Money has been shown to make you happier when you move from being homeless, without food and lacking the basic necessities, to having a home and having your basic needs met. Money has not been shown to increase happiness when you go from $2 million to $5 million or $20 million, and that is why the happiest and most joyful families or retirees we know exhibit a spirit of gratitude in their life regardless of their net worth.

Every year we observe Remembrance Day on November 11th, a day when we reflect on the sacrifice made by Canadian soldiers to preserve our freedom fighting global wars that most of us have no recollection of anymore. In the movie Darkest Hour, a heavily dramatized version of WW II history, we do see one element based on fact, that a very small political element in Britain contemplated a peace treaty with Germany for a fleeting moment until Churchill became PM; he would countenance no such thing. Britain continued fighting and when all looked lost, and most of Europe was under Nazi occupation, the US finally entered and helped turn the war in 1942. What a different world it would be today had they given up.

Since most of us never lived through the war like our parents and grandparents did, who saw brothers and sisters go to war and not come home, or come home irrevocably changed, it is very difficult to "remember" the self-sacrifice for freedom, or imagine the magnitude of what really happened for a cause that was shaking the world and all humanity. Today we live in a country where, thanks to those who fought for our freedom and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, you can still share your political thoughts, many different belief systems exist side by side and you are not thrown in prison in the dead of night due to what you believe in. Let us remember the sacrifices that have been made for us not just on one day in November, but throughout the year.

On a similar note of gratitude, Ian and I would like to thank our team for their wonderful and cheerful service to all the families we serve, and how they work tirelessly to “simplify your lives so you can do what you truly love”. We are grateful to them and we know you are as well.

As many of you may know, I was recently recognized as a top advisor in the Globe & Mail Report on Business. Although I am thrilled with the honour, it is important to me that you know that personal wealth management is a team effort and this recognition would not be possible without a trusted friend and partner in Ian Munro, and also would not be possible without the wonderful, trusted and caring team of Harrison, Tanya, Pedro, Melanie and Vanessa.

We worked to get the Globe & Mail to recognize us as a team, but unfortunately their process spotlights only one person. Accordingly, I will take this time of gratitude to spotlight our entire team as the true honorees as we collectively serve the families we work with!

Much thanks and all the best to you and your families,

Randy