Putting Financial Health First

Denis and Helen - Ontario East & North Region

This husband and wife team in their 50s wasn't able to pay their bills and both were bordering on bankruptcy. Denis is a truck driver who worked seasonally. Helen owned and ran two stores, one in the centre of town and the other in a major mall. They had a big home, tons of RRSPs and tons of debt. The large store in town was losing a considerable amount of money every month while the other turned a small profit. The problem was that Helen felt responsible towards the 5 people that she employed in town and towards her leaseholder. Although he admired her sense of morality, Helen's Paladin Mentor had to advise her to put her own wellbeing first.

We completely restructured the couple's financing. They sold their big home in a good market and bought a smaller home. We helped Helen to close the losing business and focus her energy on the other while Denis concentrated on getting more work as a truck driver. We then advised the couple to use most of their RRSP savings to buy a house that they wanted to live in and that would appreciate over time. Because Helen was the sole proprietor of a business that had heavy losses, the tax penalty for early withdrawal of RRSP funds was not significant. After a couple of years, they had bought the house they wanted to live in and Denis was able to pay the mortgage out of his own income every month. They are now putting money aside every month and much happier with life.