This is a repost of an article I published on LinkedIn.
Please go and like the original and connect with me on LinkedIn.
In early 2018, I finally gave in to all the ads where a young person talks about their thoughts and worries about saving money while a beep bop tune plays in the background. The ads were for WealthSimple, an online platform to make saving for retirement easier. I knew you have heard of it.
I like tucking away money for the future. I like online platforms that make things easier. I like bread and butter.
Then one day at work, coworkers were talking about it and the success they were having compared to a person managing their savings and that’s all it took. I finally decided to give it a try.
I have become a huge fan of WealthSimple because of its simplicity. Hence the simple in their name. Duh. But it’s 100% the truth.
And I am not the only one who feels this way. According to a Maru/Matchbox study, Wealthsimple tested #2 in both the U.S. and Canada in a roundup of a dozen robo-advice offers.
Those who reviewed the WealthSimple concept came away with feelings of:
- It fulfills and important need;
- It will help them manage their finances better;
- Liked the automatic rebalancing feature;
- Liked that there were no high fees and account minimums.
No argument here. It could not be more simple to sign up and have money working for you in minutes and not have to deal with a person you kind of trust?
Since that first day the service has taken out a small amount of money automatically that I never even see. So I don’t miss it. Just how I like to do savings.
The first few weeks I would check it daily. No real movement obviously, but it was exciting. Watching money grow is right up there with a clean kitchen for me.
My interest (in checking) started to decrease to the point that the automated emails showing my statement were the only reminder I even had an account.
Months pass.
Then the other day I was feeling like a true grown up with money in my pocket (and account). I was truly feeling like a retirement savings boss. I was getting a lot of likes on Instagram. I was winning.
I decided to check my WealthSimple account. Boo. Feelings gone. Now I was losing.
First thing I saw was – $10. Negative $10 savings so far?? WealthSimple? Yes simple to take my money.
I was a little irked. I shared the story jokingly with a coworker who knows a lot more about the market than I and he explained the long game.
It was helpful and because I am in it for the long haul, it made sense not to panic. But that was from coworker investor not Warren Buffet.
It was a downer on my winning week.
But then WealthSimple went for the throne. They wanted to be the anointed leader of my good books.
I got an email from Dave Nugent. Who is Dave Nugent you ask? Ted’s brother? I had no idea who he was but usually when I get an email in my main inbox from a new name I look.
It also helped that the subject line was: Keep calm and carry on: the rising interest rates edition.
So I gave this Dave guy a legit open for his report and read on. Then I was blown away. The email was exactly about my earlier concern about my WealthSimple account going down. It was from the CIO.
Now I am sure this was sent out to a lot of people due to the market tanking in the USA, but the timing was on point. The email instantly made me feel “not bad” for seeing my account go down. I felt like they were being open with not just good news.
It really added to the reasons why I like the company and will promote it all I can. I am pretty sure I have told this story to 10 people so far. And as you are reading, it has inspired this blog post.
Going forward, things are probably going to get much worse before they get better. But at least I can feel as though staying the course with my WealthSimple account is the right thing to do. To keep having money taken out. To not consider going elsewhere. Game ball to WealthSimple.
One email squashed all those negative thoughts. To me that’s what an organization/brand has to do with customers, employees and social audiences. Be open – good or bad.
Sounds pretty simple eh eh?
Want to give WealthSimple a try, here is my totally transparent referral link. I thank you in advance.