and become a financial planning professional.  She now focuses on providing services to Optometrists with a plan to parlay her unique expertise to help optometric practices and their families across the country meet their goals through astute financial planning and decision making.

Roxanne splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Dr. Glen Chiasson.

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Should I invest in a RRSP or a TFSA?

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Roxanne Arnal, Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner© has made her article available in audio format.

Click the play button below to listen.

Dr. Roxanne Arnal, CFP®

Good question. Let’s start with some general information. What is an RRSP and a TFSA? Both are account types that have been given special tax treatment with the CRA. Both account types, along with open accounts, RESP and RDSP accounts for example, can hold a number of different kinds of investments within them.

RRSP

An RRSP is a Registered Retirement Savings Plan. It was designed to create a personal pension and really came into favor when businesses took a step back from offering those juicy Defined Benefit Pension Plans (DBPP). If you know of anyone who works for the government, chances are they still have a nice DBPP. For the rest of us, it is really our own responsibility to build a retirement nest egg that will allow us to live the lifestyle of our choosing when we no longer want to see patients in the little dark room. (You should also be aware that there are a couple of special withdrawal programs tied to an RRSP, such as the Home Buyers Program (HBP) and the Lifelong Learning Program (LLP). These are topics for another day.)

An RRSP at it’s core is a tax deferral vehicle. It allows you to take some of your income from today, invest it according to the program, and on withdrawal, pay tax at your then current rate. So from a planning perspective, an RRSP works best when you anticipate moving from a current high tax rate to a future lower tax rate.

Of course, there is no way to know what the future tax rates are going to be – so yes, this is a bit of a gamble. But historically, the income tax banding system used in Canada doesn’t change significantly and typically, year over year, they are adjusted for inflation. Planning does require various assumptions, and the future tax regime is one such set of assumptions we use.

TFSA

A TFSA is a Tax Free Savings Account and takes your current after tax money on deposit. In this case however, the investment growth is 100% tax free on withdrawal. Sound enticing? Well it should be! A TFSA works especially well if you are currently in a lower tax bracket and expect to be in a higher tax bracket in the future. And I don’t just mean in retirement.

Contribution Room

Both a TFSA and a RRSP have contribution room maximums that are calculated completely different.

You start to earn TFSA contribution room the year you turn 18 (provided you turned 18 on or after 2009 when the program started). Currently, the annual increase in your contribution room is $6000. Your contribution room continues to grow every year you are alive. When you make contributions, the room for future contributions decreases. When you make a withdrawal, the contribution room is returned to you the following January. This makes TFSA accounts a great place to park money for future large expenses, short and mid term goals. However, their very best use remains for retirement.

The contribution room in a RRSP is based on your annual tax reported income. So if you started filing tax returns at 14, you were already creating a contribution room pool based on 18% of your annual income, up to the annual maximum. Your annual income is defined as regular income and does not include dividend or other investment income. This of course opens up the question for self employed people – do you take salary or dividends? Yup – that’s a topic for another day.

But which one is best?

For most of my clients, we utilize both account types. The split is really dependent on how you create your cash flow, manage your tax strategy and organize your goals.

There are some general tax guidelines, but what you want your money to do for you should always be the most important guiding principle in how you invest. Your goals provide the framework for all the planning work we do together – because at the end of the day, it’s all about you!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

ROXANNE ARNAL,

Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner

Roxanne Arnal graduated from UW School of Optometry in 1995 and is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO) and the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS).  She subsequently built a thriving optometric practice in rural Alberta.

Roxanne took the decision in  2012 to leave optometry and become a financial planning professional.  She now focuses on providing services to Optometrists with a plan to parlay her unique expertise to help optometric practices and their families across the country meet their goals through astute financial planning and decision making.

Roxanne splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Dr. Glen Chiasson.

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Getting a tax refund is exciting, but should it be?

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Roxanne Arnal, Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner© has made her article available in audio format.

Click the play button below to listen.

