Insurance and Risk Management*

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Designing a plan to deal with uncontrollable events such as death, disability, critical illness and long term health is very important to both risk management and planning. Besides it's supply of funds when needed most, insurance has other characteristics that can bypass the estate and avoid probate fees and preserve confidentiality. Insurance allows you to be prepared for surprises and some inevitable expenses.

Life Insurance*

Term Life

Term insurance is the most common and economical type of insurance designed to cover the risk of premature death and can be ideal for both temporary circumstances like child rearing and life-long needs of families such as estate planning. Term insurance is normally purchased for a predetermined period of time, such as 10 or 20 years and is often associated with coverage for a mortgage.

An individual may have an insurance need that extends beyond the duration of their current term policy so review and implementation of the appropriate policy needs to be considered.

Whole Life

Whole life insurance provides lifetime protection for a level premium. Generally at any point in someone's life, insurance protection will be necessary. Obtaining an understanding of the need for longer term coverage is important. Whole life is a useful tool for those with long-range financial goals.

Universal Life

Universal life is a financial solution that combines life insurance and tax-advantaged investing. Universal life is one of the most flexible life insurance products that is available. Universal life is used for both personal and corporate use. This type of insurance is often used to support beneficiaries, pay tax liabilities, fund a buy-sell agreement, or provide a gift to a charity.

Living Benefits

Becoming disabled or suffering a critical illness are out of your control but can be planned for. Living benefit insurance is designed to manage the financial risk of disability, critical illness and long-term care. These types of insurance enable the person that has purchased the policy to collect the insurance while living. Ensuring that you have the necessary resources to deal with an uncontrollable event is a key component of all financial plans. Without this coverage many individuals are forced to sell their home and/or deplete their retirement savings prematurely.

Medical advances and drug therapy are enabling people to live considerably longer than ever before. People are more likely to survive conditions that, in the past, would have led to death. With proper planning people can potentially avoid long waiting lists, reducing their savings and assets, becoming a burden to their family and creating emotional hardship to those who care about you. Having a course of action to follow and the ability to fund a plan is a very key part of your financial plan.

Critical Illness (CI)

A critical illness is defined as the diagnosis of or the onset of a heart attack, cancer, stroke and a broad variety of degenerative conditions and illness. The chances are that approximately 1 in three people will be diagnosed with a critical illness by the time they reach age 65. The incidence of critical illness has increased dramatically, so has the survival rate. The costs incurred by the survivors of these illnesses can be substantial and to cover such expenses, your only choices may be to use RRSPs/RRIFs, sell assets such as your house and settle for what treatment is available and when it is available.

Consider the following:

• How many people do you know that have had a heart attack, cancer or stroke, and survived?
• What were some of the worries they had to face?
• Would a tax free sum of money have assisted them in terms of faster treatment, faster recovery, less worry and less stress?

Long Term Care (LTC)

Long term care generally deals with providing non acute nursing assistance to those who are restricted or prevented from being able to live independently due to ongoing conditions or cognitive impairment. Long term care may take place in the home or in a care facility. Most long term care will take place in private homes, rather than nursing homes and the majority of the costs will be paid by families. Do you have the financial resources to pay for theses costs?

Disability Insurance

Disability insurance can provide protection during disability and is designed to replace earnings for individuals who are working. Some employees have disability insurance coverage through their employer, but these plans are limited and should be reviewed to ensure the policy covers the potential needs of a disabled worker. Will your lifestyle sustain itself without your employment income?

*Offered through Canaccord Estate Planning Services Ltd.