Financial planning for new Canadians
By Melanie Chambers • Bankrate.com

There isn't a word for mortgage in Iran, says Dr. Daver Shahiri, a veterinarian who immigrated to Toronto in 2001. Shahiri says this is the case because most major purchases are made in cash there, including buying a house. In Canada, he quickly discovered our love of credit and how to get it.

"It took me a month or so you understand how a mortgage works. I had no idea," he says, remembering his early days in Canada. Shahiri sought advice from friends and bankers, but it wasn't until he needed advice on more complicated issues that he discovered financial planners, and he wished he'd known about them sooner.

What can a planner do?
Since every country's financial system is different, financial planners can help new Canadians understand the ins and outs of building a credit rating, tax planning and investing for retirement.

"Newcomers have a lot of questions, and they may not even be aware of all the questions they should be asking to leverage the opportunities available to them," says Biljana Manojlovic, a Certified Financial Planner, or CFP, with RBC Wealth Management in Vancouver, who emigrated from Croatia in 1991. "Getting the right financial planning advice is a good first step for many newcomers."

Financial planners can help new Canadians establish and prioritize short-terms goals, such as finding health care coverage and employment agencies, as well as long-term goals, such as buying a home and saving for retirement.

To find a planner, immigrants can browse the Financial Planners Standards Council website for a CFP in their area. If money is tight, there are planners who work on commission. Most offer a free initial consultation and only charge a fee if a plan is implemented.

What's more, many Canadian planners are also immigrants themselves. Shahiri's CFP Tina Tehranchian, who is also the branch manager at Assante Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto, emigrated from Iran in 1990. She could relate to what Shahiri and his wife were going through. "She understood my circumstances and risk absorption level and advised me on appropriate strategies," say Shahiri.

The beginning
Tehranchian says a main priority for immigrants with dependants is to obtain short-term health coverage, so that if you get sick or have an accident, they will be protected financially. In many provinces, including Ontario and British Columbia, government coverage doesn't kick in until you have a Social Insurance Number, or SIN, which typically takes about three months.

"Health insurance is necessary whether you have dependants or not, but life insurance is needed by those who have dependants that they need to protect," adds Tehranchian.