Blog – Page 6 – FB Financial & Associates

Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivered the government’s 2017 federal budget on March 22, 2017. The budget expects a deficit of $23 billion for fiscal 2016-2017 and forecasts a deficit of $28.5 billion for 2017-2018. Learn what the budget means for small business owners.

Firth Bateman Mar 30, 2017 2017, Budget, Corporate Income Tax

Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivered the government’s 2017 federal budget on March 22, 2017. The budget expects a deficit of $23 billion for fiscal 2016-2017 and forecasts a deficit of $28.5 billion for 2017-2018. Find out what this means for businesses.

Small Business

No changes to income tax rates
No changes to capital gains inclusion rate

Tax Planning using private companies

While no specific measures are mentioned, the government will review the use of tax planning strategies involving private corporations “that inappropriately reduce personal taxes of high-income earners.” including:

Income Splitting: Reducing taxes by income splitting with family members who are subject to lower personal tax rates.
Regular income to Capital Gains: Converting income to capital gains (instead of income being taxed as dividends)
Passive income inside Corporation: Since corporate income tax rates are generally lower than personal tax rates, this strategy can facilitate the accumulation of earnings by owners of private corporations.

For Professionals

The government eliminated a tax deferral opportunity for certain professionals. Accountants, dentists, lawyers, medical doctors, veterinarians and chiropractors will no longer be able to elect to exclude the value of work in progress in computing their income. This will be phased-in over two taxation years, starting with taxation years that begin after this budget.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivered the government’s 2017 federal budget on March 22, 2017. The budget expects a deficit of $23 billion for fiscal 2016-2017 and forecasts a deficit of $28.5 billion for 2017-2018. Learn what the budget means for families.

Firth Bateman Mar 30, 2017 2017, Budget, Personal Income Tax

Key points for families

Childcare: The funding could serve to create more affordable childcare spaces for low-income families

Parental leave: Extending parental leave and benefits to 18 months, Parents who choose to stay at home longer, however, will have to make do with a lower Employment Insurance (EI) benefit rate of 33 per cent of their average weekly earnings, instead of the current rate of 55 per cent

Caregiver benefit: Introduce a new caregiver benefit that’s meant to help families copy with illnesses and injuries.

Parents who go to school: Single, higher federal income threshold for part-time students to receive Canada Student Grants. Grants don’t have to be repaid.

Foreign Nannies: Waiving a $1,000 processing fee required to obtain a work permit.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Protecting Your Family

Firth Bateman Mar 1, 2017

Let’s face it, raising a family today can be financially challenging. The cost of living continues to increase, housing costs are rising along with education and extra-curricular activities for our children. It is tough to make ends meet and still have something left over at the end of each month.

Most families today require both parents to work to afford the lifestyle they enjoy. Losing one of those incomes through premature death, illness or a disability is a real risk that many families would have a difficult time facing emotionally and financially.

How do you protect your family?

Life insurance is designed to protect your family by providing the resource to replace income, pay off debt, and fund future education costs in the event that one of the parents dies.
Disability, or income replacement insurance, is designed to replace lost income if an individual is not able to work due to accident or sickness.
Critical Illness insurance will pay a lump sum benefit in the event of a diagnosis of many major illnesses.

If you and your spouse work for a company that provides employee benefits, you may already be insured for both life and disability insurance and in some cases critical illness. Be aware that for the most part, employee benefit programs provide only a minimum amount of life insurance, usually based on one or two years of income. If long term disability coverage is provided it may be enough for personal needs but that is not always the case. Each situation is different, so it’s important that you and your spouse review your respective plan information to ensure that you have sufficient coverage in place. There are options to top up your coverage either through your group insurance or individually.

How much life insurance do you need?

If you or your spouse dies, the family will require a lump sum of capital to replace earned income. You should aim to have enough cash for the following needs:

insurance to pay off any outstanding debts and mortgages
enough income from the invested capital to replace the lost income
an amount to cover future education costs

Think life insurance premiums are too expensive?

Term insurance is an affordable solution for a growing family with a tight budget. A 35-year-old non-smoking male can purchase $1,000,000 of ten-year renewable term insurance for less than $45.00 per month. A non-smoking female of the same age would pay approximately $30.00 per month for the same coverage. A relatively small cost to protect a family for $2,000,000 of tax free benefit in the event of an untimely death.

