Last february was
such a comparatively calm month at planning firm Bell Financial Inc. in Aurora, Ont., that its president, Bill Bell, started worrying about his company’s performance.
“But,” says Bell, “it was the best year ever.”

The main difference from previous years? Bell had gotten into the groove of RRSP season by keeping the inevitable stress to a minimum with some solid strategies, including hiring part-time help and living a healthier lifestyle.

While not everyone takes the same approach to easing the stress of RRSP season, there are some common issues that can be addressed to ensure that business runs relatively smoothly during this hectic time of the year.

> Staffing. Bell’s office staff — which consists of six full-timers, three of whom typically work on mutual funds — know that this is the time of the year in which they need to focus virtually all of their efforts on RRSP filing, he says. Occasionally, if it seems particularly busy, he’ll bring in part-time workers to answer phones and help with the basic clerical duties. “That frees up staff to process the papers,” he says. Full-time employees are encouraged to bank up the extra hours they spend at the office and take time off in the summer.

Pre-train part-timers

Not everyone expects staff to work overtime, however. Jonathan Sceeles, a financial planner for Edward Jones in Toronto, hires part-time help to cover evenings and weekends. But he has advice for other planners considering the same strategy: “Have people pre-trained on your system before the peak hits so that when you do need them to help out, they don’t need training in the midst of [the] crazy season.”

There’s an inherent gamble in hiring part-time staff, says Tony De Thomasis, president of De Thomas Financial Corp. in Toronto. “We had to hire a temp one year and it was a bad experience,” he says. “She didn’t know the system.”

The resulting misfilings just meant more work for the regular staff in March, which made little sense. “We thought it’s better if we all work longer hours because we save time later on,” he says.

> Time management. Clearing your calendar of anything but the most pressing engagements — think weddings and funerals — is also key during RRSP season, says De Thomasis. He adds that postponing events for this six-week span is not a major sacrifice.

Peter Andreana, a certified financial planner with Freedom 55 Financial in Mississauga, Ont., who has been in the business for four years, says that planning for the season early is the most effective way of warding off stress. “One thing I’ve learned is that having a process in place is essential,” he says. He starts contacting clients as early as November in order to lighten the inevitable rush in January and February.

Andreana is also a bit of stickler when it comes to adhering to a strict schedule during RRSP season, pencilling in his playtime, for example. “If you don’t schedule it in, you just pack more client meetings into the day and the day becomes focused totally on work,” he says. “You need some downtime and some personal time with family to balance off the work.”

> Family resources. Family support makes it that much easier to deal with the condensed work timeline, says Bell. His wife and three daughters have been known to show up at his office with dinner when he’s working late. As a reward for their patience, he books a family trip to Florida for two weeks in March. He’s been doing this for more than 20 years, and just knowing that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel helps him maintain his sanity, he says.

Andreana also says regular dinners with his wife are a priority. As a rule, he’ll head home for an early dinner each evening, after which he’ll meet with more clients. And about four times a week, he schedules long walks with his wife. “It gives you time to unwind and talk about the day without any distractions,” he says of the strolls. And, he stresses, cellphones and PDAs are left behind: “You have to [banish these devices] or else your mind doesn’t get out of that mode.”

@page_break@> Health. Adhering to healthy habits, including proper nutrition, regular exercise and sleep, is non-negotiable, particularly at this time of the year, says Sceeles: “I’ve become much more disciplined.” The trigger for adopting a healthier lifestyle was a serious injury he suffered several years ago, which required him to schedule regular physiotherapy appointments. Once they were completed, he figured that scheduling workouts would be
just as beneficial. So he joined a gym only two blocks away from his office.

Although Sceeles admits he doesn’t take a bagged lunch to work every day — as is generally the case with those focusing on nutrition — he has identified restaurants close to his office that offer healthy fare: “I also bring with me, quite religiously, a little brown bag with fruit, carrot sticks, things like that.”

By adopting such a lifestyle, Sceeles says, his energy levels have significantly increased. “The marked difference in keeping up the healthy routine is that I sleep better at night,”
he says. “I come into the office and I’m well rested and more focused.” The standard late-afternoon energy crash, which made the extended hours in February all that much more stressful, is no longer an issue, he says.

De Thomasis is equally unbending when it comes to following healthy habits. Although he says a visit to the doughnut shop may be tempting for the quick jolt of energy that coffee and a sugar treat will provide, it makes little sense when work is so demanding.
His strategy is to eat a big breakfast almost every morning so he can easily work through the traditional lunch hour. He also stocks the office fridge with yogurt and fruit every few days to keep hunger pangs at bay.

> Client training. Encouraging clients to follow a monthly investment plan is the easiest way to manage some of the stress brought about by the rush of last-minute contributions.
But don’t expect clients to embrace such a program overnight. De Thomasis says that it can take repeated messages to convince an investor that this strategy makes sense. “It might take four or five years to get the clients educated,” he says.

Happier clients

That’s why advisors should promote the monthly program in all client communications.
The fact that almost 60% of his clients now follow this method does wonders for De Thomasis’ stress levels. “They’re happier, too, because they can file early and, with new e-filing, they get their [tax return] cheques back quicker,” he says.

Bell started encouraging his clients to get on a monthly RRSP contribution program three years ago; today, about half participate. He also has his staff keep track of which clients tend to call in mid-February. So he now calls this list of procrastinating clients in December, to remind them that the deadline is approaching and that it’s better to arrange matters in advance. “That’s had an enormously positive impact,” he says.

Bob Watts, a financial planner with Wellington West Financial Services Inc. in Winnipeg, has been in the business for 24 years. He boasts of what he calls a “well-trained” client roster, with the majority of his clients contributing monthly to their investments. During the hectic RRSP season, he encourages clients and prospects to think about their future by running seminars with the theme “Do you love winter? Neither do I.”

To alleviate the stress of the season, Watts incorporates some of the other strategies previously mentioned, including arming himself with a strong assistant and leading a healthy lifestyle. He cycles to work year-round, even in the coldest months, and he takes the month of March off, heading to Victoria with his wife. That makes the six-week crunch more bearable and sends a strong message to clients: “I live my life, and I tell my clients to do the same.” IE