PALADIN PROGRAM BACKGROUNDER

The Right Approach in Good Times and Bad

If the current economic crisis has taught us anything, it is that there is no "fast and easy" way to wealth creation. The financial services industry has long touted RRSPs and the stock market as a low risk way to build up savings and assets for retirement. The financial meltdown and stock market crash has shown millions of Canadians that their "risk-free" savings approach was a costly gamble.

There is a better way to build wealth and prepare for retirement and, perhaps surprisingly, it isn't much different than the approach our grandparents took coming out of the Great Depression. Live within your means - in other words stop supplementing your income with easy-to-get debt from financial institutions such as credit cards and lines of credit - and invest in tangible, hard assets such as real estate.

The time-tested approach to wealth and asset creation is at the heart of the Paladin Program, a unique three-year system that puts Canadians on the path to financial discipline and wealth wisdom. Created over the past 15 years, the Paladin Program has been proven to work in economic booms and busts and has freed more than 1,000 Canadian households from the debt trap created by today's financial industry.

"We call the Paladin Program 'financial boot camp' because getting off the easy-credit, deferred payment lifestyle is hard work," said Forge D'Urzo, the founder of the Paladin Program and President of Trinity Diversified North America, an independent financial services company. As a former bank manager and 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, Forge has seen firsthand how the "buy now, pay later" approach to purchasing everything from cars, furniture, homes and even RRSPs has put Canadians in a precarious financial situation.

"For me, the biggest surprise is the affluent two-income families I meet with who `own' a couple of expensive cars and a nice home in a great neighbourhood," says D'Urzo. "Once we sit down and examine their lifestyle, we find out that the cars are leased, there is a big mortgage on that great house, a line of credit with the bank and little saved for retirement. Like too many Canadians, they are just a job loss away from disaster."

How Paladin works

Named for the heroic champions from the age of chivalry "a strong supporter or defender of a cause," Paladin is a customized, one-on-one program of financial mentoring that teaches households' financial discipline and gets them off the easy-credit, debt-financed lifestyle. The Paladin program is not easy: participants have to agree to break bad financial habits and develop and live within a realistic budget, but most are amazed after a short time how can live comfortably without the crutch of credit. The Paladin system has been proven to work for Canadians of all ages, from those just starting out in the working world to those in retirement, regardless of their initial financial situation or knowledge.

Paladin's proven program starts with an initial, no obligation meeting which includes a "life audit" during which clients' financial situation and wealth goals are identified. Should clients determine that the Paladin Program is right for them, they sign up for a three-year program of regular status and guidance meetings.

Once they join the Paladin Program, participants are assigned a Financial Mentor who uses specially created budgeting tools to ensure clients on hitting their short-term and long-term financial goals as well as providing advice and guidance on the many issues facing Canadians today, from debt consolidation and banking to mortgages, leasing and business administration. And because Paladin clients have access to the resources of Trinity Diversified, they can obtain the right product for their needs at rates as good or better than those offered by major financial institutions. Paladin calls it the "multi-disciplined, product-neutral" approach to financial services. In other words, clients are provided the financial products that are right for them, not the ones that generate the most fees for Trinity Diversified.

Handpicked by Forge D'Urzo, Paladin's team of Financial Mentors are all veterans of the financial services industry and have achieved financial success in their own lives by adhering to the Paladin financial principles.

Trinity Diversified North America is an integrated financial services company with roots stretching back three decades. From its beginnings as a mortgage broker, Trinity's service offering has grown to include small business credit, insurance, auto leasing, wealth services, tax planning, debt counseling and home repair services.

For more information or to arrange an interview:
info@paladinprogram.com