Dr. Roxanne Arnal, CFP®

It’s that time of year again – when most of us have had to open up our wallets and make a special contribution to the CRA. As many optometrists receive income in multiple formats such as salary, dividends, and self-employment, we typically find ourselves owing additional taxes at this time of year. But not always.

If you haven’t strategized your annual tax bill well in advance, you may have found yourself with a refund coming your way.

Do you get excited when you hear you are receiving a REFUND? I’d like to challenge you to think differently about this.

Strategize your Tax Bill

What? You mean I can strategize my tax bill? Yes you can! Every year after you file your taxes and receive your notice of assessment from the CRA, I highly recommend that you spend some time with your Certified Financial Planner working out the best strategy for your income draw over the balance of the current tax year.

Adjusting your RRSP contributions is one simple task that everyone should review annually. Reviewing your tax installments is another. Salary and dividend splits need to be reassessed on an ongoing basis. Although your accountant has calculated your tax contributions for the coming year, this does not mean these figures are written in stone. Yes, there are CRA guidelines, but these are based on your tax bill from your previous two years of filing.

Your tax contributions for the year can always be adjusted based on a number of projections that we review in our annual tax meeting. Will your RRSP contributions increase or decrease this year? Have you had your payroll deductions adjusted for variances from the standard table? Do you anticipate placing a hefty medical expense submission on your next tax return? And on that note, do you know that medical expenses are any 12 consecutive months and not tied to the calendar year? Changes to your charitable contributions? Disability tax credit qualification change? Has there been a fundamental shift in taxation that will directly impact you?

We all know these things matter when we submit our paperwork to our accountant annually, but have you taken the time to plan for them earlier in the year and adjusted your tax contributions accordingly?

Why does planning ahead matter?

We all appreciate the social services that Canada offers. If you’ve ever been sick or seriously injured, you recognize the value of our health care system. Pandemic? Well you probably appreciated several of the government programs. Free highway access – yes please. Our social services are part of what makes this country great. But they do come at a cost and our tax system is designed to fund these costs – in one form or another.

So yes, pay your taxes, but don’t go donating extra to the government. When you make installments in excess of your tax bill, you are actually lending the government your money for free. FOR FREE!

With all due respect, if we owe them money, we will be charged interest and penalties. So don’t just ignore those tax installments, but adjust them to make them closer to target.

Do you like getting a tax refund? Well I don’t know about you, but I don’t like lending out my money interest free. Savings accounts might be paying dismally low interest right now, but they are still better than zero and maintaining the control of your own money is directly linked to opportunity flexibility,

Let’s get smarter about our money.

Need help planning your next tax year? Start with your tax return and an understanding of your year ahead – and let’s talk.

ROXANNE ARNAL,

Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner

Roxanne Arnal graduated from UW School of Optometry in 1995 and is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO) and the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS).  She subsequently built a thriving optometric practice in rural Alberta.

Roxanne took the decision in  2012 to leave optometry and become a financial planning professional.  She now focuses on providing services to Optometrists with a plan to parlay her unique expertise to help optometric practices and their families across the country meet their goals through astute financial planning and decision making.

Roxanne splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Dr. Glen Chiasson.

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Asset Protection Analysis

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Roxanne Arnal, Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner© has made her article available in audio format.

Click the play button below to listen.

Dr. Roxanne Arnal, CFP®

My last article addressed your greatest asset and I introduced the concept of an asset protection portfolio. But what is an asset protection portfolio?

Essentially, it’s a plan that outlines how you will manage various risks to your assets.

For example, Professional Liability Coverage manages the risk you carry of causing real or perceived harm to your patients. In our increasingly litigious society, this coverage is vital to ensure that our livelihoods, our businesses, and our personal lives are not ruined due to a possible misjudgment along the way.

Review your Risks

Comprehensive financial planning includes a review of your potential risks and discusses the strategies to manage those risks.

