Insurance Advisory Services

Like investment planning, estate and insurance planning is about defining goals, analyzing options, and implementing a sound, time-tested strategy. Working with you, your financial professional, and your legal and tax advisors, our Estate & Insurance Advisors (Financial Security Advisors in Quebec) follow a four-step process to help you achieve lifetime financial security and give you the confidence of knowing your estate will be distributed according to your wishes.

Explore

•What assets could face excess taxation? What kind of legacy do you wish to leave?

•What financial risks and opportunities should you address?

Execute

•Fill in the gaps in your current insurance strategy

•Recommend solutions for tax minimization, income security, asset protection and estate maximization

•Implement a strategy that complements your existing investment and retirement plan

Assess

•Facilitate discussions around succession planning and the use of dual Wills and trusts

•Identify and assess other issues that may impact your long-term goals

Review

•Review results on an ongoing basis

•Adjust strategy as needed to ensure it reflects your ongoing goals

You own a private corporation that has significant assets in taxable investments. You don’t plan to use these investments for any specific purpose during your lifetime. Instead, you want to transfer this wealth to your children or other beneficiaries after your death, but investment earnings are taxable when liquidated and paid out as a taxable dividend.

 

Your corporation purchases a permanent life insurance policy on you, the key person, to cover a life insurance need. This immediately increases the estate value of the shares. Growth within the policy can accumulate on a tax-exempt basis. Upon your death, the death benefit is paid tax free to the corporation. This payment creates a partial or full credit to your corporation’s capital dividend account which can be paid to your estate as a tax-free capital dividend.