FAQ - Mimi Tang, Financial Planner, Vancouver, British Columbia

What is the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF)?
It is a fund set by the stock exchanges and the Investment Dealers Association to protect investors from losses resulting from the bankruptcy of a member firm.

What is COMPCORP? (www.compcorp.ca)
Short-term name of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Compensation Corporation, a not for profit company whose member firms are issuers of life insurance contracts and whose mandate is to provide protection to contract holders against the insolvency of a member company.

What is a Financial Plan and what role does a Financial Planner play in the process?
A Financial Plan is not confined to one's finances. A thorough assessment of one's personal circumstances is an essential part of the process. Financial Planners need to know a good deal about the clients' lives in order to help them effectively. Clients benefit from this kind of personal analysis too, since it brings them to a better understanding of themselves and their goals, and as a result the plan that is developed is more likely realistic and more likely to be achieved. Financial Planning requires input from a number of professionals, such as a lawyer, accountant and investment advisor, but the Financial Planner is the one who brings it all together and creates the plan.

What should I do first, pay off my mortgage or contribute to an RRSP?
You can do both. Contribute to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and use the tax refund to pay down your mortgage.

There are so many mutual funds out there, how do I know what is right for me?
It is important that the kind of investments you have complement with your financial goals and objectives. What stage of your earning life you are currently on? As your financial plan is evolving, it is important to choose a family of funds, which gives you the flexibility to transfer from within the family of funds without any transfer fees.

What is a Management Expense Ratio (MER)?
A fund company charges the MER before any returns are paid out to investors. The MER includes the portfolio manager's compensation and other expenses associated with running the fund. The fees vary from one fund company to another and the fund type, the lowest fees charged for money market and index funds, while sector and specialty funds are charged the highest.

How we are compensated?
We are paid for work in different ways:
Commission:
There is no charge to design and implement a personal financial plan. We are compensated by the financial institution (such as mutual fund companies, life insurance companies and credit unions) whose products are used to implement your plan.
Fee-for-Service
Clients who wish to have a financial plan created or any other specialize analysis done will be charged a combination of fee-for-service work, management fees and commission paid by the financial institution.

If you have any other question(s) that is not answered here, please e-mail me at mtang@peakgroup.com and I will gladly answer your inquiry.

Please note: Ms. Mimi Tang, offers financial planning and insurance services as an independent representative, under Mimi Tang Wealth Management and Consulting LTD. and these services are offered independently of PEAK Securities.

PEAK Securities inc., an IDA registered, full service investment broker, limits its responsibility to investment products such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. PEAK Securities inc. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.

Call Mimi Tang at (604) 926-8068 or email mtang@peakgroup.com
for financial planning in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.