Life Insurance and Living Benefits

While I am accustomed to speaking on stage at industry functions, my experience as a professional speaker is as unique as my fingerprint. While the audience size may be as small as twenty or as large as a few thousand, something will stand out in every presentation that will give me that “ this is why I’m here ” feeling. I often tell my “Life Support” story when I am at conferences.  “Life Support” is the story outlining the lessons I learned after waking from a coma.  I was put into a coma because a life threatening virus was coursing through my veins, and systematically shutting down my kidneys and then my liver.  In addition to my kidney and liver shutting down, a heart infection followed, coupled with double Pneumonia. “Life Support” was not only the medical equipment keeping me alive, but it also became a term synonymous with all the support created through the fabric of our lives.  When I tell my “Life Support” story the audience feels the...

Life insurance is generally purchased to provide tax free cash exactly when needed; for example: income replacement, debt elimination, mortgage cancellation, education costs, or simply maintaining life style for survivors. While people purchase a life insurance policy for one reason, the reason they continue to hold onto the policy may be for something completely different. For example, you might buy a policy to pay off the mortgage if you die prematurely, but after the mortgage has been paid, one might keep the policy to leave the grandchildren something for education. But then comes retirement. We will often see clients come into the office and say “we are retiring and don’t need the policy any longer.” In fact, we also find that others have suggested cancelling the policy because “the kids are self-sufficient and don’t need it”. On the contrary, there are many different reasons people either hold on to their insurance or even buy additional insurance as they retire. H...

There are some things that you should just try to avoid at all costs. For one: Brussels sprouts, those little cabbage looking things that your mother told you to eat, and supposedly are good for you. Fiber and protein are good, however it’s that funny texture and odd aroma that gets me. Too bad some retirement investments didn’t come with an odd smell that would ward off unsuspecting baby boomers. I’m referring in particular to one aspect of a Mutual Fund which most investors are simply unaware… Your Estate . The question that you should ask is “If I predecease my spouse, what path will the proceeds in my RRSP “Mutual Fund” take?” The answer may surprise you, as it does most people. Let’s say you have a mutual fund and you use it as your retirement savings. You have named a beneficiary- say your husband or your wife. Let’s also say you are 60 years old, even though you look younger. At your death, the mutual fund becomes part of your estate regardless to whom you stated as your b...

As financial advisors, if we had a magic wand we could wave it over a family to provide the answer of  how much life insurance a family should own, when to buy it, and what type of coverage is the best; in reality, we don’t have such a wand, but we do have the answers to many questions. Life insurance is not as subjective as we think. We do know the answers to many of the questions already. We don’t know when we are going to die, but we do know eventually we will all pass away. In fact, this is what makes us different (in part) from the rest of the animal kingdom… humans know we are all going to die someday, monkeys don’t. Given this simple advantage, we have the opportunity to plan for the future.  Most people don’t know how they are going to die. Yet we do have the choice of how we are going to live. Good advice might be to live life every day and keep an eye out for the future… and plan not only for your future, but also for the future of those you love. Insuring y...

Summer is not officially over until September 21 st . However, “back to school” week is a sure sign of the fall! The fall is a busy time in our financial planning office, as people seem to use this time of year to tidy up many small items concerning everything financial. It might also be a good time of year for you to do the same, especially if you aren’t in this “fall time” habit. Many people have a list of items to refer to when it comes time for financial clean up. Here is a typical list: ·          Update beneficiaries on your insurance policies’ if required. ·          Increase your disability coverage if your income has increased. ·          Review your RRSP investments against your current Risk Tolerance questionnaire. ·          Top up your Tax Free Savings Account ·     ...

My grandfather owned a bakery and he referred to a box of 15 donuts as a baker’s dozen.  When it comes to life insurance in Canada, I guess the same holds true. When looking at the premium for $225,000 for a female non- smoker at age 30 with 10-year term insurance, the premium was $18.83 per month with a common carrier. However, for the same person, we increased the benefit to $250,000 and the premium decreased to $12.60 per month.   That’s a 32% decrease in premium with an increase of 11% in coverage.  For a male of the same age, for $225,000 of 10-year term insurance, the monthly premium was $23.69 per month and the $250,000 premium was $16.65 per month. My grandfather would have been proud. The economies of scale are working on your side here! To learn other ways to save on your insurance, contact corry@maritimeweatlh.com 902-444-7000 Please like, share and comment on my newest post!

