A Tale of Two Sisters - Powers of Attorney
Despite the fact that everyone knows the importance of having a current and up-to-date will and powers of attorney most people don’t think about their wills until the day before leaving on vacation. A recent survey of 544,000 Canadians with assets exceeding $1.5 Million reported that only 40% have a will and 80% of those wills are not up to date. Where do you fit?
In addition to the will, everyone needs to complete two (not just one) Powers of Attorney:
- Continuing Power of Attorney for Property - You name someone to make financial decisions for you, such as paying your bills, managing your investments, etc.
- Continuing Power of Attorney for Personal Care - You name someone to make personal care and health decisions such as where you live, what you eat or what medical care you will receive if you get sick or injured
RSPs Need Protection Too!
RSP season must be a delight for the people selling advertising. The ads pitching RSPs are everywhere, online and offline.
We are taught from an early age to save for retirement with annual (or more frequent) RSP contributions, but few people consider the tax consequences of simply getting their own money back. Hint: they have to pay income tax on all the withdrawals at their marginal tax rate. At death, providing there is no spousal roll-over, all contributions are taxed. That means $1M of RSP/RIF income would be subject to $460,000 of tax.
Aside from these ultimate tax liabilities, protecting retirement goals can be very difficult if certain life events occur. For example, what would happen if somebody suffers a heart attack or stroke or gets diagnosed with cancer?
W. Brett Wilson - the Dragon spoke!
Brett Wilson was the keynote speaker at a luncheon I recently attended in downtown Toronto. The event was hosted by Canoe Financial of which he is a principal. Do you remember Brett from Dragon’s Den? He was the mensch. (His personal website is refreshingly different and really interesting)
He shared his personal story and it turns out he is genuinely a self-made nice guy.
Brett’s advice to university students (and in all likelihood to us mature people J) resonated with me on 3 key messages:
Pssst...are you paying hidden finance charges on your insurance premiums?
Most people who pay monthly instalments for term life insurance, term or permanent critical illness insurance or long term care insurance don’t realize they are paying expensive financing charges of 8%+ for the “benefit” of paying monthly!
This does not apply to permanent universal life insurance but does apply to whole life insurance.
Consumers are accustomed to paying for their car insurance or home insurance on a monthly basis where the calculation is often a straightforward ‘annual premium divided by 12’.
Jack's Story - Part 2
Happy and HEALTHY 2013
Here’s an update to Jack’s Story, a post from November 19th .
Jack’s three children don’t get along at all. They live in different cities in the U.S. and Europe, with nothing in common but DNA. They are the very model of a dysfunctional family, unable to agree on anything, including the time of day.
Critical Illness Insurance....still a well-kept secret
“The cost of cancer can be devastating to Canadians, because the medications they often need to take at home can wipe out their life savings, said the Canadian Cancer Society.
I agree with them completely – Canadians desperately need that coverage asap.
Insurance for the UNinsurable
It’s no secret: the people who need insurance the most usually can’t get it.
There are many reasons for insurance underwriters to just say no: the applicant is too old, too short for their weight, has a poor personal or family health history, a criminal background, exotic travel, a passion for dangerous sports, etc.
It isn’t discrimination, just sensible business practice for the insurance companies who would obviously prefer to insure very healthy people in excellent shape with perfect genes who are least likely to get sick. They get to choose their risks, knowing they will lose money if they pay out too many claims.
What a coincidence...ANNUITIES are suddenly a hot topic!
As a member of the Estate Planning Council of Toronto I have the pleasure of sharing ideas and best practices with professional colleagues at our monthly meetings downtown. My personal highlight of the meeting last week was a presentation by Paul Goldstein, a living legend in the Canadian insurance industry.
Paul is a Holocaust survivor with a distinguished 46 year (forty six!) career, decorated frequently with numerous awards and recognition from insurance companies and peers: he is an innovator, educator and top producer. For more than 30 years Paul has consistently qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table's Top of the Table, a select group of less than 1% of all insurance advisors worldwide.
On a personal note…my own accolades… Paul has been my close friend, inspiration and personal mentor for several years. I often discuss the importance of mentors with advisors at my presentations and look forward to sharing with you the story how I pursued Paul and how we first met in a future blog post.
Lost and FOUND - Jack’s Story
Back in the early 1990s, when I was just getting started in my career, Jack was already a retired entrepreneur and senior citizen.
We met through a mutual acquaintance (my late mother of blessed memory), and soon became friends. Jack was an active widower with grown up children and grandchildren who didn’t live in Toronto.
I remember accompanying him to his bank branch where he introduced me to the bank manager. They added me to the approved list for access to his safety deposit in case something happened.
ROP RIP?
It’s no secret that I love Critical Illness Insurance (CI), and it continues to amaze me that most insurance advisors in Canada have NEVER sold a policy! In my professional opinion, any insurance advisor who isn’t telling clients about CI is negligent.
When illness strikes, having CI often means the difference between losing a mortgage and losing the family home. It happens all the time.
The statistics are scary - you’ve probably seen them - 1 out of 3 Canadians will get cancer (and that’s just one of about two dozen covered conditions)
Huge Changes
The life insurance industry in Canada is undergoing huge changes while attracting little mainstream news coverage.
RBC Insurance recently cancelled their distribution contracts with most of their Managing General Agencies (MGAs). They went from 83 MGAs to just 14.
Most Canadians are unaware of their ultimate tax liabilities
Most Canadians are unaware of their ultimate tax liabilities.
Does that include you?
Have you and your spouse been fortunate enough to accumulate substantial savings in RSPs? Did you roll your RSPs into a RIF? Did you know that 46% of those hard-earned retirement savings will be taxed on the second death of you and your spouse? In other words, your estate will pay the government $460,000 on $1 million of retirement savings.
105-year-old Toronto woman forced to wait 10 years for long-term care told to wait two more
Why Key Person Insurance is important
What worries the wealthy?