  • Identify the risks that could threaten your financial security.
  • Quantify the risks.
  • Determine if there is some way to mitigate the risks through planning.
  • Transfer the remaining risks that you are unable or unwilling to assume yourself to an insurance company.

For significant life changing events, like premature death or developing a debilitating illness for example, it may be prudent to transfer as much of the financial impact as possible.

Where transfer is not done, you would ultimately assume the financial burden of unexpected, and potentially catastrophic events. This can have a significant impact on your assets – both on you as the asset generating machine, but also on the physical assets themselves.

From a health perspective, given todays ever advancing care, we often survive, what in the past, would have killed us. Both my husband and I are proof of  how advancements in health care save lives, where previously premature death was inevitable.

As a result, it is more important than ever to ensure that we don’t drain our savings in our fight for survival. Transferring risk permits us to adapt to our new situation while maintaining a manageable standard of living for us and our families.

Asset Protection Process

  1. Evaluate the impact of the risk. Consider: would the risk be of:
    • Minor consequence?: Where the potential financial loss is very low, it is likely very manageable within your overall financial situation. Think of smashing your cell phone. Annoying? Yes. Does it create a financial stress on your family? Likely not.
    • Substantial consequence?: Where you would face serious financial difficulties that would lead to a reduction in your standard of living, you will want to ensure you have reviewed risk transfer options.Your inability to work for six months after an accident is one such example.
    • Dire consequence?: Where it would result in significant financial loss that could lead to bankruptcy or the disposition of most assets, you will definitely want to transfer the risk.The everyday example we live here is the risk of malpractice.
  2. Review the probability of the risk occurring in relation to the impact it would create, and allocate premium dollars accordingly. For example, what are the odds of your house catching on fire? There were only 5,951 residential fires in all of Ontario in 2014. The odds of you developing a critical illness? 26% for a non-smoking 35 year old male before the age of 65! (You can review your own risk through the Insure Right Calculator by Manulife.)
  3. Select the appropriate asset protection strategy. There are 4 basic strategies:
    • Risk Avoidance – can you avoid the potential risk? For example, you can avoid the risk of an ice mountain climbing injury by choosing not to ice mountain climb.
    • Risk Reduction – can you reduce the probability of the risk occurring? For example, you can use your seatbelt every time you travel by vehicle.
    • Risk Transfer/Sharing – can you transfer the cost or share the cost of a risk occurrence with another party? For example, you can’t afford substantial time off work and support your family should you suffer a major injury. You may have an emergency fund equal to 3 months of expenses, but it’s highly unlikely you have sufficient savings to cover your needs until age 65. Perhaps a disability income replacement policy would be wise.
    • Risk Retention – for all risks not avoided, reduced or transferred to a third party, you ultimately retain the risk yourself and assume full responsibility for the financial impact it may have. Replace that broken phone? An inconvenience, but it won’t create financial ruin for years to come. Suffer a stroke? Well that’s a different story.

Have you analyzed your areas of risk and how you will handle them? As your personal CFO, I’m here to help you figure it out and explore the different options so you can make smart financial decisions with confidence.

Business risks? Well, that’s a topic for another day.

 

References:

Manulife Insure Right – What’s your Risk? Which references: Critical illness probability based on combined incidence rates for Cancer (“New cases for ICD-03 primary sites of cancer: 2002-2007”) and the Heart and

Stroke Foundation of Canada (“The Growing Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke in Canada, 2003”).

Fire Statistics in Canada, 2005-2014, published by Statistics Canada, September 2017

ROXANNE ARNAL,

Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner

Roxanne Arnal graduated from UW School of Optometry in 1995 and is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO) and the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS).  She subsequently built a thriving optometric practice in rural Alberta.

Roxanne took the decision in  2012 to leave optometry and become a financial planning professional.  She now focuses on providing services to Optometrists with a plan to parlay her unique expertise to help optometric practices and their families across the country meet their goals through astute financial planning and decision making.

Roxanne splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Dr. Glen Chiasson.

