Last night there was a Financial Planning Association of Canada meetup (thanks to Sam Rook CFP® , Tanya Staples, PhD Candidate, M.A., CFP® and Jason Watt (he/him) CD for organizing it).  It’s always a great crowd that shows up and some of the top advisors I respect and look up to were in attendance.

Dr. Tanya Staples extended the invitation to some of her 3rd year financial planning students to attend and start to build their networks.

I was impressed with how the students really understood how the role of advisor / financial planner has very little to do with investments, and how each of them said they want to pursue this career in order to help people.

When I was in their shoes looking at career options, I remember someone asking me ‘have you considered wealth management?’

I remember replying ‘ugh, the last thing I want to do is have people ask my opinion of Acme Co’s stock’.  That was my impression of the role at that time – picking investments for people.

It’s often still portrayed that way in the media – newspaper outlets will have ‘Top Financial Person Reveals Their Top Picks for 2026’ articles rolling out shortly (yay! Can’t wait!).

Full article available here.