Andrew Mayhew never planned on being a financial planner: working for the City of Toronto as a firefighter, which he did for 10 years, was a job he loved. But after getting married in his late 20s, buying a couple of new cars and renting a larger apartment, the debts started to pile up. And that’s when Mayhew, founder and sole advisor at Mayhew Wealth Management Ltd. in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, decided to get some help.

When the sirens weren’t going off in the fire hall during evenings, Mayhew, now 49, hit the books. He started with David Chilton’s classic, The Wealthy Barber, and he’s pretty much never looked back. Chilton’s mantra for gradual wealth accumulation — save a little each day, invest carefully and keep spending in line — is the same strategy Mayhew recommends to his clients.

Mayhew realized many families were facing the same financial challenges but with little guidance on what to do. He studied for his certified financial planner designation in his spare time and during night shifts at the fire hall. He also took the Canadian securities course and, he says, became a “seminar junkie.”

While still with the fire department but with credentials in hand, Mayhew approached Regal Capital Planners Ltd. (founded by Paul Rockel but since merged with other firms), which agreed to sponsor him as a part-time mutual funds advisor, provided he obtained a licence. The Ontario Securities Commission agreed to the part-time arrangement because Mayhew had a sponsor. The regulator cautioned, however, that Mayhew could not solicit business while on a fire call, to avoid any conflict of interest.

Then Mayhew began working the phones, using a spare line in the fire hall. He generated contacts using Rockel’s book, Why I Invest in Mutual Funds, which he mailed to doctors’ offices, hair salons and muffler shops with his business card tucked inside. “I have clients today that I can [trace back to] the first book,” Mayhew says. “All you need is one client.”

Before Mayhew left the fire department in 1997 to be a full-time financial advisor, he already had an assistant to stay on top of all the paperwork he was generating with his burgeoning list of clients. Mayhew says the No.1 ingredient for making a client network grow is passion about the business: “When I started out, I was not walking into $400,000 accounts. I was talking about saving $100 a month. And that’s still the core of my practice.”

Now, despite launching his full-time business on the eve of the Asian crisis, followed by the tech wreck — not to mention the meltdown of 2008 — Mayhew is holding steady with a client base of about 250 families in the Greater Toronto Area and a book of business of about $35 million. He now is sponsored by Sterling Mutuals Inc., and likes their strong back office and compliance mechanisms.@page_break@Community involvement

Debt is one of the biggest issues in his practice, Mayhew says. With an expression that must resemble how he sometimes looked when entering a burning building, Mayhew talks about unprecedented consumer debt loads. He particularly faults the lure of the ever-bigger house combined with scant regard for its massive mortgage. “I cannot imagine having a $600,000 mortgage for an average person,” he says. “I’ve seen marriages break up over it.”

Mayhew also tries to keep his clients removed from the fray of the markets: “I’ve survived because we’re not chasing. It can’t be about chasing.”

Carefully chosen mutual funds guided by experienced managers are the best choice for his clients, Mayhew says, not individual stocks and bonds.

Mayhew keeps in regular touch with all of his clients, sending out financial statements in the spring and the autumn. He annotates every statement, explaining ups and downs and other matters, which clients greatly appreciate.

Mayhew gets help from two assistants — one for administrative duties; the other handles marketing and communications. The latter position includes checking in with clients often on an informal basis, hearing about everything from kids to mortgage renewals.

Mayhew is active in the historic Streetsville community where he grew up and still lives, and recently received the City of Mississauga Civic Award of Recognition for his charitable activities. One major project is the creation of a trust, called Norina’s Wish, that helps support a palliative-care centre at nearby Credit Valley Hospital. Mayhew’s office initiated the fundraising effort in 2003 after his mother-in-law died of cancer. The trust has raised more than $100,000 in five years and has helped fund two hospital rooms, including a meditation room.

Mayhew’s office also supported the recent renovation of the Streetsville hockey arena: he is a supporter and referee of local hockey and soccer teams, and is active in Scouts Canada.

There is a model fire engine in Mayhew’s office, and he describes how he got to wear the big boots and the hat after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Waterloo: while working on environmental spills, Mayhew spied the hazmat (hazardous materials) truck, which then was a new item at the Toronto Fire Department. Mayhew’s boyish side comes out easily as he talks about becoming a professional firefighter with access to the high-tech vehicle: “I got to work on the hazmat truck!”

And while life is full — golfing and gardening with his wife Verena and coaching hockey and soccer for his son’s teams (Elliot, 18 and Alexander 15) — Mayhew gets a gleam in his eye when he recalls responding to a 911 call: “Every time I hear a [fire] truck go by, my ears still pick up. I’d go back in a second.”

For now, though, Mayhew is restricting his rescue efforts to his clients’ financial affairs. IE