Drew Wallace Ross
Job title: Financial Planner, Sun Life, CLU®
Languages spoken: English
Trustworthy advice you can count on
Accomplishing what is important to you
Money is a tool used to accomplish what is truly important in life. Seeing Clients achieve their specific objectives is the driving force in my practice.
As a Financial Planner, my role is to show you how to get the most out of your finances. I summarize the purpose of a financial strategy as three distinct outcomes: Protect, Grow, Enjoy.
- Protect your income, the savings you've built, and the people you earn and save for.
- Grow your savings at the right pace, in the right place, with the right plan to hit your objectives in the right order.
- Enjoy with CONFIDENCE! The purpose of properly protecting and growing wealth is to spend confidently on what really matters. Once we determine the right place, pace and plan to achieve your goals, everything left over is free to enjoy.
The reason for all financial strategies is not saving, it is spending! An evolution of the famous “pay yourself first”. If you know your plan is properly funded, enjoy the balance with confidence now and in retirement!
I work with:
- business owners and entrepreneurs
- real estate investors
- millennials,
- high net worth individuals,
- families, and
- pre-retirees and retirees.
I live in Kanata, Ontario and keep an office on Ottawa. I service Kanata, Ottawa, Orleans, Barrhaven, Stittsville, Arnprior, Renfrew and beyond. I’m happy to offer both in-person and virtual appointments. Contact my office to book your appointment.
My process
Advice is highly personal. Anyone can sell great investments or protection, there are lots of great products and services out there. Good planning will include not just how to acquire wealth but provide clear steps to maximize how much you keep. Generating a return is great, but only half the battle. It takes knowledge and planning to keep what you worked so hard to achieve.
How to implement a financial strategy is unique to you.
1. When we begin working together, I take the time to get acquainted with you. I want to understand your specific circumstances, hard data, and unique objectives.
2. Once I understand your situation and goals, I’ll present preliminary results to get your feedback. From there, we’ll fill any gaps in the data and ensure my understanding of your objectives is complete and accurate.
3. I’ll present final conclusions and recommendations drawn from the data and your feedback. I’ll take the time to educate you on my rationale for the recommendations. I always want to ensure that you have the information needed to make an informed decision.
4. Lastly, I’ll help you implement the recommendations based on urgency, impact, and priorities. Once your plan is in place, I’ll follow up annually or as needed. We can determine if changes to timelines, objectives or circumstances warrant a review of the plan.
Products and services
Browse through the product and services offerings below to learn more. Every financial and protection strategy is different. When we meet, we’ll discuss what might be right for your unique situation. Reach out if you have any questions or are ready to get started.
Health insurance products
Health insurance gives you financial coverage to help pay for health-care needs. This insurance goes above and beyond Canadian health-care coverage.
Life insurance products
Life insurance allows you to protect the people you love by providing your beneficiaries a tax-free cash payment when you die.
Saving and budgeting
Reaching your financial goals starts with a budget and savings plan. Let’s make your money go further.
Stay informed
See more articles
"Phishing" is a sophisticated and convincing con using email, text and/or phone calls to defraud people.
Sun Life has been made aware that scammers are leveraging the branding of trusted insurers in phishing attacks.
We are actively investigating, together with Health Canada.
NOTE: Sun Life has NOTstarted to mail welcome packages for the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
Sun Life will NEVER ask for personal or financial information related to this plan. If you have any questions or concerns, Service Canada can be reached at 1-833-537-4342.
Anyone who may have been victim to this fraud should reach out to Service Canada and their bank.
"Phishing" is a sophisticated and convincing con using email, text and/or phone calls to defraud people.
Sun Life has been made aware that scammers are leveraging the branding of trusted insurers in phishing attacks.
We are actively investigating, together with Health Canada.
NOTE: Sun Life has NOTstarted to mail welcome packages for the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
Sun Life will NEVER ask for personal or financial information related to this plan. If you have any questions or concerns, Service Canada can be reached at 1-833-537-4342.
Anyone who may have been victim to this fraud should reach out to Service Canada and their bank.
Annuities never get the recognition they deserve. How to weave them into a plan and use the benefits of an annuity takes an approach dedicated to measuring and valuing the outcomes of planning.
Make no doubt about it, like ANY product annuities have shortcomings that must be planned for and overcome. BUT, every once in a while they are absolutely the PERFECT product to provide the outcomes sought by a client. Despite my own feelings, on dozens of occasions they’ve also been exactly what was needed to help clients sleep soundly during even the most challenging times.
During these volatile times, dozens of clients are enjoying one simple fact about annuities: They provide the HIGHEST GUARANTEED INCOME of traditional investment products.
