Laura Barclay, senior portfolio manager at TD Wealth Private Investment Counsel in Markham, Ont.Anthony D'Elia/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.
Laura Barclay, senior portfolio manager at TD Wealth Private Investment Counsel in Markham, Ont., talks about early budgeting lessons, owning Nortel Networks Corp.’s stock during its highs and lows, and keeping emotion out of investing:
Describe your first money lesson.
I was born and raised in a middle-class family in Cornwall, Ont. My dad was a teacher and my mom was a part-time nurse. Back then, teachers were paid from September to June and had to make their paycheques last throughout the summer. I remember my dad sitting at the kitchen table in August, with all the bills laid out in front of him, figuring out if we had enough money to make it to mid-September. He was always very relaxed, except when that time of year came around, he would be more stressed. I saw how money concerns can change a person’s behaviour. It stuck with me that I didn’t want to worry about money.
My parents also taught me and my younger sister how to budget. They would give us an allowance of $1 a week and we had to divide it into four categories: our Brownies group, the church charity, savings and candy. That was back when you could buy a candy bar or a bag of chips for 25 cents. Of course, as a kid, I always wanted more money for candy.
How do you think these lessons influenced your money habits growing up?
I was highly motivated to make money. From the time I could, I worked. I had a paper route, babysat, worked at an insurance company opening envelopes and later worked in retail. As a teenager, I used some money I saved to pay for a two-week summer camp, which cost about $500. I then saved enough to buy a car when I was 24.
What’s the biggest money mistake you’ve made?
I worked with Nortel for three years in the late 1990s. Like many employees and investors at the time, I accumulated a lot of the company’s shares in my RRSP and savings account. I sold some of those shares to buy a condo in 1998. I remember being a little disappointed the value of that property didn’t go up as much as my Nortel shares at the time.
I left Nortel in 1999 to work at TD but kept my shares. As many Canadian investors know, Nortel stock skyrocketed in early 2000 before eventually crashing. My mistake was not further diversifying my portfolio and taking more risk off the table. The lesson I learned is that a company’s earnings and free cash flow matter, which, to this day, influences how I invest for myself and my clients. Following the market darling can be fun – until it’s suddenly not.
What decision around money had the greatest impact on your life?
I made sacrifices to further my education, including many of the financial credentials that helped me advance in my career. There were lots of times in my 20s when my friends were going from club to club, and they’d call me Cinderella because I’d go home at midnight so I could get up in the morning to work and study.
What’s the hardest piece of money advice for you to follow?
Taking care of my personal money with the same prudence and attention that I give my clients. I make my RRSP and TFSA contributions in January, like clockwork, and sometimes they sit in cash for a year or two because I didn’t get to them or I’m waiting for the right time. It’s like I tell my clients: Time in the market is more important than timing the market.
What are you best at when it comes to your finances?
Staying focused on the long term. I don’t look at my portfolio regularly. A lot of thought goes into managing money, and I trust our process here. I’m also good at taking some emotion out of investing, which is hard. It can be very upsetting when the markets drop, but it is also a good buying opportunity.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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