Who We Are
Peter Bennett, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C.
After graduating from York University’s Glendon College, Peter spent three years in retail banking before joining London Life in 1981. He obtained his Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 1988, his Chartered Financial Consultant (CH.F.C.) in 1990, and his Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation in 1996. In 2000 he was invited to join the Wealth & Estate Planning Group, a division of Freedom 55 Financial. In 2004, Peter co-founded Blueprint Wealth & Estate Planning Inc., and became the principal in 2008. Peter specializes in wealth accumulation, income, and transfer for individuals. Part of the transfer process includes charitable gift planning.
Peter has been active in charitable gift planning for over 20 years. He has been a fundraiser for his school for 30 years, chaired a capital campaign at his parish church, and has at various times raised money for his children’s daycare, baseball league, and drama group. In 1995, he received his initial planned giving training at Kanuga Conference Centre, North Carolina. In 1996 he was invited to join the Diocese of Toronto Planned Giving Sub Committee, and later the Stewardship Committee. Peter has spoken or led planned giving workshops and presentations to over 30 groups with audiences ranging from 6 to 600. Peter is a former Chair of his parish Stewardship Committee, with particular responsibility for planned giving. In 2017 he was a presenter at national Stewardship Conferences in Saskatoon SK and Chateauguay QB. He also became a volunteer Stewardship Consultant for the Diocese of Toronto.
Peter joined the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) in 2003 and graduated from the first Advanced Gift Planning Course in Banff in 2007. He repeated the course again in 2024. He was a speaker at the 2008 Annual Conference in Vancouver, and at the 2010 meeting in Edmonton. In 2013, he was a presenter at the CAGP Leave a Legacy Toronto Chapter public seminar series on retirement and legacy planning. He has also presented at the CAGP local chapter ‘Lunch ‘n Learn’ series. He has twice presented to London Life’s national education Summit on the subject. In 2018, he was a presenter at MindPath Seminars ‘Doing Well by Doing Good’ Philanthropy conference.
Peter has been a Legacy Wealth Coach since 2001 and employs a proprietary planning process called Wealth Optimization. His Discovery Blueprint helps clients bring clarity to three questions:
- What does it mean to be financially independent?
- What is an appropriate legacy for my family?
- What is an appropriate social capital legacy?
This process has led to successful facilitation of close to $10 million of planned gifts by clients. Peter’s clients have placed the largest individual donation to three foundations, two 'donor advised' and one ‘non-profit’.
Peter is a member of the Responsible Investment Association (RIA), The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS), Estate Planning Council of Toronto, Advocis, and the Canadian MDRT Charitable Foundation.
Peter provides both commission and fee planning in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and BC.
Peter is married to Heather and they have two adult children. In his free time, Peter volunteers as a Level 3 baseball umpire, loves a good game of squash, and performs in musical theatre.
Angella Bell
Angella has been working with Blueprint since 2023. She comes with experience in the financial services industry. She keeps herself up to date with various continuing education programs. Earlier she operated her own business and has been involved in a family business. In her spare time, Angella loves to cook for family and friends, and tries her best to keep insects, rodents and squirrels away from her garden plot!.