Let’s have a discussion about how we can build a program of protection specifically designed for your needs and circumstances. Knowing what the needs are and what protection is in place goes a long way to providing peace of mind.

BC Finance Minister, Michael de Jong delivered the province's 2017 budget on Feb. 21, 2017. Learn what the budget means for small business owners and individuals.

Firth Bateman Feb 23, 2017 2017, Budget, Corporate Income Tax, Medical Services Plan Premiums, Personal Income Tax, Tax Credit

BC Finance Minister Michael de Jong delivered the province’s 2017 budget on Feb. 21, 2017. The budget anticipates a surplus of $295 million for the current year, $244 million in 2018-2019 and $223 million in 2019-2020.

Corporate Income Tax Measures

Reduction in Corporate income Tax Rate from 2.5% to 2.0% effective April 1, 2017

Corporate Income Tax Rates- As of January 1, 2017
	British Columbia	Combined Federal & BC
General	11%	28%
M&P	11%	26%
Small Business*	2.5%/2.0%**	13.0%/12.5%**
on first $500,000 of active business income *effective April 1, 2017

Personal

Increase in the personal tax rate from 40.61% to 40.95% for ineligible dividends effective January 1, 2017.

Personal Combined Federal/Provincial Top Marginal Rates
	2017
Interest and regular income	47.70%
Capital gains	23.85%
Eligible dividends	31.30%
Non-eligible dividends	40.95%

Medical Services Plan Premiums: Rate will remain at $75/month/adult. Effective Jan 1, 2018: 50% MSP premium reduction for households with annual net incomes up to $120,000.

Firefighter & Search & Rescue Volunteer Tax Credit: Non-refundable tax credit of up to $3,000 for 2017.

Back to School Tax Credit: Non-refundable tax credit of $250 per child (ages 5 to 17) for 2016 to 2018. Effective Jan 1, 2018, the education tax credit will be eliminated.

Electricity- Provincial Sales Tax Act: Effective Oct 1, 2017, the tax rate is reduced to 3.5% of the purchase price.

Property transfer tax: For first time home buyers to save property transfer tax on the purchase of their property the partial exemption has been increased to $500,000 from $475,000.

Thinking of Cancelling Your Life Insurance?

Firth Bateman Feb 1, 2017

Have you found yourself wondering if you really need that life insurance policy you pay for every month? You are not alone.

As time goes on we often forget the reasons behind purchasing the amount and type of coverage we did. For this reason it is advisable to have regular reviews to make sure you are adequately protected.

Perhaps you are having trouble making ends meet and are looking to trim expenses. Maybe you simply don’t think you need it because the kids are getting older and your obligations to them have diminished. Some may feel that they have enough assets accumulated that insurance is no longer necessary and even a waste of money. Before you make the decision to cancel your life insurance policy, consider these compelling reasons to keep it.

Can no longer afford the premiums?

The most common reason people cancel their insurance is affordability. In times of financial stress many people start eliminating unnecessary expenses. Consider this – if you think you are having trouble making the life insurance payments each month now, think how difficult it will be on your family if you were to die prematurely, without it.

Will your family be able to pay the necessary living expenses such as; housing, food, transportation and education without your salary?

In times of financial instability, make insurance the last thing to go, not the first. Think of switching to a lower cost plan such as term insurance to get you over the hump. You have to qualify medically to make this change but if you find yourself uninsurable, this is definitely not the time to consider getting rid of it.

So when it comes to trimming expenses, perhaps get another year out of your cell phone, skip dinner out once a month or even take the drastic step of skipping your morning Starbucks. You will sleep better at night knowing your family is protected.

Don’t feel you still have a need?

Are there any lingering debts, unpaid taxes, mortgages or outstanding loans that should be paid off should you die prematurely? The last thing you would probably want to do is to leave your family the financial burden of your unpaid debts.

Or perhaps, your parents are still living and are somewhat dependent on you for financial support. Who would be responsible for them should you die and would there be enough resources?

Your children may have left home to start their lives but the unforeseen does happen and they may return as members of the boomerang generation. Should that happen, and you find yourself with financially dependent children living at home once again, you may want to consider keeping or reducing the insurance to an amount that matches your new requirements.

Will your estate require liquidity when you die?

