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Reader,

This weekend is a significant one across North America. For my 🇨🇦's Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you're enjoying the long weekend, good food, and family time. For my 🇺🇸's Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day Weekend!

Katie and I kicked off the long weekend with a bit of a sporting treat: I'm took Katie to her new favorite hobby, attending a Ti-Cats (CFL) game! It was an amazing day, capped off with a delicious dinner. It was a perfect reminder that life is about balance and intentionally creating memories.

But as we celebrate and reflect, the financial world keeps spinning. The major market sell-off on Friday, October 10th, was a stark reminder of how quickly global events can impact your retirement portfolio.

The Market Chaos: What Really Happened on Friday

If you checked your brokerage account on Friday, you saw red. The S&P 500 tumbled 2.7%, the Nasdaq fell 3.6%, and the TSX dropped 1.38%.

What triggered this widespread panic? A sudden, sharp re-escalation of trade tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a "massive increase of tariffs" on Chinese imports. This political posturing immediately hit the tech and retail sectors, sending shockwaves across global exchanges.

This chaos, driven by a single social media post, is the perfect example of why the financial markets often feel completely divorced from reality. It’s enough to make anyone want to pull all their money out and stick it under the mattress.

The Real Lesson: Your Emergency Fund is Your Firewall

Market meltdowns, economic recessions, and global chaos are always going to happen. You can’t stop the storm, but you can build an ark. And that ark is your emergency fund.

A recent article from Wealthsimple really drove this point home: The size of your emergency fund determines your ability to survive tough times and stay invested.

When the market crashes, the absolute worst thing you can do is be forced to sell your investments at a loss just to cover your rent or an unexpected bill. Your emergency fund acts as a financial firewall, protecting your investments from market volatility.

Right-Sizing Your Emergency Fund (The FFP Prescription):

The Wealthsimple article provides a great framework for determining your optimal cash buffer. The "right size" isn't the same for everyone; it depends entirely on your risk factors:

The Strategy for Tough Times:

1. Don't Panic Sell: Your emergency fund ensures you don't touch your retirement accounts. You use your cash cushion for emergencies, allowing your investments to ride out the volatility and recover.
2. Stay Disciplined: Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) is the most powerful tool you have. By investing a fixed amount every paycheck, you automatically buy fewer shares when prices are high and more shares when prices fall (like on Friday!). You remove emotion and optimize your cost basis over time.
3. Focus on the Goal (Not the Noise): The short-term market movement caused by political posturing is just noise. Your job is to stay disciplined, keep funding your RRSP/401(k), and let time in the market do the heavy lifting.

A Special Offer: Your Roadmap to Financial Confidence (Adulting 101)

If the fear and volatility of this week highlighted a gap in your knowledge, or if you simply need a clear, structured roadmap to build a financial foundation that can withstand market meltdowns, I have something important for you.

As healthcare professionals, we're taught to care for our patients, but rarely how to care for our finances. This often leads to a cycle of stress, anxiety, and avoidance. That's why I created a brand new, updated, and information-packed beginner course: Personal Finance Adulting 101 for Healthcare Professionals (let's just call it Adulting 101 for short!).

This isn't your boring textbook finance course. It is the comprehensive, foundational education our clinical system overlooked.

Why This Course Is Your Solution:

• 3.5 Hours of Video Content: Straight-to-the-point, engaging instruction that respects your busy schedule.
• 12 Core Modules: Takes you from an absolute beginner to an intermediate level investor and planner, covering everything step-by-step.
• Exhaustive Resource Guide Includes all the tools, templates, and links you need to immediately take action, no guesswork required
• Lifetime Access: Revisit any lesson, anytime. Your financial knowledge should grow as your income grows.

What You Will Master (The Solution to Friday's Panic):

• Peace of Mind: Learn to calculate your ideal Emergency Fund size.
• Guaranteed Returns: Master the cardinal rules for Debt Management and conquer student loans, securing a risk-free return on your money.
• The Power of Compound Interest: Demystify Investing Basics so you can approach market volatility with confidence, not fear.
• Clarity & Control: Get simple, painless strategies for Budgeting and Saving.

The regular retail price for this comprehensive course is $350 CAD.

For a limited time (SALE ENDS SUNDAY OCT 19 at 7:20PM EST) you can enroll in Adulting 101 for just $275 CAD, that’s $75 off the retail price! This is the most comprehensive, accessible beginner course I've ever created, specifically designed to translate complex financial concepts into actionable steps for healthcare professionals.
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​Use Promo Code: FFP75

It's time to invest in your own financial literacy and stop letting anxiety dictate your future.

Enroll in Personal Finance Adulting 101 and Save $75 Today!

The Ultimate Dream: Win a $1 Million Home!

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Now, I'm going to interrupt the behavioral finance lesson for a moment with something incredibly exciting and timely.

The one material goal everyone seems to share is homeownership. And right now, Wealthsimple has launched their 2025

$1 Million Home Giveaway!

Yes, you heard that right. They are giving away a $1 million home. This is the ultimate dream, the financial security, the stability, and the freedom a home provides.

Here’s how you can enter (and why you should do it now):

The giveaway opened on October 3, 2025, and the deadline to register and start earning entries is October 30, 2025.

1. Start Here (5,000 Entries): Whether you're new or existing, complete the Homeownership Survey within the Wealthsimple app.
2. Refer Friends (5,000 Entries): Refer a brand-new client who signs up and funds their account with at least $1.
3. Fund Your Account (1 Entry for Every $1): For every dollar of net deposits or transfers (like moving your RRSP/TFSA), you receive one entry. This is the fastest way to stack up entries.

This is a fantastic opportunity to take the first step towards homeownership, or just build up your investment accounts, while giving yourself a chance at a life-changing prize.

Log into Wealthsimple and enter the Home Giveaway today!

Webinar Spotlight: Stop Trading Time for Dollars & Build Wealth! (With Ginger Desk)

I'm thrilled to announce I'm teaming up with the amazing folks at Ginger Desk for a brand new webinar designed specifically for you!

As healthcare professionals, we're taught to care for our patients, but rarely how to care for our financial future. If you're tired of feeling like you're stuck trading time for dollars, this session is your roadmap to breaking free.

We'll be diving into actionable strategies to help you:

• Master Your Money Mindset: Move beyond the daily grind and build a wealth-generating structure.
• Create Your Ideal Income: Design an income stream that supports the lifestyle you truly desire.
• Focus on Your Passion: Learn how to set up your finances so your money works for you, freeing you up to focus on serving your patients (or reclaiming your time!).

This is crucial education for anyone ready to go from busy clinician to financially empowered business owner.

Mark Your Calendars!

• What: Take Control: Financial Savvy for Healthcare Professionals
• When: Tuesday, October 14th
• Time: 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST

Register for the Webinar Here

Yours Truly,
Robin Valadares

@financiallyfulfilledpro and Certified Financial Counsellor CFC™

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