Once upon a time, a million dollars was a large sum of money. If you had it, you were a millionaire, and everyone was jealous. Today the question is often asked: “if you won a million dollars, would you quit work?” Well the answer depends on several factors like your age, your need for money, and even your health. To answer the question how long would one million dollars last, let’s look at it this way: How long will $1,000,000 produce an income for you before it runs out? Let’s say you needed to take $60,000 as an annual income to spend. Let’s also say that you wanted to increase that $60,000 by 2% per year just to keep up to inflation. To run the numbers, we would assume you wanted to invest your $1,000,000 in a relatively secure place. The rate of interest would be around 1.5% if you wanted a guaranteed return, or maybe a 5% return if you wanted to assume some risk. For argument sake, let’s give you 3.5% over time, and income tax at about 25%. With the above parameters, you...

A fact of life is that people do get sick.   While disability insurance is a financial product used to replace an income for a working spouse, a non-employed or stay at home mom or dad does not qualify for disability income protection. This is when a Critical Illness policy can add value.  Aside from medical expenses, child care expenses or medical related travel costs, the working spouse often suffers an income loss when their spouse suffers an illness. Critical Illness coverage can provide a tax-free lump sum payment to help the family financially, and premiums are more affordable than one might think. For example, a non-smoking 30 year-old stay at home mom or dad can purchase a $100,000 policy covering over 25 illnesses for about $30 per month. In comparison, Halifax Metro Transit charges $78 per month for a bus pass, and cable TV and internet cost over $150 per month for a basic plan. A Critical Illness policy offers peace of mind, so you can recover with fa...

If your site and its posts are not easily scannable, you run the risk of losing your reader to another blog. 1. Jot it Down Similarly to Glen I tend to jot down a lot of ideas in my ‘Dream Notes’. I use a Moleskine notebook and Text Files on my desktop (it’s a little chaotic). In my notes I have hundreds of post ideas, half-finished thoughts, ideas for series of posts, possible case studies etc. A lot of it wouldn’t make sense to anyone else but it’s where many good ideas emerge from. 2. Review it Periodically I get my musings and dream notes out to see what might emerge from them. Sometimes I directly take an idea and develop it from the notes I’ve taken (many of my list posts come almost directly from my dream notes which I’ve written down as a list of headings.) 3. Mashup What I especially like about this chaotic little collection of ideas are the points of intersection between ideas. Often an idea by itself is weak; but when I combine it with something else I’ve ...

Good bloggers keep this in mind as they write and will employ a variety of techniques to make their posts visually appealing to read. Some of these techniques include: Lists – Anecdotal evidence here at ProBlogger suggests that posts with bullet point lists in them get linked to ALOT more than similar length posts written in an essay style. Formatting – Use bold, CAPITALS, italics, underlining and teletext to emphasize points. Don’t go overboard as you run the risk of frustrating your reader. Also consider changing font size, color and style to draw your readers eyes to your main points. Headings and Sub Headings – Large, Bold words that act as visual cues of what is happening in the content are effective ways of drawing readers further into articles. Pictures – Research shows that readers eyes are drawn down the page by pictures. Place them cleverly by your key points (especially when they closely relate to the content) and will you have more of a chance of gettin...

W hen we were kids, it was O.K. to be sick. You got to stay home, you were fed ice cream and Popsicle's and the best thing was, you didn't have to go to school. Now the meaning of being sick has changed, now that we are grown-ups we don’t want to be sick. Being ill for the most part scares many people, especially when it comes to long term illnesses. Long term can be defined as the inability to do your job for 90 days or more. According to disability insurance carriers in Canada; if an individual is sick or hurt enough to be out for 90 days, statistics show that you will remain off work for 2-3 year depending on your age at the start of the disability. Protecting one’s self in the event of a disability is a basic financial strategy, yet financial planners often hear the expression “I’m insurance poor”, “I can’t afford the premiums”, or “It’s too expensive”. This is not a new adage either. Found in my desk drawer I keep a booklet first printed in 1920. The client object...

Y ou bought your home from an agent you trust, you qualified for the Mortgage because of good credit, you shopped for a great mortgage rate to save money, and when it came to the mortgage insurance, you simply signed on the dotted line without asking “Is this a good deal?”. Most people want to get life insurance when they buy a home, but are often too excited about the new house that they forget to ask any questions about the insurance. How many times have I heard, “I didn’t want to blow the deal, so I just signed”, or “the banker just told me to sign the document, so I did”. It’s not too late to look around, and yes , you can cancel the bank insurance if you want . Mortgage insurance at the bank is often very expensive for what you get. Here are 7 things about Bank Insurance you should know: 1. Money: Bank insurance is often very expensive when compared to a private policy. 2. Coverage: Bank insurance is tied to the mortgage, so if you pay off or reduce your mor...

