Newsletter Archive
December 2021
2021 Wise Money Talks Season Wrap-Up
As we round the final corner of the 2021 marathon, our thoughts may range from a jubilant, “I did it!” to an exhausted sense of “I can’t wait for this to be over.” Regardless of your perspective, we at Sophia have journeyed along beside you as you find your individual pathways to equanimity and success.
We have just finished our last workshop in a very full autumn schedule of speakers. It has been a wonderful season of new ideas, breakthrough epiphanies and affirmation of what we know.
We learned the role of goals in our life and it’s not to make us busier or more stressed out. We talked about wild ideas and the courage to find our way when prevailing truths may not serve us. We are better investors, have aligned with our bodies and learned the power of letting go. One of our favourite wisdoms from this autumn was, “When I feel like I’m going too slow, it’s time to slow down.”
We hope you choose to slow down during the next few weeks. Look back on the past year and focus on those wisdom nuggets you gleaned. Which ones are you going to take into, and apply, in the New Year? Every new day offers an opportunity, a fresh gateway, to achieving your dreams and aspirations. We know that 2022 is going to be the year you step into the way of being and doing that you have been working towards!
We wish you the very best and look forward to seeing you next year.
Happy Holidays to you!
Kamal and Tracy
Feature Story: So What’s Next?
Beginning in February, Kamal and Tracy are delivering an exciting six-part lunch hour webinar series called Cash Flow Connections, focusing on the connections that need to be made between knowledge, behaviour and emotions to achieve a successful financial life. These inter-dependent facets need to be operating in alignment to become a fully empowered investor. Read article
2021 WMT Survey: We Value Your Input
The past couple of years have been challenging on many different levels, making it even more important for us to find ways to support you and your financial goals as we navigate through all that comes next. As we start planning for 2022, we would appreciate your input so that we can continue to customize our content and offerings in order to better meet your specific financial, emotional, and spiritual needs. If you can please take a few minutes to complete our very short survey (less than five minutes), we would be incredibly grateful. Read article
Latest Blog Post: The Power of Letting Go
“So many leaders today have manufactured a culture of urgency. It permeates everything and is getting us into trouble.” [Jennifer England]
Jennifer England believes in the power of letting because too many of us are living in what she calls a “culture of urgency” – one where we are feeling overwhelmed, under-supported, and perpetually fatigued. As the founder of Spark Coaching and Consulting, Jennifer has had to come to grips with her own battle of “urgency.” She finally learned to slow down and is now living her most idyllic life. Read article
Of Interest: Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2022
Canada’s real estate companies are rethinking their strategies as they look ahead to 2022. While many are optimistic about their prospects, they’re paying close attention to several forces of change: the impacts of a changing world of work; environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters; and rising costs and competition. Read article
November 2021
November on the West Coast is notable for its dreary darkness and rain. Even the most cheerful and optimistic people can find themselves contemplating the gloomy days with a sense of glum acceptance. This is also a month when people look deeper into their lives, their relationships and allow themselves to really feel what is happening. For this reason, it is traditionally a time when we offer courses on love, money and relationships. This month, we focused our workshops on the economy and transitioning through divorce.
Regardless of where you are on the emotional continuum and your unique path of wisdom, we hope you can find time to productively mine what is in your life and heart for its jewels. There is always something to learn, always a place to find what we are longing for and there are always people to help.
We are here for you.
Stay dry, friends!
Kamal Basra & Tracy Theemes
Feature Story: Transitions
Regardless of how relationships unfold or their time frame, one of the most helpful ways to view our relational journeys is to see them as constantly unfolding transitions. We move into, through and out of many stages in a relationship. We can be confined by a limited perspective when we assume that every relationship follows a similar trajectory and that endings are always bad. And yet, failure is not what I traditionally observe. Read article
Market Update: Climbing Off the Wall of Worry
Have you ever wished for the ability to see into the future? Does it seem like our world is becoming more complicated every day? Understanding the financial markets and the global economy can seem daunting but in their recent talk, Nadeem Kassam and Luiz Furlani distilled thousands of hours of research into an informative presentation on the economic outlook of the financial markets. In general, they believe that the economy is primed for further growth but caution that there remain small pockets of volatility. Read article
Latest Blog Post: Transitioning Through Divorce
“For people going through a separation or divorce, it can feel like being in the solar system with all of these meteors flying by.” [Karen Redmond]
In the collaborative divorce process, several professionals work together as a team to support the needs of the entire family, especially when children are involved. Find out what collaborative divorce experts Karen Redmond, a divorce lawyer, Sandy Hawkins, a registered clinical counsellor, and Tracy Theemes, a financial advisor and financial divorce specialist, have to say about a more collaborative approach to divorce. Read article
Of Interest: Finding Creative Ways to Co-Parent
These days, parents transitioning through a separation or divorce are finding creative ways to co-parent — ways that actually put their children’s needs ahead of their own. Many parents are now choosing the “bird’s nest” co-parenting arrangement in which the children remain in the family home and the parents take turns moving in and out. Read article
October 2021 – What We Focus On Expands
Feature Story: Managing Money in Changing Times
You have likely heard the expression, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” We believe this to be true in the world of finance as well. Since Kamal and Tracy started in the capital markets, there have been changes. However, the underlying principles have remained the same — a long-term perspective is more likely to be profitable, and the market goes down many times on its way up. READ MORE
Speaker Spotlight: Nadeem Kassam and Luiz Furlani
“Understanding financial markets can be a challenging environment for most people to navigate.”
