Insurance

Insurance is part of the foundation of a complete financial security plan. It helps protect you and your family in the event of death, a disability or critical illness. While you're still living, some life insurance policies can build tax-advantaged cash value which can be drawn upon to help you achieve goals, such as buying a house or retiring comfortably.

To help meet your financial security planning needs, we have access to a broad range of insurance products. These products are designed to meet the diverse needs of individuals, families, professionals, executives, business owners and employees, including the needs of part-time and seasonal workers.

 

Life insurance

Life insurance helps to create security for you and your family. When you die, it can be used to pay final expenses and debts, and provide an income for your family.

The advantages of life insurance include:

  • Death benefits to named beneficiaries are almost always non-taxable.
  • An instant estate when funds are needed the most
  • Probate costs can be avoided if you name a beneficiary other than your estate
  • Life insurance may offer the potential for creditor protection
  • Permanent life insurance allows you to build tax-advantaged cash value for retirement purposes or to provide liquid savings

We have access to a wide variety of life insurance options to help meet the needs identified in your financial security plan. We can help you select coverage that’s right for you.

Contact today to find out more about how life insurance can play a vital role in your financial security plan.

 

Critical illness insurance

Critical illness insurance can help reduce financial stresses at a critical time in your life, and can complement disability and life insurance protection needs. It offers you and your family – as well as your business – the financial resources to help pay for additional expenses often associated with a critical illness or condition.

The advantages of critical illness insurance include:

  • A lump-sum benefit that you can use however you wish (e.g. to make mortgage payments, seek medical treatment outside Canada, help your business continue in your absence)
  • Coverage for up to 25 critical illnesses or conditions
  • You may receive payment even if you’re not disabled from work
  • Options are available that provide a return of premium benefit
  • Individuals unable to obtain disability insurance for various reasons can, in some cases, still qualify for critical illness coverage (e.g. a non-income earning spouse)

We can help you determine if critical illness insurance fits into your financial security plan. Contact today to find out more about critical illness insurance.

 

Disability insurance

Disability insurance can help protect one of your most valuable assets – your income.

Your income helps you maintain current financial obligations (e.g. mortgage payment, monthly bills, grocery purchases) and your financial security plan (e.g. children’s education planning and your retirement goals). What would happen to these things, like your home, if you no longer had that income stream?

We have access to disability insurance products designed to help address your needs and help protect your ability to earn an income – something that could be jeopardized if disability strikes.

The advantages of disability insurance include:

  • Potential protection of your ability to earn an income, current lifestyle, financial independence and your family’s long-term financial security plan
  • The ability to pay fixed expenses for your business if you’re disabled
  • Facilitation of the buy out of a disabled partner’s share of the business

Contact today to find out more about helping to protect your income and the importance of disability insurance to your financial security plan.

 

Health and dental insurance

If you’re not covered under a group benefits plan, we can help you access individual health and dental plans designed to help cover out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses. These plans provide various levels of enhanced healthcare protection to help meet your needs at different stages of your life.

Contact today to find out more about enhanced healthcare protection for you and your family.

 

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Investments

Based on your specific needs and goals, investments can play a key role in your financial security plan and your ability to achieve your short- and long-term goals. We have access to a wide range of savings and income products – both registered and non-registered savings, income, and pension plans for individuals; as well as registered and non-registered savings and pension plans for employee groups.

We can offer you the following funds:

 

Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)

An RRSP allows you to save money for your retirement, with contributions being tax deductible from your annual income, thereby reducing the amount of income tax that you pay. As well, any income earned in your RRSP is tax deferred until the funds are withdrawn. Any income earned compounds, in other words, your income will earn income which can significantly increase the amount of money you will accumulate for retirement.

 

Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF)

An RRSP must be converted to a RRIF no later than December 31st of the year in which the RRSP annuitant turns 71. From that point forward, you are required to withdraw at least the prescribed minimum each year. RRIF withdrawals are taxable and depending on the amount withdrawn, taxes may be withheld at the time of withdrawal, and withdrawals do affect income-tested benefits and credits.

 

Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA)

Think of the LIRA as a special kind of RRSP, since you can’t set one up with just any money. It’s created when someone leaves their employer and decides to invest their commuted value from their Defined Benefit (DB) or the balance in their Defined Contribution (DC) pension plan on a tax deferred basis. Once the proceeds of your pension have been transferred out of the pension plan and into the LIRA, the account is now locked. You can’t make additional contributions, but you are now in control of how the money is invested, not your employer.

 

Life Income Fund (LIF)

In the same way that an RRSP turns into a RRIF at the end of the year you turn 71, a LIRA can be converted into a LIF. The earliest age in which a LIRA can be converted to a LIF depends on the province you lived in at the time you left your employer, but the latest age to convert your LIRA into a LIF is by the end of the year you turn 71. Like a RRIF, you’ll have to withdraw a certain minimum amount from a LIF every year, but these accounts also come with a maximum withdrawal limit. The reason for the maximum payment amount is to ensure you’ll have money for your entire life since the funds were once a part of a workplace pension, the government wants to make sure the funds are used properly.

