The Advisor Delta™

Narrator: Welcome to The Advisor Delta™, the practice management podcast dedicated to helping investment advisors grow their business and reach their goals. Whether you’re looking to scale your practice, streamline operations, adapt to emerging technology, or deliver value to clients - this is the place for actionable insights, thoughtful leadership and innovative strategies. Brought to you by Worldsource Wealth Management. Let’s dive in!

Nat: It can be awkward, it can be taboo. It's something that affects all of us as advisors, as parents, as people trying to make smart choices about our futures. It's money, and we all know it can be one of the hardest topics to talk about, whether it's with family, friends, or even clients. But the truth is, the earlier we start those conversations, the more confident we become in making good financial decisions.
That's what Financial Literacy Month is all about. And this year's theme Talk Money is about breaking down the barriers that keep us from having open, honest conversations about finances. I'm Natasa Morsfesis, Senior Vice President of Dealer Compliance at Worldsource Wealth Management and your host for today's episode.
Usually you hear me as a guest, but today I'm thrilled to steal the mic from your usual host and turn the tables. I'm joined by Worldsource National Vice President of Partnerships and Advisor Experience, someone who knows these conversations firsthand, please welcome Kristen McElhone. Kristen, welcome to the podcast actually, welcome to your podcast. Let's talk money!

Kristen: Thanks so much, Nat. I'm so excited to be in the guest seat. Also, probably a little more nervous than sitting in the other seat, but I love that we're having this conversation because honestly, we know that money stresses people out. FP Canada's 2025 Financial Stress Index found that almost half of Canadians lose sleep over money.
More than half say they're afraid of making the wrong financial decision. And a large chunk of people admit that they're procrastinating because of it, and these results aren't new. They've seen very similar results every year. They do this survey, even at the height of the pandemic, when honestly, you'd think people would be more concerned about their health.
Money is the biggest concern, but there is a bright spot. The study shows that when people work with a financial professional, they're way less likely to say that money is their number one source of stress. So that tells me that starting the conversations around money really does make a difference. Wow.

Nat: Let's start at the beginning. Do you remember any of the conversations you had around finances while growing up? I don't really remember specific conversations where we sat down and said, let's talk about money. But I remember little pieces that I think became lessons along the way. Things like going and getting my first bank account and you know, being so excited I'm gonna date myself, having my bank book updated, you know, so learning early that it's important to have a bank account.

Kristen: It's important to save. Seeing what came and went from there. I got an allowance. Assuming I did chores, let's maybe not get into how bad some of those chores were, like mowing the lawn and stepping on yellow jacket nests. But you know, learning to have responsibility and getting paid for that and you know how you would spend some of that money, save some of that money.
I was also expected to have a job at a certain age so that I had responsibility for having my own money for saving for university. And then there were just sort of ongoing conversations and I think, you know, my dad had some pretty strong opinions, so things about. Buying a car versus leasing it about credit cards, about mortgages.
So not specific conversations, but just lessons and things along the way that framed how I think about money and how I behaved with money.

Nat: As we're looking back, is there a specific moment or experience that really shaped the way you think about money today? I'm not sure if it was a specific moment, but more sort of some experiences along the way. I remember my dad being stressed and, you know, wondering whether his business would succeed in its very early days, and then him becoming a success later.

Kristen: So knowing that people are gonna struggle at different times, that you're not always gonna have the money you want, but you know, if you work through it and have, you know, these kinds of conversations and educate yourself and work with someone. You can find success there, but also what you can use your money for that it's not all savings.

My dad really valued traveling, eating out as a family. So I think that sort of framed part of how I view money. Part of it is making sure you are safe today and safe later, but also, you know. Making use of it and having experiences with it today has really been important to me and something that I wanna impart on my kids as well.
Well, that's perfect. Leading me into my next question for you, now that you're a parent yourself, how are you approaching those same conversations with your own kids? Things like savings, spending, or even investing. Are you spoiling your kids or are you trying to teach them lessons early on? I think it's a bit of a mix of both.
For me, I think if I look back, we probably should have had more conversations, but I do think we have tried to make sure through, through some conversations and through what they see and what they experience, that they have an understanding of money. So, you know, we made sure early on our kids had bank accounts, they've had access to spend some of their own money, but they also have to save it.
They've had a responsibility for saving some of the money for their university, so they understand the value in doing that and and how you can accumulate a good amount of money over time. My kids showed some interest in investing and I know there's so much social media influence out there for them today, and it just makes it seem like it's so easy and I'm gonna make all this money.
So a couple years ago, I. Opened an account and put, you know, a thousand dollars in it. It was just sort of like a little experiment in the house. Everybody got $250 and they had to go and pick a stock, research it, find something you're interested in, because I wanted them to be interested in it, first of all, what they were investing in, but then see what happens.
You know, this one went up, this one didn't. This one got a dividend. You know, there've been like a stock split in one of them and things like that. So it was good for me to know that they. Had that experience and saw that, you know, it's just not woo. All of it's gonna go up and it's gonna go up all the time.