To most people, understanding the various money markets and their impact on the economy as well as our personal finances can often be a daunting and confusing process. However, for Nadeem Kassam & Luiz Furlani it is a dynamic and fascinating topic that they are both incredibly passionate about and are eager to share their knowledge in their upcoming Wise Money Talks session on Market Updates on November 9, 2021. READ MORE
Latest Blog Post: Principles of Sound Investing
We believe in principle-based investing. Operating from an understanding of values, needs and one’s long-term objectives is paramount to being truly empowered and ultimately successful. When it comes to investing, it is often necessary to “back up the truck” so to speak. We need to pull up to the curb, grab a cup of tea and sit with the notions of what we are trying to accomplish and why. READ MORE
Of Interest: The Importance of Talking to Your Children About Money
Learning money management can and should start at an early age. While most children are not ready to start investing on their own, they will benefit from the time spent teaching them the basics of financial literacy as it will set them them up for future success. Financial Planning for Canadians provides five tips to help get you started talking about money with your children. READ MORE
September 2021 – The Season of Mixed Blessings
Perhaps autumn isn’t any different from other seasons, but this year I can really feel the dichotomies — new beginnings mixed with falling leaves, the comfort of rain soaked afternoons and the loss of sunshine. By nature, I am optimistic. I am also sensitive. So I find myself occupied with feeling both sides of any equation. While preparing for upcoming workshops, I am thoughtfully processing the duality of each lesson I have learned over the past 18 months. I am examining how it has landed in concrete form in various aspects of my life. In my opinion, there is no better time for reflection than fall.
But one thing I know for sure is that I am so looking forward to teaching and being with you all again. For me, it’s like getting ready for a massive group date! I will have on my best shade of lipstick and a new haircut…but probably wearing sweatpants as well. Because ‘tis the season for enjoying the best of all worlds doing what we love to do!
See you soon!
Tracy
Feature Story: Leading from the Heart
Tracy is excited to be back teaching, especially as she knows that it is now more important than ever to lead from the heart. This is her “ikigai.” Being able to teach and connect with people, while helping them to increase their flow of energy and money, is her passion.
Speaker Spotlight: Bettina Rothe
“Most of our information, our personal stories, the stories of our parents and our ancestors, live in our bodies.”
Bettina Rothe, whose heart has always beaten for trans-personal psychology, shamanism and meditation, believes strongly that the body holds our stories and that is where deep change can happen.
Latest Blog Post: Not all Goals are Created Equally
According to Irene Nizzero, not all goals are created equally. In fact, Irene who is a certified coach, teacher and presenter on themes related to human resilience and flourishing, very rarely uses the word goal.
Special: Yoga Outreach — 25 Day Yoga Challenge Fundraiser
Tracy Theemes would like you to join her in supporting the Yoga Outreach Project by signing up for their 25 Day Yoga Challenge Fundraiser. Register by September 29th and you will have access to a week of mini-workshops by inspiring speakers, including Tracy who will be speaking about “The Energy of Money.”
September 2021 – Part 2
Feature Story: Personal Blueprint for Success
In her book, The Financially Empowered Woman, Tracy Theemes talks about how “scaffolding,” a developmental psychology term, helps to create an effective personal blueprint for finding solutions. Essentially what this means is that because you have succeeded before, you can succeed again. Our goal this season is to help you to continue to add to that personal blueprint with workshops that allow you to build the “structures” you need to plan for your own future and where you can be among others embarking on a similar journey of learning and growth.
Speaker Spotlight: Irene Nizzero
“Goal setting is really about adopting different habits and putting all of the elements in place that will make those new habits work and stick.”
When it came to kicking off the first Wise Money Talks session of the season, Irene’s passion for coaching and teaching was a perfect fit for setting the stage with a webinar on goal setting.
