Posts by James Burden
A Trend Worth Keeping
We all need some good news right now, and I love hearing stories of neighbours helping neighbours, random acts of kindness for frontline workers, and celebrities giving back. The media has been highlighting big generosity lately, but you don’t need a multi-million-subscriber channel to start your own generosity trend. You just have to be willing…
Read MoreWalking a Mile in Their Shoes
A highly respected surgeon and physician specializing in women’s health, Dr. Annette Epp is no stranger to fundraising galas. She enjoys donating to a variety of causes, and her Generosity Plan™ with Abundance Canada allows her to fulfill her charitable goals in a strategic manner. However, Annette knows the importance of not just donating generously…
Read MoreA Generosity Lifestyle
How many times have you heard someone say, “I’d love to give more but I’m just too busy”? When we think of generosity as something we must do in addition to our everyday lives, giving can become stressful instead of joyful. As a young doctor and busy teacher raising a growing family, Abundance Canada clients…
Read MoreModelling Generosity Across Generations
Generosity doesn’t just start all of a sudden when we decide we have accumulated “enough”; it is shaped by experiences throughout our lifetime and deeply influenced by the people around us. Growing Up Amidst Generosity My family didn’t talk about charitable giving while I was growing up, but their actions spoke volumes about the joy…
Read MoreGenerosity on Two Wheels
You know that feeling when you hear a story that makes you smile? My friend Simone* recently shared a beautiful story of generosity that made my week, and I hope it brings joy to yours as well. It all started a few weeks ago when Simone was washing up the dinner dishes and her 10-year-old…
Read MoreLaunch Your Generosity Today
Last weekend people from around the world live-streamed NASA’s launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, the first manned spaceflight to launch from North America in nearly a decade. The images of Mission Control and the launch site had me marveling at how much technology has changed since the Apollo missions. When someone mentioned Newton’s famous…
Read MoreA Generosity Hat Trick
I was out shoveling my driveway this past March when my neighbour Harvey pulled over and rolled down his window to chat. Newly retired and on his way home from goaltending a shinny hockey match (it was just days before city arenas in Calgary closed due to COVID-19) he was keen to tell me how…
Read MoreFinding Their Legacy Story
Ten years into retirement, Dianne and Harold took the prudent step of reviewing their financial plans for the future. They met with their financial advisor who informed them that they had fully overcome the risk of outliving their money. Then, they met with me to review their Generosity Plan™ for charitable giving. They explained to…
Read MoreWhere There’s A Will (Part Three)
In parts one and two of this series I looked at the startling fact that over half of all Canadian adults do not have a current legal will despite the significant consequences of dying intestate. Darlene is an exception to these statistics. Time to Reflect After retiring from a demanding and rewarding career in education,…
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