Nat: It's fantastic that you're talking to your kids about investing and getting 'em excited about that. But I'm gonna put you on the spot a bit. As a parent, do you actually discuss debt with them? Do your kids have a credit card? Do they borrow money? Do you know what I mean? It's, it's the one factor that I think we don't necessarily address with our kids.
'cause it's probably the one factor we don't wanna address. With ourselves for sure. So we made sure that as our kids turned 18, that they got a credit card, but we talked an awful lot about how to use that credit card. You put something on that, you make sure you pay it off, and I tried to instill you pay it off at month end.

Kristen: My daughter, I think we, you know, we really nailed it down with her. She made one transaction, she made one payment. So yes, we very much want them to understand you need to do this. You need to start building credit, but you have to be very careful with it, that if you ever run into issues in your life, I'd rather you come to me and talk to me instead of just starting to pile money onto a credit card and ending up with this massive debt there.
I've spent so much of my career working with advisors and understand how valuable advice is. So I also try to instill in them that they should be seeking advice. You know, there are things they can come to us for, but you know when the time is right. That will make sure they have access to, you know, professional advice as well.

Nat: From your experience working with advisors, what role do you think they can play in helping families feel more comfortable having those same conversations for. I think advisors already are spending so much of their everyday interactions educating their clients. So I think it's just a natural extension to think about how do we make those conversations broader and make sure we're covering all spectrums of things with our clients.

Kristen: That it's not just, you know, investing or insurance that, you know, we're talking about debt, we're talking about when does it make sense to purchase a car versus lease a car, things like that. And then how do we take that to the next generation with those clients? Most advisors want to start to interact with that next generation.
So I think it's a natural extension to think about, bring those kids into meetings and make those meetings be about some of these important topics for younger people or perhaps, you know, even taking it to the next level, if that's of interest. You know, creating. Webinars for clients, kids or giving clients sets of topics and you know, little sort of cheat sheets on what they can be talking about their kids.
I think it's a really great way to get closer to your clients and to their families and address the whole wealth transfer for sure. Exactly. All at once. What we know. This year's Financial Literacy month theme encourages Canadians to take one action and talk about it. What's one conversation you'd love to see people start after listening to this episode?
I think it's important that we share that to really be successful and financially resilient. You need advice. Almost every Canadian has some area of financial vulnerability. Studies have shown that no matter what the income level, there are issues around financial resiliency. So if we can all just be honest and open and share that advice is available and that you're deserving of advice.
I mean, there are lots of different channels to get advice out there. So I think us as an industry, we need to be sharing that. And I think for advisors. To be talking to their clients about, I may not be the ideal advisor for your kids today, but let's start those conversations. There's ways we can work together to bring them in and start educating them.
I think it's so important that everybody's aware that the advice really does matter and makes an impact and that they can access it. And AI does not equal advice. It does not. No amazing insights, Kristen. Thank you. And what a great way to Mark Canada's 15th anniversary of Financial Literacy Month. This year's theme Talk Money is all about breaking down the stigma around financial conversations.

Nat: Because when we talk about money, we open the door to better, more confident decision making. I've loved flipping the script today and stepping into the host seat. A big thank you to Kristen for taking the guest seat. I think you may only get that seat once. Uh, I think I like that chair better. It's a little, it's a little less stressful, and I think you are great on this side too.
Well, let's keep these conversations going. Remember, the best way to build financial confidence is to talk about it. Until next time, everyone.

Narrator: Thanks for tuning into The Advisor Delta™! We hope you found today’s episode valuable to supporting your practice. For more episodes and insights, don’t forget to subscribe and visit us at www.worldsourcewealth.com. And remember, together, we can take your practice to the NextLevel™.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the participants only. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to seek professional guidance for their specific needs. Worldsource Wealth Management does not endorse any products, services, or companies mentioned in this episode.
Worldsource Financial Management Inc. is a mutual fund dealer. Worldsource Wealth Management Inc. is a dual-registered firm, both as a mutual fund dealer and an investment dealer. Both Worldsource Financial Management Inc. and Worldsource Wealth Management Inc. are members of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and subsidiaries of Worldsource Group of Companies Inc., a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec (FCDQ), which is part of the Desjardins Group.