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What’s your Greatest Asset?

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Roxanne Arnal, Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner© has made her article available in audio format.

Click the play button below to listen.

 

 

Dr. Roxanne Arnal, CFP®
Have you ever thought of it?

You’ve spent 6 or more years in post-secondary education. You may be riddled with student debt, you may have a mortgage, kids to feed, a business to run. But what truly is your greatest asset? Let’s take a look at some of the most likely contenders.

  • Your vehicle
  • Your home
  • Your income
  • Your business
  • Your investments

This seems rather timely to me as spring is when both our auto and home insurance renewals arrive. And like most of you, I complain about the steady increase in premiums and then….pay them. It got me to thinking “Am I spending my premium dollars appropriately?”

Consumer Product Extended Warranty
First off, let’s hope you didn’t select the product coverage that the sales clerk at your local electronics store tried to sell you at check out. This type of consumer insurance is a great profit builder for the corporate entity. Why? Because in most cases, you will never claim on the insurance. You will lose the receipt, forget you have it, or quite frankly never need it. In addition, as a proportion of the cost of the actual product, it’s crazy expensive. And last, but not least, would the loss of the device cause dire, or even serious, financial ruin?

Auto Insurance
Auto policies typically include liability protection. And I would never advise you to drop that critically important piece of your asset protection portfolio. But if I look at that portion alone on my current renewal, the cost runs just over 50% for $2,000,000 of coverage. The balance of my premiums provide coverage to replace my vehicle in some form or another. So I’m paying just over $500 a year to replace a vehicle valued at $38,000. Hmmm. Needless to say, this isn’t my greatest asset. (Note: my rates reflect years of clean driving, multi-policy and age discounts. We won’t discuss what my 18-year old son pays for liability alone!)

Home Insurance
Then there’s our home. Here, a very small portion of the premium goes towards liability coverage. The remaining premium, just under $3,000 covers my “stuff”. So for $3,000 a year (and growing), I have potential coverage of up $2,000,000. Again, not the best value for my money, but the loss of our home and the stuff inside it would definitely have a serious financial consequence for us.

Your Income, Your Business, Your Investments
That leaves us with your income and your investments. For ease of illustration, I’m grouping your business in your investments and trust that in all cases you have sufficient liability coverage.

Whether your greatest asset is your income or your investments is really dependent on where you are in your career. For simplicity sake, this chart shows a rough estimate of your lifetime earning potential, based on your current age, and cross referenced with your growing investment portfolio. As you inch closer to retirement, your investments grow while your anticipated lifetime active earnings taper down.

 

 

*  See assumptions below.

You Are Your Greatest Asset
Without the ability to earn an income, you wouldn’t have any of the material things we’ve spoken of here. It could become impossible to keep your business, and build your investment portfolio. Considering this, how many of your premium dollars are going toward managing the risks placed on your greatest asset – you? Without protecting what you have worked so hard to achieve – your education, your business, your wealth portfolio – what exactly are you protecting?

Asset Protection Portfolio
An asset protection portfolio involves so much more that liability protection. It is critical to ensure that you have reviewed and aligned your premium dollars and behaviour to protect what really matters. Not sure? That’s just one piece of being your personal CFO that I review with you.

Call or email today to start your review.

*   Graph assumptions:
Work from age 26 to 65, starting at $120,000 per year, remove 2020 Ontario taxation and self-employed CPP amounts. Maintain these rates into the future. In year two, contribute 18% of previous years pre-tax income to an RRSP. Apply tax credits for RRSP contributions, basic personal amount & Canada Employment amount only. Increase pre-tax salary by 3% per year. Invest 30% of annual after-tax income in monthly installments, earning 5% compounding annual rate of return.

ROXANNE ARNAL,

Optometrist and Certified Financial Planner

Roxanne Arnal graduated from UW School of Optometry in 1995 and is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO) and the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS).  She subsequently built a thriving optometric practice in rural Alberta.

