Client Impact in action: Belinda and Marc’s story
[Sun Life logo]
[Music begins]
Super: Rockglen, Saskatchewan]
[Various aerial footage of a sunrise, Saskatchewan plains, cities, and structures.]
[A wooden sign with two cows and trees on it reads Belmar Farms, Marc & Belinda Spagrud.]
0:00:07
MARC: Saskatchewanians really pride ourselves in being friendly, hardworking people. Tied to the land, of course, because that's our heritage.
[Marc leaves his house and walks towards his farm with a dog running by his side.]
MARC: It is part of the shortgrass native prairie, and there isn't much of that left, and I'm very proud to be a caretaker of that.
[Marc and Belinda sit side by side sitting in chairs and facing the camera.]
Super: Marc Sun Life Client Client Sun Life
Super: Belinda Sun Life Client Cliente Sun Life
0:00:26
[A sign outside reads ROCKGLEN SCHOOL “Home of the Raiders”]
[Belinda walks through the halls of a school and smiles.]
BELINDA: Mike, we had taken a couple master's classes together, both trying to get our master's in education, and Mike announces at class that he's going to go work for Sun Life
[Mike, Marc, and Belinda sit side by side in chairs facing the camera and speaking to each other.]
Super: Mike Spicer Sun Life Advisor Conseiller, Sun Life
0:00:50
[Various aerial footage of Mike driving his car along dirt roads and appears smiling behind the wheel. He arrives at a house and meets Belinda outside. They embrace in a hug. Mike shakes hands with Marc and they embrace in a hug.]
MIKE SPICER: Teaching is not a nine-to-five job. What I do now is not a nine-to-five job. Farming is not a nine-to-five job. And sometimes you just have to go and do what needs to be done. And I've taken that into our business too, is helping people see where the retirement and their future could be and what their legacy might look like in the end.
0:01:08
[Marc and Belinda sit side by side and speak to a person off camera.]
MARC: Because we went through our entire life in debt, right? That's what a farmer does. They take on debt and they spend their entire life getting rid of that debt.
0:01:17
[Various aerial footage of Saskatchewan plains.]
[Marc enters a barn with a dog by his side and begins shovelling hay.]
MARC: We started looking then for a way to make life a little easier for ourselves and so Mike's helping us through that stage and he helped us understand that we could access money out of our corporation.
[Two orange barn cats sit beneath a heating lamp comfortably.]
[Marc stops shovelling and looks at the camera, smiling.]
0:01:35
[A town sign reading ROCKGLEN appears on screen.]
[A building with an iron elephant statue out front reads ROCKGLEN VISITOR CENTER.]
BELINDA: Our first meeting was in our home at the kitchen table. Right in the beginning, Mike, you were like, you're going to be fine. You are going to be able to retire.
[A large train yard comes into view, showing tracks and a green train car reading SASKATCHEWAN.]
[A shot of a small rural town road with various cars and shops.]
BELINDA: You're not going to have to have all these cows and teach full time forever. You are going to have an opportunity to take advantage and use all this.
[Marc, Belinda, and Mike walk up steps to a cafe with a sign reading ‘68 Coffee House and THE STATION SPIN STUDIO.]
[Inside the cafe, a small sign reads LIFE HAPPENS Coffee helps, and we see a close shot of someone pouring a cup of fresh coffee.]
0:01:55
[Belinda, Mike, and Marc sit together at a cafe table with coffee, water, and a small pile of papers, speaking indistinctly.]
MIKE: Over the years, that plan has not been a straight line. We started with one idea. We have to sell the farm. And then when we brought estate and financial planning services in and brought everything together and took stock of everything you had, we pieced out a roadmap that's taken you into a couple of different journeys.
[Cut to Mike sitting in a chair in front of the camera, smiling and speaking to people off screen.]
MIKE: But in the end, we still know the destination where we're going to be ending up going. By taking a holistic view and the way that we approach the financial plan, it's not just about how your investments are doing.
[Close up shot of Mike back in the cafe writing down notes on a pad of paper.]
0:02:23
MIKE: It's not about the rate of return, because that's the important piece. What do you get to keep?