Other products provide higher income: mutual funds and stocks for example… but as effective as they can be they cannot be guaranteed.
NOTE: "Guaranteed" is a sacred word in finance and means what it is supposed to, no matter WHAT you'll get what we agreed to.
Other products also provide guarantees: Segregated funds, GICs for example… but they provide less actual cash flow than the annuity.
This does not mean you should go buy an annuity to fund your retirement income. It means that, since annuity benefits are directly correlated to interest rates at the time they are implemented, they may be an option to consider as current rates have improved the lifetime yield on annuities..
Over the past 8 weeks, after not positioning annuities for several years due to low interest rates, 4 families have taken advantage of current rates to lock in guaranteed lifetime income using annuities in my practice.
As always, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Annuities are a great tool, ideal for balancing the need for high income, removing market risk, controlling taxes and removing longevity risk.
However, whether or not one is appropriate (and at what scale and features) depends on your desired outcomes.
If you’ve had enough with volatility AND are looking to create an income stream from your savings, let my team know and we can determine IF taking advantage of current interest rates is in your best “interest”.
Annuities never get the recognition they deserve. How to weave them into a plan and use the benefits of an annuity takes an approach dedicated to measuring and valuing the outcomes of planning.
Make no doubt about it, like ANY product annuities have shortcomings that must be planned for and overcome. BUT, every once in a while they are absolutely the PERFECT product to provide the outcomes sought by a client. Despite my own feelings, on dozens of occasions they’ve also been exactly what was needed to help clients sleep soundly during even the most challenging times.
During these volatile times, dozens of clients are enjoying one simple fact about annuities: They provide the HIGHEST GUARANTEED INCOME of traditional investment products.
Other products provide higher income: mutual funds and stocks for example… but as effective as they can be they cannot be guaranteed.
NOTE: "Guaranteed" is a sacred word in finance and means what it is supposed to, no matter WHAT you'll get what we agreed to.
Other products also provide guarantees: Segregated funds, GICs for example… but they provide less actual cash flow than the annuity.
This does not mean you should go buy an annuity to fund your retirement income. It means that, since annuity benefits are directly correlated to interest rates at the time they are implemented, they may be an option to consider as current rates have improved the lifetime yield on annuities..
Over the past 8 weeks, after not positioning annuities for several years due to low interest rates, 4 families have taken advantage of current rates to lock in guaranteed lifetime income using annuities in my practice.
As always, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Annuities are a great tool, ideal for balancing the need for high income, removing market risk, controlling taxes and removing longevity risk.
However, whether or not one is appropriate (and at what scale and features) depends on your desired outcomes.
If you’ve had enough with volatility AND are looking to create an income stream from your savings, let my team know and we can determine IF taking advantage of current interest rates is in your best “interest”.
Remember that RRSPs are a means to control tax, they are not always the default savings method often advertised.
Whether or not to use an RRSP account depends heavily on your unique circumstances.
This is why I insist on personalized advice before making contributions. For some clients, making RRSP contributions before Feb 29 will be crucial… but for MOST of my clients you’ve already made the ideal contributions for 2023.
RRSPs are a powerful tool in a cohesive plan, saving or deferring thousands in tax if used properly. But, don't assume they're the "best" option for your unique needs!
There may be options other than the RRSP that provide a better return in your plan.
Please reach out to melissa.lidstone@sunlife.com to arrange a meeting to discuss whether RRSP contributions ought to be included in your financial plan.
A key consideration about RRSPs: while they generate a tax refund when you put money in, they also create a tax bill when the money is pulled out. This is why I insist on developing a plan, as redeeming RRSPs in retirement requires careful planning to ensure your tax bill doesn’t devalue your savings.
Remember that RRSPs are a means to control tax, they are not always the default savings method often advertised.
Whether or not to use an RRSP account depends heavily on your unique circumstances.
This is why I insist on personalized advice before making contributions. For some clients, making RRSP contributions before Feb 29 will be crucial… but for MOST of my clients you’ve already made the ideal contributions for 2023.
RRSPs are a powerful tool in a cohesive plan, saving or deferring thousands in tax if used properly. But, don't assume they're the "best" option for your unique needs!
There may be options other than the RRSP that provide a better return in your plan.
Please reach out to melissa.lidstone@sunlife.com to arrange a meeting to discuss whether RRSP contributions ought to be included in your financial plan.
A key consideration about RRSPs: while they generate a tax refund when you put money in, they also create a tax bill when the money is pulled out. This is why I insist on developing a plan, as redeeming RRSPs in retirement requires careful planning to ensure your tax bill doesn’t devalue your savings.