There are no secrets to success, besides hard work. Nevertheless, one thing I have found to be fruitful and comes close to being a “secret to success” is this… “Do something every day that has the potential to earn $1,000.” Our lives and work keep us so busy that we sometimes don’t do the things we know make us successful. We talk on the phone too much, we spend too much time on the internet, we respond to emails as if a response is needed in 30 seconds or our computer will explode and we often spend too much time at the water cooler. In addition, we let the business run us, rather than us running the business.   So, if we were to change one thing that would make a long term impact towards our success; what would it be? At the end of the day, we need to take an inventory of what we have actually accomplished. Did we do all the right things? Did our “to do” list actually get smaller? Did all the important things get done? Did you do something that had the potential to ...

Every industry has its own jargon and acronyms which confuse the average person. The Life Insurance business is no less guilty when it comes to special terms and phrases. The intent of this blog is to provide some answers to some of the most commonly misunderstood insurance terms. Every policy, and every company has its own contractual definitions and you should check with your carrier for accurate meanings. The following definitions are being defined for general understanding: Death Benefit : The sum of money that will be paid at the death of a life insured. Beneficiary :  The person(s), company, or estate that the death benefit will be paid to; following the death of the life insured. Waiver of Premium : This is where the premiums for the insurance policy are paid by the insurance company if the life insured or the policy owner is disabled or dies. Guaranteed Insurance Benefit : This benefit is a contractual provision which allows the life insured to ...

For the past 10 years in Canada, we have all heard about Critical Illness Insurance ; yet the average person does not understand how Critical Illness Insurance works. We know that life insurance pays if you die, and that disability insurance pays if you become disabled; but what about the in between stage where you are diagnosed but you aren’t sick enough to be disabled, and you don’t die either? The financial cost of being sick is staggering . Drug coverage by group plans and by the government is limited and living in Canada has now become known as winning the postal code lottery. We all know someone (maybe even in your own family) that has had a heart attack, stroke or cancer.  Having a critical illness can change your life forever. Finances may never recover, and having a critical illness is often the root of marital breakdown.  Even for young adults, a sickness may ruin your finances, and moving home with your parents when you are sick is often not in the card...

Sometimes the need for insurance coverage reaches far beyond the need for insurance which arises when you want to cover the payment of a bank loan, or a mortgage. In some cases, the need for insurance is permanent. In other words, your need for coverage will last your entire life.   As such, an insurance solution would involve a “permanent” insurance product where the premium is affordable over a long period of time. Permanent needs are often considered to be things like: ·          Funds to pay income tax, which are triggered at death. ·          To pay the capital gain on a family cottage at death. ·          Sometimes cash is needed at death to even the distribution of asset payments to the family where otherwise selling property or a business might decrease its value. ·          A permanent policy may help ...

In 1985, I sold computers for a living. The Compaq portable was a featherweight at 28 pounds.  The industry has grown up so much in the past 30 years. What surprises me is that with all the technology around us, many people don’t take full advantage of ways to improve how their office functions. In this blog, we focus on 7 ways to make your office more efficient with a little technology: Voice mail to email Electronic files/scanning CRM software Remote access to computer Online client survey Online visibility Electronic presentations Everyone has voice mail on the office phone.  However, there is a relatively new technology called Voice mail to email that has come out and it is very useful. Imagine you are away from the office (even on the golf course), and you miss a phone message from a client you were not expecting to hear from. A moment later, you are alerted by your iPhone that you have a new email. When you look at the screen, you see that it ...

So you are educated, degree in hand and your cap is flying through the air as classmates smile for the camera and high fives are the order for the day. Some of you have jobs lined up; some still have a few interviews to go. What is in common with most is the unsure “next steps” in your new personal financial   world. You are flying the coop, and need to sort a few things out. So here is a list of   things you will want to consider as you begin to grow financially. 1. Make a budget and watch it . “You can't manage what you don't measure” is an old management adage that you need to turn into a habit. Unless you measure something, you don't know if it is getting better or worse. This sounds like basic advice, however when it comes to money, it’s a foundation. As you grow, the edges of your budget will want to be elastic, so you need not carve it in stone; however, be aware of where your money is going. Note you will modify and increase your budget with expansion of in...