Even the wealthy may have a need for liquidity in their estate. Often, there may be taxes arising from capital gains, recaptured depreciation, administrative fees and last expenses. Assets may need to be liquidated in order to pay some of these costs but that may take time, or it may not be the right time to sell those assets. Life insurance is the most cost effective way to provide this needed liquidity allowing families to make decisions to sell assets if and when the time is right

Do you want to leave a legacy?

Life insurance has long been a method for charitable minded individuals to leave a legacy to a charity or institution of their choice. Not only does this benefit the recipient but it provides a tax deduction in the amount of the gift to benefit the estate.

What about the adult children?

There is no doubt about it, the next generation are having a lot harder time financially today than at any other time. Rising house prices and education costs not to mention today’s cost of living make it necessary for adult children to depend more on their parents than previous generations.

If you are not in a position to leave a large inheritance to your children, life insurance can certainly be the answer. While continuing to pay the premiums may not be life changing for you, the insurance proceeds when received may certainly be life changing for them. This generosity will likely help your grandchildren be raised and educated at a higher standard than their own parents could reasonably afford.

If you can’t afford the policy yourself as you head into retirement, perhaps your children would be in a position to take over the premiums. It’s important to include your adult children in these discussions as you enter your retirement years.

What about survivor benefits in retirement?

If you and your spouse are soon to retire or have retired already, you understand the risks in outliving your income. Backing up your retirement nest egg with life insurance to protect a surviving spouse is one way to manage risk in retirement when safe investments are yielding lower returns.

Do you have the right type of Life Insurance?

If your renewable term insurance coverage is up for renewal, the substantial premium increase may be causing you to rethink the need for insurance. Renewable term insurance does renew at increasingly higher premiums and will ultimately expire at age 80 or 85. It may be time to consider changing or converting some of your life coverage to a permanent form of insurance that has a level premium for life.

As you can see there are many reasons to keep your insurance for your lifetime. Let’s have a chat to determine if you have the coverage that makes sense for your family’s needs or if some adjustments to amounts or insurance plan are necessary at this time.

As always, please feel free to share this information with anyone you think will benefit from it.

Boomer + Sandwich Generation + Club Sandwich + Boomerang = Financial Instability

Firth Bateman Jan 1, 2017

The Sandwich Generation was a term coined by Dorothy Miller in 1981 to describe adult children who were “sandwiched” between their aging parents and their own maturing children. There is even a term for those of us who are in our 50’s or 60’s with elderly parents, adult children and grandchildren – the Club Sandwich. More recently, the Boomerang Generation (the estimated 29% of adults ranging in ages 25 to 34, who live with their parents), are adding to the financial pressures as Boomers head into retirement. It is estimated that by 2026, 1 in 5 Canadians will be older than 65. This means fewer adults to both fund and provide for elder care. Today, it is likely that the average married couple will have more living parents than they do children.

What are the challenges?

The truth is that many members of the Sandwich Generation find the circumstances are both emotionally and financially draining. In the past, women have been looked upon to provide the primary care giving in the home while men take care of the income needs. Today, roles have changed with the majority of working age women employed outside of the home. As a result, financially, both parents are looked upon to provide for the family. For The Sandwich Generation helping their parents and their children at the same time, creates a stress that can affect both their mental and physical health.

Risk Management in the Sandwich Generation

Having an effective financial plan becomes key in dealing with the challenges. As the main breadwinner in this situation it is possible that three generations are dependent upon you. One of the first issues to be addressed then is how you protect your revenue stream.

5 Steps to Minimize risk for the Sandwich Generation

Have an open and clear discussion about family resources and needs – The older generation needs to have a discussion with their children so that everyone knows what steps have or have not been taken to provide for the senior’s care when they are no longer able to care for themselves. This would also be a good time to initiate or continue any talk about what liquidity needs exist for taxes, long term care, funeral costs and last expenses etc.

Complete a life insurance needs analysis – Where there is not sufficient capital to continue family and dependent’s income at the death of a breadwinner, life insurance can provide the necessary funds required to maintain lifestyle, pay debt, reduce mortgages, fund children’s education and provide money for aging parent’s care. Life insurance is an affordable way to guarantee future security.

Review your disability and critical illness coverage – If there is not sufficient income that will continue to be paid should you become unable to work due to sickness or accident, consider long term disability coverage. Critical illness insurance will provide needed capital in the event of diagnosis of a life threatening illness or condition. Not only will this provide financial support but will also improve your chances of recovery without the financial stress that often accompanies such a condition.

