Behind the Advice

After losing his entire RRSP investment on a hot stock tip, Harp Sandhu learned that building wealth doesn’t have to be exciting.

Today, Harp is a senior wealth advisor and portfolio manager with Sandhu Wealth at Raymond James Ltd. in Victoria. He helps his clients navigate the financial complexities of moving between Canada and the U.S. Harp is also seeing more Canadians return home after years south of the border and is facing new questions about their money, taxes and investments.

Harp and Brenda talk about the investing mistake that shaped his approach, why cross-border moves are becoming more common and what Canadians need to consider when bringing their finances back home.

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What happens when you’re forced to navigate an estate before you’ve had much experience managing your own finances? For Kimberly Wood, becoming the executor of her mother’s estate at 23 was a life-changing education and the start of her career in wealth management. Today, Kim is a wealth advisor with Johnstone Wealth Management Group at National Bank in Toronto, where she focuses on investments, estate and financial planning. 

She and Brenda discuss a financial choice that cost her a longtime friendship, why being the smartest person in the room can sometimes work against you, and the financial challenges of preparing to grow old alone.

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Brenda Bouw returns to host a new season of Behind the Advice, The Globe and Mail podcast about financial advice—and the people who give it. This season, advisors across Canada discuss how they steer clients through volatile markets, rising costs and shifting economic rules, and share the moments that shaped how they do the job. New episodes begin September 23.

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Rona Birenbaum has been a natural saver from day one. Raised in a middle‑class household, she learned to scrutinize every purchase – a habit that took decades to loosen. 

After starting her career working as a multi‑branch manager at a credit union, Rona found sales targets and quotas clashed with the individualized financial planning that clients actually needed. In 2000, she took a major leap, going independent to launch Caring for Clients, a financial planning‑first advisory practice.  

In this episode, Rona talks with Brenda about her decades‑long struggle with “saver’s guilt,” how she helps retirees feel secure about spending their hard‑earned money and why she thinks Mary Poppins would be a great financial advisor.

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We often think of financial planning as a game of math. But for Zainab Williams, the real work doesn't start with numbers; it starts with understanding the person sitting across from her. Zainab is a certified financial planner and dedicated money coach who operates on an advice-only model.

She and Brenda discuss why she views financial planning as a form of behavioural therapy, why she’s worried about the speed at which AI is affecting personal finance choices, and how establishing personal guardrails around money can give people the freedom to live fully today while still securing tomorrow.

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After supporting his wife through three midwife-assisted pregnancies, Aravind Sithamparapillai realized that Ontario's midwives were navigating complex tax choices and unique career longevity hurdles with very little support. Today, Aravind is a financial planner at Ironwood Wealth Management Group, where he specializes in advising midwives and women in health care.

He speaks with Brenda about his cross-continental family history, what he learned from female mentors in the industry and how he navigates deeply vulnerable conversations around financial planning. 

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After years of climbing the ranks at some of Canada’s largest financial institutions, Shay Steacy felt that the traditional wealth management model often ignored the very people who needed advice the most. Today, she is an independent advice-only financial planner championing a philosophy of “financial independence, live early.” 

Shay speaks with Brenda Bouw about the babysitter who taught her an early lesson in budgeting, the feeling of being a salesperson at a big bank, and why she has the word “balance” tattooed on her arm.

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Herman Chan’s path to becoming a financial planner was anything but linear. He started out with a journalism degree and a dream of being a sports writer, before a stint in retail management convinced him it was time for a career change.

After 15 years of supporting other advisors at major firms such as RBC and London Life (now Canada Life), Herman took the leap into independent advice. We talked about his "frugal-boomer" upbringing in Port Coquitlam, B.C., why he thinks every good advisor needs to be a bit like Batman, and the “Platinum Rule” that guides his new firm, Crimson Financial.

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Imagine being fifteen years old, sitting in a private school classroom, and being told you have to leave because the tuition hasn't been paid. For Elke Rubach, that moment was the beginning of a crash course in what happens when a family assumes someone else is “handling the money.”

Elke’s journey from that uncertainty led her across the globe, from practising law in Mexico City to the London School of Economics, and eventually to the high-stakes world of banking compliance in Canada. 

Today, Elke runs a holistic family advisory firm where she uses her legal background to stress test her clients' lives. She and Brenda discuss her transition from lawyer to advisor, why she describes her business as a “game of bumper cars”, and how she helps families avoid the trauma of running a financial marathon without any training.

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Money choices are rarely simple. They come wrapped up in fear, ambition, regret and our own life experiences. On season four of Behind the Advice, we’re going deeper into the world of the adviser. Not just the polished presentations and growth charts, but the late‑night client calls, awkward confessions, and the moments when plans collide with things like illness, divorce, job loss or sudden opportunity. In each episode, we talk candidly with advisors about how they found their way into the industry, the lessons carved out over decades of markets and mistakes, and the personal histories that quietly steer the counsel they give. Season four launches on May 20th.

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