Your Wishes

Aurora Borelis, Crossfield AB November 2025

February is a month filled with opportunities to be present with the people who matter most. Between Valentine’s Day and Family Day, we are reminded that life is built in moments, much like the spirit of the Olympic Games, where memories are created through shared experiences, commitment, and intention. We don’t just watch moments happen we make them.

It’s also a gentle reminder to take care of the things that matter both now and later. Creating a thoughtful estate plan is one of the greatest gifts you can give your family — providing clarity, reducing stress, and ensuring your wishes are honored. True peace of mind comes not only from having documents in place, but from having meaningful conversations with loved ones about what matters most.

In this edition’s Ethos, we share our thoughts on these big moves and how something is generally off in the market based on rather odd trading patterns

As always, my goal is to help you approach money with both confidence and clarity—so it supports not just your finances, but your overall well-being.

Harness Investment Management

Market Ethos

Markets Get Claude’d

Last week news of a new Claude AI model crushed software stocks. In this Ethos we share our thoughts on these big moves and how something is generally off in the market based on rather odd trading patterns… read article

3 Estate Planning Tips

Most people don’t think they have an “estate.” When we hear the word estate, we picture wealth, trusts, or something that belongs to someone else. But your estate is simply the life you’ve built like your home, your investments, your business, perhaps the cabin at the lake, and most importantly, the people you love. We spend years building value.

Yet many of us avoid planning for how that value transfers. Why?

Because our brains are wired to avoid discomfort. Thinking about incapacity or death activates uncertainty and loss which the brain perceives as threat. The amygdala prefers immediate safety over long-term planning. So we procrastinate. We tell ourselves we’ll get to it “later.” But estate planning is not about fear. It’s about stewardship.

Here are three steps you can take right now.

1. Create the Core Documents

Every adult should have:

1. A Will

2. An Enduring Power of Attorney

3. A Personal Directive

These documents ensure that if you cannot make decisions, financially or medically someone you trust can. Without them, legislation decides. And that formula may not reflect your intentions, relationships, or values. Creating these documents reduces future stress for your family. In behavioural terms, you are transferring uncertainty from them to a structured plan. That is an act of care.

2. Review on a Regular Basis

Estate planning is not a one-time event. Experts suggest reviewing every 5 years. I raise the conversation annually with clients because life evolves:

• Children reach adulthood

• Assets change

• Executors move or age

• Relationships shift

• Charitable intentions evolve

Your estate plan should reflect your current life, not a snapshot from a decade ago. Our brains crave completion once something is “done,” we mentally file it away. But good planning requires revisiting and refining.

3. Align Your Estate Plan With Your Investments

This is where many plans quietly break down. Certain assets like registered accounts, pensions, insurance — pass by beneficiary designation, not by your will.

If those designations are outdated, they can override carefully drafted estate documents.

Ask yourself:

• Are your beneficiaries current?

• Have you named contingents?

• Does your estate plan integrate with your tax strategy?

Alignment matters so when your legal documents and financial accounts work together, you create clarity instead of confusion.

Estate planning is not about preparing to die. It is about reducing uncertainty for the people you love. When we avoid planning, we temporarily soothe our own discomfort. When we plan, we reduce long-term stress for our family. One is emotional relief in the present. The other is emotional protection for the future.

If you would like to review how your estate plan integrates with your investment strategy, let’s have that conversation. A thoughtful hour today can create peace of mind for decades.

What Else Is Important

Now that you have done the difficult task of organizing your estate documents. Sharing with your loved ones the content of your estate documents, where you plan to keep these important documents.

A fire safe document organizer like the DocSafe 5200 or a fire resistant security safe is the next step to peace of mind. I have been recommending this suggestion to clients who don’t have an in home safe. Keeping your documents in a safety deposit box at the bank is a bit tricky, as your personal representative needs to be registered with the bank and have access to the key.

What other documents or copies of documents should accompany your will. Copies of your investment statements, bank account numbers, credit cards, copies of passports, and other ID. We have an entire estate planning kit. Click here for a copy.

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