Investigate Long Term Care Insurance – Having the appropriate amount of LTC insurance will help to reduce the stress of having to care for a parent when they are no longer able to fully care for themselves. Consider having all the siblings share the cost.

Draft a Living Will or similar Representation Agreement – Making your wishes known to your loved ones in the event you are no longer capable of making medical decisions will go a long way to providing comfort to all concerned when difficult choices need to be made.

As you can see, being part of the Sandwich Generation can be very stressful – emotionally and financially. Having someone to talk to or being part of a support group dealing with this issue, will certainly help manage the emotional challenges. Sitting down with a financial advisor or estate planner will help you determine what strategies you may need to implement to provide the financial security your family needs.

Each year at Christmas we try to publish a newsletter that we distribute largely via e-mail, addressing a Christmas theme and some selected fiscal topics.

FB Financial Dec 19, 2016 Christmas, Holiday

Each year at Christmas we try to publish a newsletter that we distribute largely via e-mail, addressing a Christmas theme and some selected fiscal topics. For the “Christmas theme,” we usually try to include something written by someone – that, to me at least, reads in some inspiring, practical way that is associated with the season. We do this again this year, but we talk very little, this time, about the financial side of Christmas. The story that follows here touches ever so slightly on the issue of “refugees” – topical, I think, these days. Enjoy!

FB Newsletter

Cranberry Trifle Recipe- Yum!

See the recipe

There is nothing so certain as death and taxes...or so the saying goes. This certainly is true in Canada where there is a “deemed disposition” when a taxpayer dies. What this means is that a taxpayer is deemed to dispose of all his or her assets at fair market value immediately preceding death.

Firth Bateman Dec 1, 2016

Or so the saying goes. This certainly is true in Canada where there is a “deemed disposition” when a taxpayer dies. What this means is that a taxpayer is deemed to dispose of all his or her assets at fair market value immediately preceding death.

How does this affect your assets?

For certain assets (e.g. stock investments, company shares, revenue property, collectables), if the fair market value is greater than the adjusted cost base then capital gains will result.
Fifty percent of capital gains are included in the deceased taxpayer’s income.
Revenue property could also attract additional tax in the form of recaptured depreciation.

There are some exceptions

Assets which are left to a spouse will have the gain deferred until the spouse dies or disposes of the asset.
A principal residence is not subject to capital gains.
Shares that the deceased owned in a Qualifying Small Business Corporation may qualify for the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption where the first $800,000 of capital gain is exempt from taxation.

Registered Funds receive different tax treatment

RRSP, RRIF, TFSA and Pension Funds

A spouse who is left registered funds by her husband or his wife may roll those funds into his or her Registered Savings Plan or Retirement Income Fund and avoid paying income tax.
Registered funds left to anyone other than a spouse or qualifying disabled child are fully taxable as income. Some rules also apply to minor dependent children which involve spreading the tax by purchase of a qualifying annuity for 18 years less the age of the child at the time of acquiring the annuity.
Amounts paid to a beneficiary of a Tax Free Savings Account are not subject to income tax.

Other fees and costs

Funeral and other last expenses;
Probate fees;
Administrative costs and possibly legal fees.

Reduce or avoid the impact

Estate planning and life insurance solutions

Freezing the estate which has the effect of fixing the amount of tax payable on assets upon death and passing future growth to the next generation;

In conjunction with the above, the use of a family trust with the objective of multiplying the number of Lifetime Capital Gains Exemptions on shares in a Qualifying Small Business Corporation distributed to other family members.
The use of joint accounts. This strategy should be used with careful consideration and professional guidance.
Effective use of life insurance, both personally and corporately owned, which can provide sufficient liquidity at death to pay taxes with insurance proceeds rather than “hard dollars”. This can be especially true by using Joint Second-to-Die life insurance which will provide proceeds to pay the deferred tax upon the death of the surviving spouse.

While we often complain about the cost of living, the cost of dying can also be extremely high and could create significant problems for those we leave behind. With sound advice and planning the financial impact on your family and business partners can be softened and, sometimes, even eliminated.

Whether you are decades away from retirement or if it is just around the corner, being aware of the planning opportunities will take the fear and uncertainty out of this major life event.

Firth Bateman Nov 1, 2016

Whether you are decades away from retirement or if it is just around the corner, being aware of the planning opportunities will take the fear and uncertainty out of this major life event.

