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Dee's Story

Many throughout Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will remember Darlene for her countless years involved with local Girl Guides. Others will remember her as Dee from her 16 years at Home Hardware answering home improvement questions.

In September 2002 Dee was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This was almost one year to the day after her own mother passed away from pancreatic cancer after a 20 year long battle.

Each day Dee would travel from her home in Pitt Meadows to the Cancer Centre in Surrey for chemotherapy treatment. This was a grueling ordeal for her considering the cancer had made her highly susceptible to motion sickness and nausea, combined with the already well known effects of chemotherapy. Because of this Dee could not drive herself and had to depend on family, friends, and volunteers. On occasion she would miss treatments, due to either being unable to arrange transportion or unable to bear the discomfort of travel.

The conditions and effects of the treatments combined with the fact the doctors deemed the treatment to be having no positive effects on the cancer, ultimately lead to treatment being discontinued.

As the cancer progressed and her condition worsened, in February of 2003 Dee was admitted to Surrey Memorial Hospital. She was admitted in Surrey due to a lack of space in the palliative care unit at Ridge Meadows Hospital. In mid March 2003 Dee was transferred to Ridge Meadows. The Palliative care unit was not best place for Dee, the ideal place would have been the McKenney Creek Hospice Facility, however this facility did not exist at the time. Despite this Dee did however receive support from Hospice in the form of the wonderful Hospice volunteers who would visit and sit with her for hours.

Dee passed away due to the cancer April 8th 2003.

After her death, because of money raised by the Headshave, Ridge Meadows Hospital acquired the equipment that would have provided Dee her treatment locally instead of in Surrey. More recently, also in part because of money raised by the Headshave, Ridge Meadows Hospital now has the equipment that would have allowed Dee to have received her treatment in her own home.

My name is Allen and I am the "Headshave at The Home Show" organizer and a headshave participant. Dee was my mother.

Hint: the answer should be you!

Here’s a question for you… Who does your financial advisor work for? And who pays their salary?

It’s one of the first questions Tom Manion from Manion and Associates Financial Services asks when people him why they should trust their money to his team.

"It's actually not a question many people ask themselves because they just assume their financial advisor is working for them, but that’s not necessarily the case," says the veteran financial advisor. "If you think about it, anyone who has to answer to a manager or meet a sales quota is actually serving two masters – the client and a third party that has its own set of interests.

"Do you really want your financial advisor giving you advice based on what is good for the company, and not ncessarily for you?"

Tom notes that Manion and Associates Financial Services is completely independent of any particular financial product supplier, and are Financial Planners, first and foremost. This means the best interests of the client come first, even if that just means answering questions. "Unlike the advisors for numerous financial institutions, we are free to recommend any financial product we believe will serve the particular needs of a client. We're not limited to specific corporate brands, and we're not required to push certain products because they're the 'product of the month.'

"At Manion and Associates you have choices because we have choices, and that means we make recommendations based on what is best for your portfolio, your lifestyle, and your family's needs."

Here’s another question for you…Who is your financial advisor today, and who will it be next year?

"One of the problems with a lot of the big financial institutions is turnover," says Tom’s partner, Allen. "You develop a relationship with someone over the course of a couple of years and then one day you phone and that person is no longer with the company."

Which wouldn't be that big a deal if everyone else in the office knew you, your situation, your file and so on. But chances are they don't, because you are just a file to the company, and you're back to square one in an effort to bring the new person up to speed. At Manion and Associates Financial Services that isn't likely to happen. It's a close knit team, a family run local business, with a family-friendly atmosphere, and the whole team is involved in the care of each client's needs.

"It's all about consistency," says Tom. "The members of our team have been together for a long time, they each bring specific strengths to the team, and each is fully capable of working with each of our clients to ensure continuity and seamless service."

At Manion and Associates Financial Services they practise what they preach – service, integrity and knowledge – and they have only one boss… you, the client.

Proper estate planning is a way to ensure a simple, organized and tax efficient transfer of your assets to your loved ones on your passing. Proper estate planning should also be updated on an ongoing basis, especially when the circumstances change in your life. The following are some points to think about when developing your estate plan:

Your Will

Your will is a legal document setting out your wishes on how your assets will be distributed upon your death. A will generally contains the following: 

• who will be responsible for administering your estate (choosing an Executor)
• how your estate and property will be distributed
• the beneficiaries of your estate

Naming Beneficiaries on Insurance Contracts

Naming specific beneficiaries on your insurance contracts (such as life insurance or segregated fund contracts) can allow death benefits to bypass your estate. By bypassing your estate the beneficiary will receive the funds privately and avoid probate, which can significantly reduce administration fees. Also, by avoiding your estate the death benefit proceeds can potentially avoid claims made by any creditors.

Minimize Taxes Owing on Death

There are different strategies you can use to minimize taxes owing on your final tax return thus leaving more money to your loved ones. Some of these strategies can include:

• Maximizing "spousal roll-overs" on eligible assets such as RRSP's
• Giving gifts and cash away while you are still alive
• Making charitable donations 
• purchasing life insurance that has death benefits payable directly to a beneficiary