Trè Bynoe, a financial planner at TCU Wealth Management in Saskatoon, says he grew up without a safety net. 'When you don’t have financial independence, it feels like you’re one bad choice away from disaster.'Nicole Romanoff Photo/Supplied
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 to clients. We’ve also launched a Behind the Advice podcast – find all the episodes here.
Trè Bynoe, a financial planner at TCU Wealth Management in Saskatoon, talks about growing up in the foster care system and how his financial survival instincts led him to study accounting and eventually become a financial planner in Canada.
Describe your upbringing.
I was born and raised in Britain. My dad was in the military and met my mother, who was Canadian, while stationed in Medicine Hat, Alta. My dad became a single father when my twin sister and I were 2, and then he remarried when we were 8.
At 13, I ended up in foster care while my dad tried his best to shake his troubled past, but it wasn’t quite enough. I had five different foster families between the ages of 13 and 18 – some better than others. The statistics were against me; I saw a lot of other kids who aged out of the system struggle like my father or even end up living on the streets. I decided early on not to end up like that by making good, long-term choices such as doing well in school and attending college.
How did being in foster care influence your relationship with money?
When you’re in the foster care system, there’s always a sense you can’t control your future because you don’t have financial autonomy. I wasn’t these people’s children, so I felt like I couldn’t rely on them as a safety net like other kids could rely on their parents.
When you don’t have financial independence, it feels like you’re one bad choice away from disaster. While those small disasters might be minor to someone with parents who help them financially, that wasn’t my situation. I felt I couldn’t afford to make mistakes. That’s part of what drove me to want to be financially independent.
How did you get into financial services?
I took accounting in college in Britain because I felt I needed to understand how money works to achieve financial freedom. I knew I didn’t know enough, and the people around me didn’t know enough to guide me. It was purely out of necessity. I also felt I needed a stable career.
I came to Canada in 2013, when I was 18. I stayed with an aunt and uncle in Regina and, after a while, started working as a personal banking representative at P.C. Financial (then a subsidiary of CIBC), at which I worked on getting my mutual fund licence, and then switched to the credit union system with Conexus Credit Union in Regina as a financial services representative. I quickly worked my way up, obtaining more credentials to become a financial adviser and eventually joining Conexus’s wealth management team. As of 2019, I’m a financial planner with TCU Financial Group.
What’s the biggest money mistake you’ve made?
When I was 18, I purchased a car online for $3,000 and sent the money before seeing the car. I never got the car. It turned out to be a scam. I was devastated. I should’ve known; the price seemed too good to be true. It’s amazing how you can justify warning signs when you want the outcome. At the time, I really needed a car and I didn’t have much money to spend. This experience is something I think back to when empathizing with clients about their money mistakes.
What decision around money has had the biggest impact on your life?
Systematizing everything. Since my wife and I got married 10 years ago, we’ve saved money – not because we earned a lot, especially at the beginning, but because we made decisions in advance on how much we’d spend.
For example, at the start of every year, we add up our upcoming bills and decide on our weekly food budget and discretionary spending. We then automate the bill payments, and everything else goes into our investment portfolio. Anything we want to change in the budget goes on a list, and we discuss it the following January.
I’ve found that making these decisions in advance frees you up to think about other things. Wealth creation comes from the gap between consumption and income. That approach allows us to control our consumption and create that gap.
What do you worry about regarding money?
Part of my early approach to money was a trauma response; when you grow up in an environment concerned about money and not having control, it’s easy to see money as a safety blanket. That led to my early motivations being fear-based: saving because I’m afraid of what could happen versus saving so I can enjoy more in the future. The pessimism takes a toll. Finding that balance is a constant struggle. But fortunately, I only have to think about how much I’m saving in January.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to enter your business?
You can’t be everything to everybody. Start learning broadly; get your CFP and your CIM or CFA. Just know the learning doesn’t stop there. The best financial planners specialize in helping certain types of people. That’s why I specialize in helping corporation owners. Some specialize in employees with stock compensation, farmers, blended families, etc. You’ll likely come across many different scenarios, even within the niche, but having a focus will help you prioritize your ongoing education.
This interview has been edited and condensed.