Mark McGrath, a certified financial planner and associate portfolio manager with PWL Capital Inc. in Squamish, B.C., pictured with his daughter. 'I worry about figuring out how much money is enough and balancing that with spending time and having experiences with my family,' he says.Fernando Mendoza/Supplied
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In the Behind the Advice series, Globe Advisor asks advisors about their relationship with money from a young age, lessons learned over the years, and how their experiences influence the advice they give clients.
Mark McGrath, a certified financial planner and associate portfolio manager with PWL Capital Inc. in Squamish, B.C., talks about the “psychological burden” of debt, his strategy to pay it off and why he hates budgeting:
Describe your first money lesson.
When I was a kid growing up in Richmond, B.C., my dad taught me to read stock quotations in the newspaper. That was long before you could get live quotes on the internet. He explained how investing in a company worked, which I found fascinating. A few years later, we had a stock-picking competition in high school. While everyone else picked stocks like Walt Disney Co. DIS-N and Coca-Cola Co. KO-N, my dad suggested I choose a junior mining stock. That stock did really well and I beat everyone in the class by a wide margin. My teacher disqualified me because it ruined the competition for everyone else. The lesson was that even if you win, you can lose.
What was your experience with money growing up?
I was terrible with money until my early 20s. As a teenager, I spent all of the money I earned from part-time jobs and used to max out my credit card to buy stuff. I also borrowed $5,000 from my mom to buy a car, even though my dad thought it was a terrible decision. He told me cars were money pits, and he was right.
Then, when I was in university, I took out an $11,000 student loan I didn’t need because my parents paid for my tuition. I used a chunk of that money to buy guitars, speakers and other band equipment because I thought back then that I could be a famous musician. Then I quit university. [I was studying to be a dentist but decided after two years that career wasn’t for me.] Suddenly, I had all of this debt to start paying off immediately.
The emotional and psychological burden of being thousands of dollars in debt was very scary. I never wanted to have that feeling again, so I immediately began strategizing how to pay it off. I had just finished taking the Canadian Securities Course, so I worked briefly in investor relations and eventually as a teller at a credit union. It took me about two years to pay down roughly $20,000 in debt. Luckily, I was still living at home with my parents back then, so my cost of living was low.
What decision around money and investing has made the greatest impact on your life?
Taking ownership and being accountable for those debts I had. Once the debts were gone and that money was available to me, I realized that I was now in a position to start saving money and invest it.
What’s the hardest piece of money advice for you to follow?
I’m terrible with budgeting. I’ve tried tracking expenses using spreadsheets and different apps, but I just can’t seem to sit down and do it. Thankfully, my wife is good at it. I’m much better at saving, investing and following our retirement plan from a bigger-picture perspective.
What are you best at when it comes to your finances?
I avoid shiny new objects, FOMO [fear of missing out], and chasing returns despite all the fear and excitement in the media, particularly social media. I recently joked on social media that avoiding FOMO is my superpower.
What do you worry about?
I realize this is a privileged answer, but after working with hundreds of people going through retirement – and losing my dad while he was still relatively young – I worry about figuring out how much money is enough and balancing that with spending time and having experiences with my family. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of working more to spend more and have nicer things. You can do that into perpetuity.
What advice do you have for people wanting to enter your business?
Your network is everything. Getting into this industry and succeeding is easier if you have a strong support network. I don’t just mean friends and family, but other people in the industry who have your back.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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