Roxanne took the decision in  2012 to leave optometry and become a financial planning professional.  She now focuses on providing services to Optometrists with a plan to parlay her unique expertise to help optometric practices and their families across the country meet their goals through astute financial planning and decision making.

Roxanne splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Dr. Glen Chiasson.

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Insight with Roxanne Arnal

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Roxanne Arnal originally hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba

She is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists and
the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS)

Roxanne successfully grew an independent Optometric practice in Alberta before leaving the profession to become a Certified Financial Planner® focusing on optometrists and their families’ financial requirements.

Roxanne Arnal

Doctorate of Optometry from the University Of Waterloo (1995)

Certified Financial Planner®

 

Why did you choose your field?
I always wanted to be a doctor and learned early in undergrad that medicine and medical school was not a lifestyle I wanted. Helping people and teaching has always been a natural tendency of mine. If I had not gotten into Optometry school, I was going to become an accountant. So I guess it’s really no surprise that I’m a financial planner. Helping people, educating them, and using numbers…this is what I was created for.

What is the biggest struggle in your career?
Helping people understand that not all financial planners are the same. Unlike optometry, there is no title protection, no title requirements nor clear definitions. It really is alphabet soup of credentials which ultimately  leads to increased public confusion. Most of the professionals I speak with don’t really understand what I am able to bring to the table and the breadth of service I offer. I have a very unique skill set and am well groomed to be your family CFO.

What is currently the most exciting thing in your field to help patients?
Tax integration. Very few professionals have a current and comprehensive grasp of building tax efficiencies for today and their future. Integrating your business and personal finances within the Canadian tax system is the geeky fun of planning work I love.

What is something you have done in your practice to set you apart.
I specialize in optometrists. We are a unique and highly educated bunch, who spend most of our days in a little dark room. Having lived through the various stages of practice, I understand the opportunities and pitfalls.

What advice would you give a new grad today?
You’ve lived the past several years as a student, so treat yourself to a little grad gift, then continue to live like a student! You’d be surprised how quickly you can pay off your student debt with this attitude. Yes, you may be able to write off your loan interest, but it’s a devil on your back that feels much better to shed as you move forward and build your business ownership.

Always give patients no less than you would give your mom (assuming you love her).

And – purchase your commercial space as soon as you can. You have to pay rent anyways!

What do you believe is the key to success?
Love people! Take a genuine interest in their lives, listen to their concerns, and help them to the best of your ability.

What is your favourite saying?
“You don’t know what you don’t know – until it’s too late.” We all make mistakes, some more costly than others and I made my fair share. The more I learned in my new field, the angrier I got about all the missed information I didn’t get from my advisors. I am determined to ensure my clients don’t have to learn the hard way by answering the questions they didn’t even know they should have asked.

If you could take one album, one book, and one luxury item to a desert island, what would they be?
Adele 25 – Hello? Lots of quiet time for me to convince the local wildlife I sound as good as her!

Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – an older book, but lots of content to keep you thinking and tips to tap into your imaginary friends for company.

My bed – because a good nights sleep is essential to reset my attitude.

What is your favourite TV show/Netflix series?
Grey’s Anatomy – I’m not sure why.
Suits – probably for the same reason I like Grey’s

Last time you laughed?
All the time, but most of those wouldn’t be funny to anyone else. But the other night we were attending a virtual Wine Tasting event hosted by our local Co-op Liquor Store. Really, a good excuse to drink 3 bottles of wine on a Friday night in quarantine.

Using an open zoom meeting format, you get to “enjoy” everyone else’s experience too. Now you have to understand, we live in rural Alberta, so watching the various screens is really only a bit more elevated than an Optometry School Wine & Cheese event.

I’m not sure how our sommelier, Amy, manages to maintain her professionalism. Wine number 3 was paired with a salami, and the instructions go like this: “Take a sip of your wine, now eat the sausage and tell me what’s going on in your mouth?” My husband, Ken, had to step off screen. Enough said.

