A Turner Valley woman with expertise in finances is lending a hand to those seeking much-needed financial guidance.
Edward Jones financial adviser Tarah-Lee Cotie is offering complimentary financial goal analysis and retirement planning to Foothills residents during a time of uncertainty for many amidst a deflating economy and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cotie said she’s connecting with people electronically to provide guidance on budgeting and goal setting to fit their individual needs.
“Finance is a huge stressor for a lot of people,” she said. “People are trying to navigate some of the government offerings as far as what they qualify for and should they be drawing from their RRSPs right now.”
While financial advice is important no matter what the situation, Cotie said it’s especially critical now due to the struggles people are facing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It allows for people to sit back and take this time to develop a plan for themselves and really understand where they are today and how they can get to where their goals might be into the future,” she said. “Certainly there are opportunities in the market right now, but fears unfortunately drive people out, which is basically not allowing them to take advantage of when things do stabilize. What’s lost today will be lost forever should they be impacted by the fears that we’re seeing in the media right now.”
Cotie said many people are looking hard at their assets and determining how they can survive in the coming months.
“Essentially I’m here, in the community working from home, and I can put together very comprehensive goal analysis,” she said. “I have a great team behind me to really make sure that everything that we do and all the advice we give is really structured and geared specifically to that individual and not just blanket advice. When people are struggling to reach their banks or some of these larger institutions, if I can bridge the gap to help them in this time I would be happy to do that.”
Cotie, the Diamond Valley Chamber of Commerce vice-president, said she is encouraging individuals and business owners to reach out to a professionals with financial experience to assist them with their investments and future planning.
“People really need to feel encouragement,” she said. “Beyond your family and your health is your money. It’s incredibly important to people.”
For those still working and experiencing a drop in their expenses, now is a good time to create an emergency fund for themselves, Cotie said.
We may not have the expenses of fuel and stopping to get that takeout or spending those details on our everyday lives when we’re home,” she said. “This may be a very good opportunity for people who maybe haven’t been effected in the home to establish a savings plan.”
Cotie said she wants to help as many people lessen the financial burden as possible.
“This will recover and if they have a solid plan eventually this will be a blip on the radar,” she said. “There is an end to this. We don’t know when and we don’t know how exactly but what we do know is that as Canadians, and especially Albertans, we overcome challenges like no one else, and our economy will recover. How and when, we don’t know.”
For updated information, follow our COVID-19 special section for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.