Blue sky your retirement plans to get clarity

As you approach retirement, preparation and planning become extremely important to help ensure that this period of your life will be as comfortable as possible. If you are like most, you have spent considerable time contemplating the type of retirement you wish for yourself.

Is extensive travel your dream?
Do you have an expensive hobby or two you want to take up?
Will you stop working totally or continue to do some work on your own terms using your life experience and skills to supplement your income.
Will you remain in your house or will you downsize to smaller, easier to care for premises? Or perhaps housing that will be more compatible with the challenges of aging?

There are many lifestyle issues that need to be considered but to realize these dreams you must also be really secure in retirement, so the financial issues must be planned for as well.

The big question – How much will I need to retire?

Recent studies reported that middle and upper middle class couples spend approximately $50,000 to $60,000 per year in retirement. If this seems a lot lower than what you and your spouse are spending now, it probably is. That is because most retirees no longer have the same level of expenses around housing, education and raising a family.

The average age for retirement in Canada for males is age 62 (females, age 61). At that age, normal life expectancy is another 22 years. Many financial advisors use a rule of thumb that says you will need a nest egg of approximately 25 times your post-retirement spending.

The average CPP retirement pension is approximately $7,600 per year or approximately $15,000 per married couple (if spouse qualifies for income at same rate). Assuming a 4% withdrawal rate and adjusted for inflation this means that a middle class couple would require a retirement fund of $875,000 to $1,125,000. If you do not qualify for or wish to ignore your government benefits you would require between $1,250,000 and $1,500,000. For those lucky enough to have participated in a company pension plan, you may already have sufficient retirement income.

8 Retirement planning tips

Review your sources of retirement income

Registered plans –including RRSP’s, corporate pension plans, TFSA’s
Government programs – CPP, QPP, OAS etc.
Non-registered investments – stocks, bonds, mutual and segregated funds, cash value life insurance, prescribed life annuities
Income producing real estate – including proceeds from the sale of principal residence if downsizing.

Eliminate or consolidate debt

Try to avoid carrying debt into retirement. If interest rates rise and your retirement income is limited or fixed your lifestyle could be negatively affected.

Understand your government benefits

Review what government programs you are eligible for.

Know your company pension plan

If you are a member of a company pension plan review your pension handbook or meet with the pension administrator to understand what options are available for you. This should include reviewing the spousal survivor options.

Reduce or eliminate investment risk

Consider reallocating your investment portfolio in contemplation of retirement to eliminate or reduce risk. You may want to shift away from primarily equities in an effort to provide more stable returns.

Protect your savings and income

Also consider effective risk management to avoid depleting assets in the case of a health emergency affecting yourself or a family member. There are many insurance options available to help you do this including Critical Illness, Long Term Care and Life Insurance.

Know your health benefits

Determine how you will maintain your dental care, prescription, and other extended health costs through retirement.

Review your estate planning strategy

Are you still on track or do modifications have to be made to wills, trusts, tax planning, Shareholder and other agreements?

Tax planning in retirement

Tax planning most likely was part of your investment strategy during your working years and you shouldn’t abandon that now just because you are retired. Tax planning is just as important as it was pre-retirement.

Pay attention to the following:

Mark your calendar for your 71^st birthday

By the end of the year you turn age 71, you must convert your RRSP’s into RRIF’s or annuities. There will be adverse consequences if you do not so be sure to take note.

Defer your taxable retirement income until age 71

Since your income from your RRIF or registered life annuity is fully taxable try to bridge your income from date of retirement to age 71 using non-registered funds. Your TFSA is a perfect vehicle to accomplish this so try to contribute the maximum (or exercise the catch up) for you and your spouse during your working years. Also, taking income from your segregated or mutual funds will also be an effective way of bridging your retirement income until age 71 at a very low tax rate.

RRSP contributions in year you turn 71

If you have unused RRSP contribution room you can make a lump sum contribution until December 31^st of the year you turn 71. Your resulting RRSP deduction can be carried forward indefinitely and will allow you to spread out the deduction over any number of years reducing the tax on your future retirement income.

Try to avoid any claw backs

Your objective should be to effectively reduce line 234 on your income tax return – total income. Paying attention to how your investment income is taxed will assist with this. For example, the type of investment income that creates the most total income on line 234 is dividend income which is adjusted for income purposes to between 125% and 138% of the dividend received. This compares with 50% for capital gains and approximately 15% or less for prescribed annuities.