 

Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)

One of the most common misconceptions with a TFSA is that it does not have to be a bank account. The TFSA is simply another tax-advantaged registered savings plan that you can hold the same eligible investments held in your RRSP. Contributions to a TFSA are not tax-deductible, but investment income earned within your TFSA portfolio grows tax free, there are no penalties or tax consequences for making withdrawals, nor do withdrawals impact your eligibility for income-tested benefits or credits. This makes the TFSA a suitable vehicle not only for long-term savings objectives, but for short and medium-term ones as well.

 

Registered  Education Savings Plan (RESP)

Contributing to a RESP is an excellent way for families to accumulate money for the future education needs of children. Contributions are not tax-deductible but the income earned on contributions compounds on a tax-deferred basis. In addition, 20 percent of the annual contribution up to the first $2,500 per beneficiary are matched by the government in the form of the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), until the end of the year in which the beneficiary turns 17, up to a maximum CESG of $7,200. As well, depending on your family income, your child may also be eligible for the Canada Learning Bond. 
There are two types of RESP plans:

  • Individual plans can only have one beneficiary and there are no restrictions on who can be a beneficiary under these plans.
  • Family Plans can have one or more beneficiary and each beneficiary must be connected by blood or adoption to each living subscriber under the plan or to a deceased original subscriber.

RESP withdrawals are taxable in the hands of the beneficiary. In the event that the child or children do not enroll in post-secondary education, grants and bonds must be repaid to the government and the earnings are taxable to the subscriber.

 

Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP)

A RDSP is intended to provide for the long-term financial security of a beneficiary who has a prolonged and severe physical or mental impairment. Therefore, in order to qualify as a beneficiary of an RDSP, an individual must be eligible for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). Contributions to the RDSP can be made to the plan by the beneficiary, their parents or family members, or by other authorized contributors. For qualifying individuals, the Canada Disability Savings Grant (CDSG) and Canada Disability Savings Bond (CDSB) are available to supplement the RDSP. Between these two programs, an annual contribution of $1,500 can result in as much as $4,500 of federal government contribution. There is a lifetime limit on contributions and contributions are not tax-deductible. However, the earnings generated on contributions are tax-exempt while they stay in the plan. When earnings are withdrawn as part of a disability assistance payment, they are taxable in the hands of the beneficiary. 

 

Mutual funds

Mutual funds can be the foundation of a diversified investment portfolio. By allowing individual investors to pool their savings in a portfolio of investments managed by professional investment managers, they allow you to diversify your portfolio among many different companies and industries within Canada and around the world.

As an investment representative, we have access to products offered by a leading mutual fund dealer and we can help you build a portfolio tailored to your specific financial security needs and goals.

The advantages of mutual funds include:

  • Liquidity
  • Diversification
  • Potential for increased returns
  • Expertise of professional investment managers

Depending on your needs and goals, adding mutual funds to your portfolio can help you:

  • Save for retirement or a child's education
  • Build a home or a business
  • Plan for an event or a legacy

Contact us today to find out more about how mutual funds can play a key role in building your financial security plan.

Make your investment decisions wisely. Important information about mutual funds is found in the funds' simplified prospectus. Please read this carefully before investing. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Unit values and investment returns will fluctuate.

 

Segregated fund policies

Segregated fund policies are similar to mutual funds, but they’re only available through life insurance companies. Professional investment managers invest in a variety of individual securities, and the value of your policy’s units increase or decrease with the performance of the segregated funds you select. However, because segregated fund policies are a form of life insurance, they have advantages for some investors.

These advantages can include:

  • Ability to designate a beneficiary to bypass the estate
  • Potential for creditor protection1
  • Savings on potential probate fees, if any
  • Maturity and death benefit guarantees
  • No trustee fees
  • Lifetime income benefit option

We have access to a wide variety of segregated funds. Contact today to find out how segregated funds could strengthen your investment portfolio.

A description of the key features of the segregated fund policy is contained in the information folder.

Any amount that is allocated to a segregated fund is invested at the risk of the policy owner and may increase or decrease in value.

1Creditor protection depends on court decisions and applicable legislation, which can be subject to change and can vary from each province; it can never be guaranteed. Talk to your lawyer to find out more about the potential for creditor protection for your specific situation.

 

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Group Benefits

If you need effective benefit solutions for your business, we can provide access to customized group benefits plans, including life insurance and disability insurance, as well as health, dental and visioncare insurance. We also have access to innovative products and services, such as benefit plans for foreign workers.

Contact today to explore benefit solutions designed to help serve the wellness needs of your employees and your business.

 

Group Retirement and Savings Plans

If you have a business, group retirement and savings plans can play a key role in helping you attract and retain quality employees. We have access to a wide variety of group retirement and savings plans.

These plans include:

  • Group registered retirement savings plans
  • Deferred profit sharing plans
  • Defined contribution pension plans
  • Non-registered savings programs

Contact today to find out more about group retirement and savings plans, and how they can benefit your business.