Frequently Asked Questions

Money saving

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General Questions
Does a financial plan include my partner and their finances?
Yes, one financial plan will cover both you and your partners finances.
Is financial planning the same as investment advice?
Not at all. Investment advice is an important part of a financial plan but it's far from the only thing. Financial planning covers budgeting, investing, insurance, estate planning, tax planning and making sure that everything is aligned with your current and future goals
What exactly is in a financial plan?
A financial plan is personalized to the insights you're looking for. If your main goal is purchasing a home, your financial plan will primarily be based around that goal: showing the impact of purchasing a house at different prices and different times. As mentioned above, our financial plans are also holistic and covers 6 or more categories relating to your finances. You can see more about what's in a plan. here.
The Process
How often will I get to interact with a financial planner?
You will get to interact with a financial planner throughout the process. It will be through email correspondence and sometimes phone/video call during the information gathering and plan-building phase and a call at the end to go over your financial plan with the planner.
Will everything be done online?
Yes, the entire process will be done online: from the gathering of information to interaction while building your plan to the final plan delivery meeting (done via a Zoom video call). If more convenient, we also do phone calls in place of video calls
How long does the process take?
The first part of the process is the collection of your information. This takes hours for some people and weeks for others. After we get your information, the process can take anywhere from 4 days to 2-3 weeks. We pride ourselves on making sure we make you a financial plan that's as accurate and beneficial to you as possible, and not cutting any corners in doing so.
Is my access to viviplan a one-time access?
No, you will always have access to your account and your financial plan.
What information do you collect/require from me to build a financial plan?
We collect information about your spending in different categories as well as information about your investments and insurance. You can optionally upload documents including investment statements, tax returns, insurance details.
Security and Privacy
How safe is my information?
We use the strongest browser encryption available, store all of our data on servers in a secure facility, and implement systematic processes and procedures for securing and storing data.
Is my information private
Absolutely, we value your privacy tremendously and your information is never shared. For more information, please review our privacy policy.
About Viviplan
How is Viviplan different from a robo-advisor?
Robo-advisors collect only a few data points (around 15-20) and focus primarily on investments. We collect upwards of 150 data points to build a comprehensive financial plan and the plan covers budgeting, investments, insurance, estate planning and more
How is Viviplan different than going to a financial planner at my local bank?
We collect more information to build a higher-quality plan and because we don't make money from recommending financial products, there are no conflicts of interest you need to be concerned about.
If you do my financial plan, do I need to invest with you?
No. In fact, you can't and this is an important distinction from other online financial planning services. This is a pure, product-free, financial planning service. With that said, investing is a core part of what we build in your financial plan
Can you refer me to other professionals like an estate lawyer or accountant?
Absolutely, as we build your plan and we better understand your needs we will refer you to appropriate professionals if we think it would help you or if you request it. We get no referral fees. This is purely about providing you with the best resources to implement your plan.
Am I a Good Fit
How do I know if I'm a good fit?
You can read some of the examples below to see if you're a good fit. You can also reach out to us through our contact form. Tell us about your situation and we'll let you know whether you'd be a good fit.
Can you incorporate foreign incomes into a plan?
We can incorporate your foreign incomes, provided you can provide us the CDN dollar equivalent projected income streams. We can only determine CDN taxation, not any tax effect or tax treaties that may be in effect as a result of these foreign assets.
Can you recommend specific investments?
No, we do not provide recommendations of specific securities. But we do provide recommendations on asset mix and how we recommend you change your asset mix over time. We will have you complete a Morningstar-based risk tolerance questionnaire through your onboarding, which will drive the asset allocation and subsequent rate of returns applied in your plan. We make sure to provide you with enough actionable advice to optimize your plan and make it tax-efficient in regards to your investments.
Can you provide insurance recommendations?
We can provide recommendation as far as determining the amount of life insurance required and the amount you need to save to achive your short and long-term goals. We cannot provide any specific information on life insurance products. Any life insurance needs you require can be implemented with your chosen licensed insurance advisor.
Purchasing a plan
Can I purchase a plan for a family member or relative?
If you'd like to purchase a plan for a family member or relative, you can go ahead and purchase a plan and we'll make sure to send set-up instructions (along with a message from you!) directly to their inbox. You can email us first if you prefer.
Can I pay in installments?
Yes, we can accomodate installation payments, just shoot us an email and we'll send you details to get this moving forward.