Last Indulgence?
Glass Sculpture from Murano, Italy.

What is your favorite food?
I’m a foodie – new and interesting. We are currently expanding our vegetarian menu, but my top comfort foods will always be pork ribs and beef stew.

What was the last gift you gave someone?
Nerf guns – last family gift to open at Christmas held 4 Nerf guns and a package of extra bullets. The battle ensued. It was such a blast.

How have you changed since high school?
I’m more cautious. A wise man told me “it’s because I have more to lose now”.

Something few people know about you?
I LOVE puzzles. Especially traditional piece puzzles and number puzzles. I just love figuring out how all the pieces fit together. Just like a good financial plan, I love picking apart and looking at all the different pieces to find the best way they fit together and create the perfect picture for my clients.

If you had a time machine, what year would you travel to and why?
2000 – the year our first child was born. I love babies and would love another chance to raise her. And I wouldn’t hire a nanny this time (that didn’t happen til 2003 mind you).

Describe your perfect day.
Sightseeing on a clear sunny day in Europe with my family & our optometry travel group. Ending the day with a 10 course chef’s table tasting menu with full wine pairing.

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Episode 19: The Optometric Family CFO – Roxanne Arnal

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Roxanne Arnal, OD and Certified Financial Planner® discusses her unique skill set as a family Chief Financial Officer specifically for optometrists. She charts her path from Optometry School, through personal health challenges and becoming a financial planner focused on Optometry practices and their families.

About the Guest

Roxanne Arnal graduated from UW School of Optometry in 1995 and is a past-president of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO) and the Canadian Association of Optometry Students (CAOS).  She subsequently built a thriving optometric practice in rural Alberta.

Roxanne took the decision in  2012 to leave optometry and become a financial planning professional.  She now focuses on providing services to Optometrists with a plan to parlay her unique expertise to help optometric practices and their families across the country meet their goals through astute financial planning and decision making.

 

Episode Notes

Roxanne Arnal and Glen Chiasson, classmates from the 1995 UW School of Optometry graduating class, discuss Roxanne’s path through her early years’ post grad activities, ultimately leading to full ownership of an optometric practice in rural Alberta.

She shares how she came to the decision to stop practicing optometry and launch herself into an entirely new career direction in financial advice and planning. Roxanne outlines her strategy to bring her unique skill set and expand services to optometrists and their families across the country.

She relates how a very serious health challenge abruptly derailed her plans, but also motivated her to pursue a new mission: To share the mental health side of her cancer journey by writing a book.

Along the way, she and Glen reminisce about their student days, particularly the challenges of Physiological Optics 109!

Resources

 

 

Dr. Glen Chiasson

Dr. Glen Chiasson

Dr. Glen Chiasson is a 1995 graduate of the University of Waterloo School of Optometry. He owns and manages two practices in Toronto. In 2009, he co-hosted a podcast produced for colleagues in eye care, the “International Optometry Podcast”. He is a moderator of the Canadian Optometry Group, an email forum for Canadian optometrists. As  a host of  “Eyes Wide Open”, Glenn  looks forward to exploring new new technologies and services for eye care professionals.

Dr. Chiasson enjoys tennis, hockey, and reading. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons.

Dr. Chiasson splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Roxanne Arnal.

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Special Episode: COVID-19 Crisis and Impact on Practice Value

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Jackie Joachim, COO of ROI Corporation has solid advice for practices under the assault of COVID-19.

 

 

Jackie Joachim, COO ROI Corp

About the Guest

Jackie Joachim is the Chief Operating officer for ROI Coporation. ROI specializes in assisting healthcare professionals in the Optometry, Dental and Veterinary spaces appraise and sell / transition their practices.

 

 

Episode Notes

While COVID-19 is an unprecedented event, Jackie recounts the experience of previous shocks to the economy including SARS and the 2008 recession, and opines on how the lessons learned may apply.

