Succession begins long before ownership changes hands.
Succession begins long before ownership changes hands.
Building wealth is one achievement. Passing it on well is another.
We specialize in succession, estate, and cross-border planning for business owners and families, with a focus on how ownership, control, wealth, and responsibility pass from one generation to the next.
Complimentary 30-minute introductory conversation with Peter J. Merrick.
No obligation.
Meet
Peter J. MerrickTEP®
Cross-Border Specialist and Estate Planner
Peter J. Merrick, TEP®, known as The King of Main Street, has spent more than three decades helping business owners, professionals, and family wealth stewards navigate cross-border, estate, and succession decisions across Canada and the United States.
His work is grounded in a simple principle: wealth is not fully secure until ownership, authority, liquidity, and succession are considered together.
Through The Five Pillars of Succession Security™, he helps families prepare early so important decisions can be made with time, clarity, and control.
He is the author of The King of Main Street, co-author of It Starts With Gold™, and co-founder and publisher of The Merrick Spitters Reset Report™.
The Second Half of Success: From Building Wealth to Building Legacy
What happens after you have built the business, accumulated the wealth, and earned the freedom you spent decades working toward? In this conversation, Peter J. Merrick explores one of the most overlooked parts of succession planning: the transition from achievement to purpose. He explains why selling or transferring a business is only part of the journey, why time may ultimately be more valuable than money, and how mentoring the next generation can become one of the most meaningful forms of legacy. Success in the second half of life is not simply about what you keep. It is also about what you pass on.
Protecting Your Wealth, Preserving Your Freedom and Planning Your Next Chapter
You have worked hard to build more than wealth. You have built the freedom to make your own decisions, provide for your family and choose how and where you live. Your wealth should support that independence and help the next generation build its own.
For more than 33 years, I have advised entrepreneurs, business owners, farmers, retirees and multigenerational families. Many place a high value on personal responsibility, private ownership and the freedom to direct their own affairs. They want to understand where they are vulnerable and what they can do to preserve meaningful control.
For some, that means strengthening their plans in Canada. For others, it means exploring a move to the United States, expanding a business across the border or preparing for family members to live in both countries. These decisions reach beyond a change of address. They affect how businesses and property are owned, how wealth passes to the next generation and which tax, legal and estate questions need attention before a move.
I help families bring these decisions into one coordinated plan. My work connects estate and succession planning, insurance planning and cross-border considerations with the appropriate legal, tax, immigration and investment specialists.
We begin with practical questions. What will you continue to own in Canada? Who can make decisions if you cannot? Will money be available to meet obligations? How will a move affect your business, your estate and the people who depend on you?
My role is to help you identify vulnerabilities early, understand your options and coordinate the specialists needed to carry out your plans. That includes preparing the next generation for the responsibilities that come with ownership.
Whether you plan to remain in Canada or move to the United States, decisions about your business, property and estate deserve attention before commitments are made. Planning ahead can help preserve your choices and reduce pressure on your family. I invite you to book a conversation about your estate, succession or cross-border plans.
Protect What You Built.
Preserve What Comes Next
We help families and business owners protect income, plan for change, prepare estates and businesses, and pass wealth on with care.
Peter J. Merrick, TEP, leads every plan. He sees how the family, business, and estate fit together. We bring in independent experts when needed.
How We Protect Your Family and Wealth
How We Help You Pass Wealth On
How We Prepare Your Business and Legacy
Start With the Decision in Front of You
Tell us what you want to protect, what is changing, and where the plan needs more clarity.
Broader Wealth Planning or Asset Security Questions?
For investment coordination and broader Asset Security planning, Peter can introduce you to Adrian C. Spitters and his team. Adrian helps connect decisions about investments, income, property and insurance within a coordinated wealth plan.
Each practice is responsible for its own services, agreements and applicable disclosures. Any referral arrangement and compensation are disclosed where applicable.
Business, Mentorship, Succession and Legacy
Building a successful business takes years of work, judgment and responsibility. Preparing it to continue beyond its founder requires another kind of planning.
