FAQ

How much life insurance do I need?

There is no standard amount that is right for everyone. The appropriate level of coverage depends on your family, income, assets, debts, financial commitments, and long-term goals. We take the time to understand your circumstances and help determine an amount and type of coverage that is appropriate for your needs.

The appropriate ownership structure depends on your personal, corporate, tax, and estate planning objectives. For some business owners, corporate ownership may create opportunities for estate liquidity, tax planning, and wealth transfer. In other situations, personal ownership may be more appropriate. We can help you evaluate the alternatives and work with your accountant and other professional advisors to determine the structure that best fits your overall plan.

Corporate-owned life insurance is a policy owned by a corporation and can be an important component of a broader corporate tax and wealth planning strategy. Corporate funds may be used to pay premiums, while the cash value of a properly structured permanent policy can grow on a tax-deferred basis within the policy. Life insurance proceeds received by the corporation may also create a Capital Dividend Account (CDA) credit, potentially allowing amounts to be distributed to shareholders as tax-free capital dividends, subject to applicable rules.

Whether corporate-owned insurance is appropriate depends on the company’s financial position, the owner’s objectives, and the broader tax and estate plan. We can help you determine whether it makes sense in your particular circumstances.

The Capital Dividend Account (CDA) is a notional corporate tax account that tracks certain tax-free amounts available to a corporation. One potential source of CDA credits is the non-taxable portion of life insurance proceeds received by a corporation following the death of an insured person.

A properly structured corporate-owned insurance strategy may therefore create an opportunity to distribute insurance proceeds to shareholders as tax-free capital dividends, subject to the applicable rules. We can work with your professional advisors to determine whether CDA planning is relevant to your situation.

It can. Taxes arising at death can create significant liquidity requirements for an estate, particularly where a family owns a business, investment portfolio, real estate, or other valuable assets.

Life insurance may provide liquidity to help meet these obligations without requiring assets to be sold at an unfavourable time. We can help assess whether insurance should form part of your estate and tax planning strategy.

Critical illness insurance can provide a lump-sum benefit if you are diagnosed with a covered illness and meet the policy requirements. The funds can generally be used as you choose, including replacing income, covering additional expenses, accessing treatment, or providing financial flexibility during recovery.

Whether this type of protection is appropriate depends on your financial resources, existing coverage, family circumstances, and ability to manage the financial impact of a serious illness.

Segregated funds may be appropriate for some investors as part of a broader retirement and estate plan. Depending on the contract, they may combine investment opportunities with insurance-based features such as maturity and death benefit guarantees, as well as potential estate planning and creditor protection benefits in certain circumstances.

We can help you evaluate whether these features provide meaningful benefits for your particular retirement and estate planning objectives.

Your ability to obtain insurance can change as your health and circumstances change. Depending on the policy, certain conversion or other contractual options may provide additional flexibility if your needs change.

We can help you consider not only what coverage you need today, but also how your insurance strategy may provide flexibility as your circumstances evolve.

An annuity converts a lump sum into a stream of income that can be paid for a specified period or, depending on the type of annuity, for the remainder of your lifetime.

Annuities can provide greater certainty in retirement and help manage the risk of outliving your savings. We can help you determine whether an annuity fits within your overall retirement income strategy and how much, if any, of your assets may be appropriate to allocate toward guaranteed income.

The right solution is not necessarily the same for every client. As an independent insurance broker, we can consider solutions from multiple insurance providers and help you compare the options available.

More importantly, we begin with your circumstances and objectives rather than a particular product. We take the time to understand what you are trying to accomplish and help determine whether insurance or another strategy is appropriate.

Where appropriate, we can also work alongside your accountant, lawyer, investment advisor, and other professional advisors so that your insurance strategy complements your broader financial, tax, and estate plan.