#66 — Brenda Hiscock: A Remarkable Story About Overcoming Hardships and Finding Fulfillment as a Financial Planner

Our guest this episode is Brenda Hiscock, a CFP with Objective Financial Partners, one of Canada's leading advice-only planning firms. Brenda's route to financial planning was anything but easy. She lost her mother as a teenager, faced homelessness, battled addiction and overcame a cancer diagnosis, all while building a decades-long career in Canadian financial services. Today, she draws on those experiences to help clients navigate both the numbers and the emotions of money.

In this episode, Dave and Brenda dive into her remarkable life story: the childhood hardship and early family loss that shaped her, and the turning point that came through therapy, mentorship and self-forgiveness.

The conversation also explores a wide range of retirement topics, including practical tips for people who start their financial planning later in life, retiring abroad, planning for the potential costs of long-term care and the psychology of actually spending your savings later in life. Brenda shares her thinking on protecting parents' retirements before making gifts to their kids, using trusts to protect generational wealth, RRSP meltdowns, delaying CPP and OAS, and facing retirement with a mortgage.

This episode is packed with practical insights and an inspiring story you won't want to miss.

Show Notes

(00:00) Intro & Disclaimer

(00:55) Intro to Brenda Hiscock

(02:09) Brenda's Childhood Hardship and Early Family Loss

(05:41) The Trauma of Eviction and Developing an Addiction

(07:31) The Turning Point: Therapy, Mentorship and Self-Forgiveness

(10:54) Overcoming a Cancer Diagnosis and Rebuilding Confidence

(11:54) Tips if You Start Financial Planning Later in Life