She emphasizes the imperative to remain positive and indicates what things can be done now to prepare for the return to business when it invariable comes.

Jackie has some easy-to-implement tips on how practices can maintain a positive connection with their patients and staff to ease the burden of the COVID-19 crisis, and support the emergence of a stronger practice when the crisis abates.

Resources

 

 

Dr. Glen Chiasson

Dr. Glen Chiasson

Dr. Glen Chiasson is a 1995 graduate of the University of Waterloo School of Optometry. He owns and manages two practices in Toronto. In 2009, he co-hosted a podcast produced for colleagues in eye care, the “International Optometry Podcast”. He is a moderator of the Canadian Optometry Group, an email forum for Canadian optometrists. As  a host of  “Eyes Wide Open”, Glenn  looks forward to exploring new new technologies and services for eye care professionals.

Dr. Chiasson enjoys tennis, hockey, and reading. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons.

Dr. Chiasson splits EWO podcast hosting duties with Roxanne Arnal.

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It’s Time to Mend the Nets: Practice Advice for Turbulent Times

Human Resources, Managing Others, Webinar

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Practice Advice for Turbulent Times

“When fishermen can’t go to sea, they mend their nets.”

 There are plenty of tasks related, and even essential, to the success of your practice. This quote reminds us of the importance of forward momentum, which in turn can ensure you return stronger than ever, ready to meet the challenges ahead.

Eye Care Business Canada have teamed up with BMO Bank of Montreal and ROI Corporation, Canada’s largest health care business brokerage, to provide a live webinar series that will help you make the most of these challenging times and help prepare your future.

We are offering complimentary educational webinars on three topics of particular relevance to these trying times, delivered by industry experts. Audience is invited to put questions to the speakers.

The Webinars will be co-hosted by Jackie Joachim, COO of ROI Corporation and Dr. Glen Chiasson, Host of Eyes Wide Open, a Canadian podcast for eye care professionals published by Eye Care Business Canada.

Keeping Employees Engaged and Motivated
The closure of offices has been a wake-up call for the importance of a strong culture. It is crucial that practice owners do not succumb to the panic. Employees look to their employers for leadership and model their behaviour, especially in times of crisis. The focus of this session is to help you keep your employees calm, engaged and informed. Practice owners will benefit from the tips and tools to keep their teams motivated while the office is closed.

Presenter:  Nava Sarooshi
Motivating teams to achieve results is Nava’s passion. She has run various workshops and consults with teams who are looking to achieve higher performance. Nava is also the President of MDP Corp, a temporary personnel placement agency.

Thursday April 2, 3PM (EDT)  

 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW    

Managing the Practice’s Financial Health During Troubled Times
As a typical “black swan” event, COVID-19 took the world by surprise. Understanding the potential impact on the value of your practice and managing the financial risk associated with office closures is critical. This session will help you focus on the financial factors, especially as they pertain to the practice’s profitability and value.

Presenters:
Romal Bryce, Head of Healthcare Initiatives BMO
Romal oversees BMO Canadian Business Banking’s go to market strategy in the field of healthcare professional financing. He has been a financial services professional, primarily at Bank of Montreal, for 20 years He has held various sales, underwriting and risk-related roles in both retail and business banking.

Jackie Joachim, Chief Operating Officer for ROI Coporation
ROI specializes in assisting healthcare professionals in the Optometry, Dental and Veterinary spaces appraise and sell/transition their practices.

Monday April 6, 3PM (EDT) 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

Key Legal Issues Affecting Practice Owners
This is the time to look at all the legal factors that affect your clinic. This session will discuss the importance of key documents such as associate and employee agreements, partnerships, incorporating and leases.

Presenter:
Artem Kobzev,  LLP Tax Chambers
Artem’s practice focuses on providing individuals and closely-held corporations with a broad range of legal services, including personal tax planning, corporate tax planning, estate planning, business succession planning and asset protection. He frequently works with owner-managers to develop and implement the strategies and structures that will enable them to meet their specific needs.