In The King of Main Street, Peter J. Merrick explores entrepreneurship, mentorship, succession and legacy. The book considers how knowledge, responsibility and leadership can pass between generations, alongside the wealth a family has built.
These themes connect with Peter J. Merrick TEP’s work with business owners and families on succession, estate planning and cross-border considerations. As ownership changes, families must consider who will have authority, how liquidity will be available and how the business can continue.
TWO DISTINCT roles
Advisory & Education
Our practice maintains a clear separation between actionable private wealth advisory and foundational financial education.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF HOW WE HELP OUR CLIENTS
How We Help Clients
Wealth can look secure on paper while important gaps remain. Investments, insurance, ownership and estate plans need to work together so your family can access money, make decisions and prepare for change.
Jointly created by Peter J. Merrick and Adrian C. Spitters, Owning Assets in Order of Asset Security™ asks four questions: Who controls your assets? Can you access them? How dependent are they on others? Can ownership continue through change?
The Five Pillars of Asset Security™ connect physical gold and silver, productive private assets, discretionary portfolio management, tax-aware asset repositioning, and comprehensive wealth and continuity planning.
Peter’s work centres on Pillar Five: insurance, estate planning, ownership, succession and cross-border needs. For a broader Asset Security review, he introduces you to Adrian at PFC Wealth Solutions™, who leads the initial conversation and coordinates the investment-side review where appropriate.
The goal is a clear understanding of what you own, where you may be exposed and which decisions deserve attention first. That gives you a stronger basis for conversations about your family, your business and the future of what you have built.
Complete the form to receive this complimentary guide, jointly created by Peter J. Merrick and Adrian C. Spitters, and explore Asset Security™.
This guide and the Reset Report are provided for general education only. They are not a securities offering or personalized investment, insurance, legal or tax advice, and they do not create or change a client relationship.
THE MERRICK SPITTERS RESET REPORT™
The Educational Resource
Protect What You Built. Preserve the Choices Ahead.
Wealth is more than a portfolio. Its strength depends on how assets are owned, structured, protected and eventually transferred.
The Merrick Spitters Reset Report™ brings together research and educational commentary on succession, estate planning, ownership structure, asset security and intergenerational wealth transfer.
Co-founded and co-published by Peter J. Merrick and Adrian C. Spitters, it is written for business owners, farmers, landowners, affluent retirees and family wealth stewards examining the risks that can affect family wealth today and the decisions that may shape what reaches the next generation.
The goal is simple: to help you ask better questions, identify structural risks and make stronger decisions before pressure limits your choices.
PRIVATE INTRODUCTION
Request A Conversation
Speak with Peter J. Merrick about your estate, succession or cross-border planning needs. This introductory conversation is an opportunity to discuss your priorities, ask questions and explore how he may help.
Schedule an Introduction
A private conversation with Peter J. Merrick, TEP®
Confidential • 30 minutes • No obligation
Peter J. Merrick
Cross-Border, Estate and Insurance Planning
Peter J. Merrick provides estate, succession, cross-border and insurance planning only in the applicable disclosed capacity and jurisdiction.
Insurance Advice
Insurance Processing
Insurance business is submitted and processed through MAX Financial Ltd. and applicable insurers.
Investment & Portfolio Relationships
Securities Advice
Peter J. Merrick’s role in any Axcess Capital Advisors Inc. relationship is referral-only. He is not an Axcess Dealing Representative and does not provide registration-dependent securities advice. Any securities or portfolio-management services are provided by the responsible registered person or independent portfolio manager under separate agreements.
Relationship Disclosure Information
Referral Relationship
Precious Metals Referrals
Direct precious-metals introductions may be made through Peter J. Merrick to New World Precious Metals under a separately disclosed referral arrangement.
Legal, Privacy & Disclosures
Independent Professional Relationships
PFC Wealth Solutions™ and Peter J. Merrick are separate professional practices. Each is responsible for its own services, agreements and applicable disclosures.
© 2026 Peter J. Merrick. All rights reserved.