[Mike, Marc, and Belinda sit at the cafe table, speaking indistinctly, smiling, and laughing.]
0:02:28
[A truck drives on the farm’s dirt road. A large herd of black and brown cattle roam freely. A close shot of the cows shows them standing together.]
BELINDA: What made it a bit easier too is that we downsized slowly. Our neighbours who rent our pasture are the ones who purchased our cows. They didn't go to auction.
0:02:38
[Marc and Belinda walk through their farm, speaking indistinctly. Belinda scratches a dog on the head.]
MARC: And from our standpoint, renting, it's another door for us then because it's still our land. We still have that option to do whatever we want with it down the road. If something doesn't work out with those renters, then we can choose other ones or we can pass it on to our family. We want to be able to do that.
0:03:06
[Belinda stands in a school hallway with sun streaming through the windows behind her.]
[Marc stands in a snowy field wearing a jacket and toque. He turns to smile at the camera.]
[Mike sits in a cushioned chair with the sun streaming in from a window. He turns to the camera and smiles softly.]
BELINDA: I think owning land is a very prestigious thing. And so I'm very proud of what we've managed to develop and create and that we will be able to share with our family.
INTERVIEWER: Life’s looking pretty bright?
BELINDA: Yeah, we're very lucky. I think we're very, very lucky people, for sure.
[Cut back to Mike, Marc, and Belinda sitting in chairs side by side in front of the camera, speaking to a person off screen.]
[Sun Life logo]
[Legal footnote text:
*Advisors and their corporations conduct insurance business through Sun Life Financial Distributors (Canada) Inc. Mutual fund business is done with your advisor through Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada is the insurer and is a member of the Sun Life group of companies. © Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2026.
*The Estate & Financial Planning Services (EFPS) team provides comprehensive financial planning support in partnership with your Sun Life Advisor. EFPS Planners are full-time salaried professionals who work collaboratively to develop personalized strategies aligned with your financial goals.
*Mike Spicer is an independent contractor.]
[Music ends]
On the shortgrass prairie in Rockglen, Saskatchewan, land carries meaning.
That rings true for Belinda and Marc Spagrud. Their cattle farm, Belmar Farms, represents a lifetime of hard work, resilience, and deep connection to the prairie. Like many farmers, they spent their lives reinvesting everything back into the farm, building something meaningful for their family and community along the way.
As they approached retirement, however, they faced a difficult reality. To secure their financial future through retirement, they would need to sell their family farm. It was a practical decision, but one that meant letting go of something that mattered deeply to them.
A different path forward
Belinda and Marc’s perspective began to shift after years of working with Sun Life advisor Mike Spicer. What started as a financial relationship grew into a trusted partnership, built through ongoing conversations, time spent together on the farm, and a genuine understanding of their goals and values.
Sitting at their kitchen table, Mike helped them explore other possibilities to secure future they dreamt of, without sacrificing what matters most.
By taking a more holistic approach, integrating pension strategies, business decisions like selling machinery and cattle gradually, and planning ahead for estate needs, they uncovered a path to keep Belmar Farms.
Today, they’re able to enjoy retirement with greater peace of mind, all while staying connected to the land they value most.
Preserving what matters most
For the Spagruds, the outcome goes beyond financial stability.
It means keeping their land in the family and preserving their legacy for generations to come. That sense of choice and confidence has changed how they experience this stage of life, allowing them to enjoy their retirement while staying grounded in their roots.
The value of advice
Financial planning isn’t just about numbers. It’s about understanding what matters most to Clients and their families, and helping them make decisions with confidence.
Belinda and Marc’s story reflects the power of advice: combining expertise with empathy to create solutions that are personal, proactive, and Purpose-driven.
By building a long-term relationship grounded in trust, Mike helped them move beyond a single path forward, unlocking options that aligned with both their financial goals and their values.
Because when advice is rooted in understanding, it can do more than prepare people for the future.
It can help them hold on to what matters most.
Our Client impact
Stories like Belinda and Marc’s demonstrate how Sun Life is helping Canadians navigate life’s most important moments with confidence, through personalized advice and solutions that reflect their needs, goals, and aspirations.