Wednesday April 8, 3PM (EDT) 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

We look forward to e-meeting you at the webinars.

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Plan Ahead—You Never Know

Finance|Wealth, Practice, Resources

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Some of our clients are seniors and with every passing year we are saddened to hear of the illness and sometimes the loss of these highly valued clients and oftentimes they are personal friends. One such client comes to mind. He was still practicing, but reported having fatigue that day. His staff insisted that he go home and rest thinking he had a severe case of the flu. Unable to drive, his son took him home where he slept through the night. When he woke up he was still not well and his family took him to the hospital. He died that same day.

He was diagnosed with a severe case of cancer (stage IV leukemia) and there were no pre-indications that he or his family was aware of. If he did know, he did not tell anybody. If he did not know, it is probably because he was only 53 years of age, very fit, exercised regularly, led a healthy lifestyle and as a result had not seen his physician in some time.

More factors regarding his illness were later found but the bottom line is he was treating patients a few days before he died. As business advisors and brokers, we encourage our clients to examine their Will, update it regularly and designate a trusted family/friend/advisor to know where it is kept.

Next, we advise our clients to have an emergency plan for the business itself. We tell them that a Will looks after your assets after your death and distributes those assets as you have directed. In many cases, this process can take two or more months to be properly enacted by your executors. What happens to your practice/business tomorrow if you suddenly die today?

Do you have a specific individual who will take the responsibility of caring for and controlling the practice to ensure that it continues to operate? This means that patients are seen, staff, landlords, and suppliers are paid to keep the business running in a vibrant fashion. By doing so you prevent your practice from plummeting in value in your absence as the key producer?

Do you have a specific health care professional (HCP) or a group of HCPs who should be called upon to help you, your family and business advisors if an emergency arises to keep the business operating in an orderly manner?

Often, in the absence of any instruction of this nature, the staff or the family members—while in a state of shock or sadness—will shut down the practice and cancel patients’ appointments. They will have no idea when or how to re-open. Should something be said in the newspaper? Should there be an announcement to the patients? How is your practice to be run without you there to guide them?

Understandably, your practice will close for two or three days to allow family/friends/colleagues to grieve and to attend your funeral. BUT soon—it is business-as-usual for the sake of the business! It must be maintained and its value preserved. Subsequently that value will inure to your estate or to the executors in full form and fashion, as opposed to being closed and your practice starts to fail.

Why would you want to leave an asset in a state of rapid decline when all you need to do is have a Will for your business and/or an emergency plan that gives your family/executors/advisors specific instructions?

Here are the instructions you should have in place:
1. A locum be added into the business as quickly as possible.
2. A list of HCP locum names with phone numbers is available to call. Most brokers have locums at the ready for this purpose. An office manager or receptionist can be designated to do this task at this time. It does not have to be done by a lawyer or a family member.
3. The practice should be appraised immediately or if an appraisal is on file, that appraisal should be updated. Your accountant and your lawyer should have a copy of your emergency plan. Again, provide the names and contact information of the individuals designated to perform these tasks.

Delay of any of these steps reduces the operating value of your business. We (as individual advisers/brokers) would not want to leave our business in that condition. Most of us have children and grandchildren and others
to whom we wish to leave a legacy. We never want to leave a negative
declining asset behind.

Additional steps can be taken depending on the unique circumstances of
your practice/business. Consider consulting with a professional practice appraiser/broker to put an emergency plan and business Will in place. By doing so, you will preserve hundreds of thousands of dollars for your family, your church, and your charity.

TIMOTHY BROWN

is Chief Executive Office of ROI Corporation Canada’s national professional practice and brokerage firm.

Jackie Joachim, COO ROI Corp

JACKIE JOACHIM

Jackie has 30 years of experience in the industry as a former banker and now the Chief Operating Officer of ROI Corporation. Please contact her at Jackie.joachim@roicorp.com or 1-844-764-2020.

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