Daniel is a small business owner of a software development company in Toronto.  He is single and loves spending his weekends in the summer white water rafting north of the city. During the winter, he loves to ski around Collingwood, Ontario. He is seeking your help as a Financial Planner, to figure out what he should do with the surplus that he has at the end of each month. He earns about $ 6,000 per month and his cash flow shows that he has $750 left over after paying for all of his expenses. He has some money invested in GICs earning 1.50 % per year. He would like to pay down his existing mortgage and line of credit and save more for a worry free retirement. He is unsure of how to proceed to achieve his goals.

1) What key questions (top 4 questions) do you want to ask Daniel to get a better understanding of his current situation and to be able to provide him with strategies and recommendations to achieve his goals ?

2) Daniel is also telling you that he feels he is spending more than he should and he does not know where the money goes. Also, he feels he is paying too much in income taxes. What three key recommendations would you give to Daniel to help him out ? Provide the benefits and disadvantages for each one of your recommendation.