Being insurance wise today is something your future self will thank you for
Understand and reevaluate
Each life phase involves different insurance needs and requires different coverage. Insurance should never entail a “buy and forget about it” strategy. Life circumstances change and so do your insurance needs. The best approach for any insurance plan is to revisit it at certain time intervals and adjust it to ensure it covers your current and medium-term circumstances.
Your ideal financial journey may be very different in reality as you face any number of issues and challenges.
Financial security
Depending on your life stage, different types of insurance are better suited to help protect your income or protect your assets.
Early adulthood
Consider income protection for your dependent family through term life insurance, permanent life insurance and long-term disability.
Throughout adulthood
Don’t underestimate the cost of an unexpected illness at any stage of your life. Critical illness insurance serves to protect both your income and assets.
Middle to late adulthood
If you no longer have dependent children, you could shift to permanent life insurance for asset protection and long-term care insurance.
Why insurance?
Consider some major life risks and your family’s ability to cope with life-changing events.
Motor vehicle traffic collisions 2017
Fatalities: 1,841
Serious injuries: 9,960
Injuries: 154,886
Source: Government of Canada
Mortality per 1,000 population 2017
Age at time of death, 50 to 59 years: 3
Source: Statistics Canada
1 in 6 Canadians will experience a disability for 3 months or more before the age of 50.
Source: MoneySense; “Hit by an Iceberg: Coping with Disability in Mid-Career,” By Janet Freedman
2 in 5 Canadians are expected to develop cancer within their lifetime. Cancer is the fourth-most costly disease in Canada.
Source: Canadian Cancer Society
Motor vehicle traffic collisions 2017
Fatalities: 1,841
Serious injuries: 9,960
Injuries: 154,886
Source: Government of Canada
Mortality per 1,000 population 2017
Age at time of death, 50 to 59 years: 3
Source: Statistics Canada
1 in 6 Canadians will experience a disability for 3 months or more before the age of 50.
Source: MoneySense; “Hit by an Iceberg: Coping with Disability in Mid-Career,” By Janet Freedman
2 in 5 Canadians are expected to develop cancer within their lifetime. Cancer is the fourth-most costly disease in Canada.
Source: Canadian Cancer Society
Life insurance: Term vs permanent
Don’t leave your long-term insurance planning too long. Insurance gets more expensive as you age.
Term life insurance
This is affordable in the early years. Premiums then rise at certain time intervals, increasing exponentially in the later years.
Permanent life insurance
While it is more expensive to purchase initially, it can be structured to keep premiums level for your lifetime.
Permanent life insurance for estate planning can provide:
- Funding for your tax liability at death
- Estate equalization needs (e.g. keeping the family cottage for the next generation)
- Gifts to charity
Life is complex. Proper insurance planning can help smooth the path ahead. Talk to a Richardson Wealth Advisor.