Latest Blog: The Avocado Toast Currency Crisis by Philip Wong
The millennial generation is sensitive. They are demanding and want feedback. They crave workplace flexibility, paid sabbaticals, autonomy, and inclusivity. Personal growth and branding are paramount to their identities. They stay up late to keep “woke” — to be aware of all things, at all times. But is it true that their financial health has become tied to the price of avocado toast? Philip Wong (portfolio analyst with Sophia Financial Group and a millennial) shares his thoughts on what he calls “The Avocado Toast Currency Crisis” in our latest blog.
Of Interest: How to Start New Habits That Actually Stick
James Clear believes that “we do not rise to the level of our goals but fall to the level of our systems.” He suggests that our lives are essentially the sum of our habits and offers a simple and helpful framework that makes it easier to stick to new habits so that we can improve our health, our work, and our lives in general.
September 2021 – Happy New Year
We know it is only September, but doesn’t it feel like this is really the first month of a New Year? We have finished our summer lolling about and are full of renewed energy and drive, right? This is when we learn new things, start fresh projects and open up the portfolio statements that have sat in the pile growing on our hall tables.
After a year and a half of external situations to manage and challenges to overcome, we enter a season of what we are going to call, “optimistic progress.”
Regardless of what is going on around us, no one can take away our ability to manage our thoughts more productively, develop sound plans and take progressive action towards our financial goals.
Consequently, our theme this fall season is: “Finance Forward”
As we continue to traverse through the ever-changing world around us, we are inspired to get our financial lives humming the song we long to sing. Together, we will shift from reflection to practical action and harmony.
As such, we have prepared a wide array of offerings to help you move forward. Regardless of where you are on the financial continuum, we are certain there is something here for you.
Many of our programs have limited registrations this season, so please make sure you register for your favourites ahead of time and mark them in your calendars. Take yourself and your future seriously with strong intention and follow through!
All the best for the “New Year.”
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Kamal and Tracy
June 2021 – Planning Our Next Steps
We are officially finished with our Winter/Spring Wise Money Talks educational workshops. It has been quite a varied line up of dynamic speakers, topics, and perspectives. We hope you have enjoyed the different lenses on what makes up the mind, heart, and actions of a financially empowered life.
It has never been more clear that our world is filled with contradictions. Some have experienced more freedom during the lockdowns—time to look inward while the surrounding environment has been in chaos. We have also re-learned that though money does not buy us freedom from a virus, it can buy us the conditions to reduce our risk.
Now it is time to use our newfound insights and plan our next steps. How will we reconfigure our world to be more healthy, happy, and whole? What do we need to move forward in a way that is sustainable and joyful?
These questions can lead us to the insights and actions needed to live our best lives.
As we wrap up, know that we are already contemplating our next season. We will be digging deeper and casting wider to gather new tools and strategies to make our financial lives thrum with passion, purpose, and wisdom.
We are so glad you are part of our community. We look forward to seeing you in September!
Have a wonderful summer!
Tracy, Kamal, and the SWA Team
March 2021 – Time for a Spring Tune-Up
As we roar into March, the days lengthen, the crocuses poke out their tiny little heads, and a sense of optimism can be gently felt wafting through the winds. We also feel that shift at Sophia Wealth Academy, especially as we are already midway through our winter Wise Money Talks workshops and plan to spend this final month of winter focusing on helping you to do your own personal spring tune-up.
We begin with Mihael Mamychshvili, a gifted healer and a favourite of Sophia audiences for many years. His two-part webinar is an opportunity to go “inside your engine” and do some final tweaks and repairs before entering the new season. So many wounds have risen for healing and so many strengths have been unearthed during these last few months. This is a chance to dig in and weed out what is holding you back from being your most joyful, peace-filled self. We want the seeds of our own, and of our collective hearts to bloom with strength and beauty.
Let’s take the journey together.
Tracy and Kamal
January 2021 – Here We Go
We keep hearing that everyone hopes that 2021 is a better year than 2020. And it’s hard not to say “Amen!” to that. However, our job in this coming year and always is to accept what is in our life that we have no control over and handle it with as much equanimity and grace as possible. It is also to see that even during the biggest storms and most difficult circumstances, there are always opportunities.
You will see that our Winter & Spring 2021 Wise Money Talks Webinars lineup is quite diverse with a particular emphasis on building resilience and moving forward with confidence. You may also note that although our direct financial education workshops may only be a part of the package, the context in which we manage our money is often where positive change and openings for progress present themselves. Money is never just money. There is so much energy available right now for transformation. And progress on one front of our lives translates to progress in all others.
So instead of hoping for a better 2021, let’s just make 2021 the best it can be!! Here’s to a fabulous new year!
See you soon!
Tracy and Kamal