Continue to obtain professional advice

Continue to work with your advisors to find ways for you to reduce your post retirement tax bill to allow you to keep more dollars in your wallet.

Planning for a healthy retirement both financially and physically will ensure that you can enjoy a long and well deserved retirement on your terms.

Critical Illness insurance was invented by Dr. Marius Barnard. Marius assisted his brother Dr. Christiaan Barnard in performing the first successful heart transplant in 1967 in South Africa. Through his years of dealing with cardiac patients, Marius observed that those patients that were better able to deal with the financial stress of their illness recovered more often and at much faster rate than those for whom money was an issue. He came to the conclusion that he, as a physician, could heal people, but only insurance companies could provide the necessary funds to create the environment that best promoted healing.

Firth Bateman Oct 1, 2016

Why a Doctor Invented Critical Illness Insurance

Critical Illness insurance was invented by Dr. Marius Barnard. Marius assisted his brother Dr. Christiaan Barnard in performing the first successful heart transplant in 1967 in South Africa. Through his years of dealing with cardiac patients, Marius observed that those patients that were better able to deal with the financial stress of their illness recovered more often and at much faster rate than those for whom money was an issue. He came to the conclusion that he, as a physician, could heal people, but only insurance companies could provide the necessary funds to create the environment that best promoted healing. As a result, he worked with South African insurance companies to issue the first critical illness policy in 1983.

Medical practitioners today will confirm what Dr. Barnard observed – the lower your stress levels the better the chances for your recovery. When one is ill with a serious illness, having one less thing to deal with, such as financial worry, can only be beneficial.

Your Life Could Change in a Minute!

Case Study A – Lawyer, Male 55

Tom was a successful lawyer with a thriving litigation practice. He had recently started his own firm and was recruiting associates to build the practice. He was a single father assisting his two adult children in their post-secondary education. Tom had always enjoyed good health, ate well, exercised regularly and was a competitive highly ranked (senior class) tennis player.

In 2006, at age 55, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In addition to the emotional angst and anger at receiving this diagnosis he also was concerned about the financial impact this illness could have on both his practice and his support of his children. Fortunately, five years earlier at the urging of his financial advisor he had purchased a critical illness policy.

Within weeks of his diagnosis Tom received a tax free benefit cheque for $250,000. He immediately called his advisor to tell him how elated he was that the advisor had overcome his initial objectives to purchasing the policy 5 years earlier. He went on to say that with having the financial stress alleviated he was certain he would be able to tackle the treatment and concentrate on recovery in a positive manner.

Today, Tom is cancer free, his practice is thriving, and his children are successfully working in professional practices.

Case Study B – Retired Business Owner, Female 52

Christina at age 52 was enjoying a good life that came partially from the sale of her business a few years before. Her investments were thriving and everything looked rosy. Then 2008 came along. As if the stock market crash was not enough, in December of 2008, Christina suffered a stroke. Fortunately, it was not a severe stroke. At first the doctors thought that it was actually a TIA as many of her symptons were minor. The next morning the MRI results confirmed that it was indeed a stroke and it had caused some minor brain damage.

Christina made a remarkable recovery and within a few short months was almost back to where she was before the stroke. If you didn’t know Christina you wouldn’t have any idea that she had even had one.

As a successful business owner and mother, Christina had always been a big believer in the advantages of owning critical illness insurance. At first, she had some concern that because her stroke was not that serious and she had recovered so quickly, that her claim might not qualify for payment. These fears turned out to be unfounded as days after the stroke she received claim cheques for $400,000.

During her recovery period, Christina was fearful of having another stroke which caused her some stress however, she is certain that not having any financial worries during this time aided in her almost total recovery.

These two case studies, although quite different in circumstances illustrate some key points about Critical Illness insurance:

A life threatening illness or condition can strike anyone regardless of age or health;
Financial security reduces stress which can assist in the recovery process;
You do not have to be disabled to be eligible for a Critical Illness benefit;
Although you need to be diagnosed with a life threatening illness, you do not have to be at “death’s door” in order to have your claim paid;
The benefits are paid tax free to the insured

Call me to see if critical illness is right for you or use the social sharing buttons below to share this article with a friend or family member you think might benefit from this information.