Doug and Jeff: Retirement Resource Centre Case Study

When a friend asked Doug, 50, and Jeff, 53, to help fund his fledgling restaurant, the Vancouver couple jumped at the chance. Doug, an HR manager at a large corporation, and Jeff, a VP of advertising, had always played it safe, opting for secure jobs rather than the financial hazards of entrepreneurship. But this restaurant venture fulfilled their desire to get out of their comfort zones a little and make an investment that could really pay off.

Their friend Ray was an experienced restaurant manager armed with what Doug and Jeff believed was a winning concept. The couple made a $175,000 investment in what Ray assured them was likely to become a successful chain. But Ray located the restaurant in a marginal neighbourhood of Vancouver and it didn’t survive. Doug and Jeff were sick about the investment loss that had eaten into their savings. Worse, the experience has made them gun-shy about investing and, for the last two years, they have largely made RRSP contributions in the form of either GICs or bonds.

Advisor analysis

Richard Price, Senior Financial Advisor, Richard Price Financial Management

On the surface, Doug and Jeff seem to be on track to meet their goal of retiring in about 15 years, but some tweaking of their investment loan handling could make this reachable even sooner…Click to read more from Richard

Kenneth Stratton, CIM, FCSI, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, PCG Raymond James Ltd.

Investing in the restaurant business is not for the faint of heart. Start-up restaurants have a high failure rate…Click to read more from Kenneth

Yogesh Bansal, CPA, CGA, CFP, CF Canada Financial, NetWorth Financial Corp.

Doug and Jeff are a typical example of clients who have been burned by investments in the past. They want to play it safe now…Click to read more from Yogesh

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