Articles

Estate Protection for your Client

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Your client has worked hard all of their life. They’ve accumulated some assets, perhaps even more than they will need for a secure and comfortable retirement. However, the ownership of some of these assets will result in a tax liability upon your client’s or their spouse’s death. As an Advisor, you have both the knowhow and the tools to not only assess your client’s assets, but also guide them in protecting their estate and ensuring that their hard-earned dollars go directly to their loved ones. Continue reading “Estate Protection for your Client” →

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Protecting Your Estate

A Convo with your Client about the Death Benefit Guarantee in Seg Funds

Segregated funds have several uses as a financial planning tool, primarily in the area of estate planning. As you may know, segregated funds (or seg funds for short) combine the features of a mutual fund with elements of an insurance contract. One of those insurance elements is the death benefit guarantee, which ensures that a specific percentage of the value of your client’s investment pays directly to their beneficiaries at the time of death. This death benefit payment may even bypass probate, which streamlines the process of estate settlement and makes it easier for your client to pass investment assets on to those they love. Seg funds must provide at least a 75% death benefit guarantee, but the guarantee can be up to 100%.

The death benefit guarantee also adds a level of security that is not available in a mutual fund. This can be increasingly powerful for clients who are in retirement or approaching retirement – it allows them to participate in funds with potentially higher returns than guaranteed options such as GICs. The death benefit guarantee forms a “safety net” that provides an element of protection against market risk in these funds. Continue reading “A Convo with your Client about the Death Benefit Guarantee in Seg Funds” →

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Segregated Funds and the Death Benefit Guarantee

When Health Conditions Make Insurance Hard to Come By

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Clients with one or more of the following conditions will face challenges when applying for traditional insurance. Their coverage may be rated, postponed or declined altogether:

  • Change in prescription medication
  • Depression and/or anxiety
  • Diabetes
  • Heart condition
  • Family history of illness
  • Pending tests
  • Heavy marijuana use or recreational drug use
  • DUIs, including subpar driving history
  • Previous cancer diagnosis
  • Previously declined/postponed for insurance

There are simple steps you can take to help your client. First, you can check out PPI’s online resource Know the Risk, or KTR (login required) to understand how these conditions may be underwritten. The KTR Ratings Guide has dozens of conditions, which launch tables showing related insurability for life and critical illness insurance including DI guides for select impairments. Your client may have more options that you think! Continue reading “When Health Conditions Make Insurance Hard to Come By” →

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You Have More Insurance Options Than You Think

Protecting Your Client’s Digital Assets

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As an Advisor, you not only need to know what a digital asset is, you also need to ensure that your client has all the information they need to make the right decisions about their digital assets. So, what exactly is a digital asset? Well, these types of assets can range from travel rewards, digital photos, web domains to crypto assets. And while some may have financial value and a possible tax liability on death, many just have personal and sentimental value for your client. Clients often have an inventory of the physical assets they own and have given some thought as to what happens to these assets on their death. For those physical assets that might not be in the “inventory”, the executor of the estate can locate them by looking in the deceased’s house and in paper files. Sounds pretty simple. But how would the executor know where to find the digital assets of the deceased? Not as easy! And in a world full of passwords and Terms of Service Agreements, even if the executor knew where to look, they may not be able to access them – yup, passwords!

Continue reading “Protecting Your Client’s Digital Assets” →

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Protecting Your Digital Assets

Making Your Client’s Retirement Simple with RRIFs and LIFs

If your client is looking to retire soon, facing the prospect of retirement can be both exciting and stressful for them. Thank goodness you are here to help! Let’s have a look at the basics of retirement withdrawal products including RRIFs and LIFs, so you can help your client retire with ease. Continue reading “Making Your Client’s Retirement Simple with RRIFs and LIFs” →

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Making Your Retirement Easy Breezy with RRIFs and LIFs

Turn Your Clients into CDA Wizards

Many of your clients run their own businesses, but likely many of them are overwhelmed with the many different tax concepts involved, and how they can structure their business most effectively. An important concept for them to master in order to understand how to structure shareholders agreements and the value of corporate-owned insurance is the CDA or Capital Dividend Account. Continue reading “Turn Your Clients into CDA Wizards” →

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What’s in Your Capital Dividend Account?

A Conversation with Your Client about Robo-Advisors

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Recently, WealthBar changed their business name to CI Direct Investing – exciting news! Rebranding aside, they continue to be an excellent option for your client when it comes to efficient, low-cost portfolio management.

The next time you need to speak with a client about robo-investing, you can relax, because we’ve got all the right answers for you. Here is what a typical conversation with your client might look like. Continue reading “A Conversation with Your Client about Robo-Advisors” →

Segregated Funds and What They Mean for your Client

The seg-fund space has evolved considerably in recent years and where all types of equity, fixed income and balanced mandates used to only exist as a mutual fund, they now have an analogue in the segregated fund realm as well. Using a segregated fund as an investment vehicle opens the door to a host of features for your client and offers them protection throughout their life and beyond. Most of these features are unique to insurance-based investment products and may not be available through traditional investments like a GIC or mutual fund. So what are some of these great features of a segregated fund? Continue reading “Segregated Funds and What They Mean for your Client” →

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Your Segue into Segregated Funds

Can the CRA Seize Your Client’s Life Insurance Proceeds to Satisfy Tax Debt?

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is granted certain powers under the Income Tax Act (known as the “Act”) to satisfy an individual’s tax debts out of property that he or she transferred to a non-arm’s length person, such as a spouse, child or sibling. Where these rules apply, the recipient of the property is jointly and severally liable with the deceased for the tax debts (to a maximum of the fair market value of the transferred property). Continue reading “Can the CRA Seize Your Client’s Life Insurance Proceeds to Satisfy Tax Debt?” →

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Can the CRA Seize Life Insurance Proceeds to Satisfy Tax Debts?

Tailoring the Perfect Fit for Your Clients

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As an Advisor, you know that recommending an insurance type and amount without needs-based planning is like a dentist performing a root canal without even looking inside their patient’s mouth – ouch!

We’ve discussed this type of planning in previous articles as a way to determine your client’s needs and risks in order to provide them with the right insurance – insurance that is tailored purposefully to fit their life. In this article, we would like to elaborate on the topic of needs-based planning by providing you with some assessment tips that will not only demonstrate your insurance expertise and reinforce your brand, but will continue to strengthen your client/advisor relationship. Let’s start by looking at the benefits of needs-based planning for you and your client. Continue reading “Tailoring the Perfect Fit for Your Clients” →