As soon as you have a family you tend to evaluate risk in a whole different way. I know with my kids and my little niece things I never looked at before as a potential for injury suddenly seem dangerous and in most cases are dangerous!
Having a family is responsibility at a whole new level and part of that responsibility is being properly insured. If you are an individual you may think the same responsibility does not apply when it comes to insurance, but how will you take care of yourself if you are injured or have a critical illness? Different insurances are important for specific reasons at varying stages of life. Let's figure out which stage you are at and what is most crucial for you.
I'm very close with my sister. I admire her, I look up to her, I love her, and it completely shook my world to find out that she had cancer. I never thought it would happen to her, let alone in her early 30s. It was very difficult to digest, and it was scary and stressful. Besides living together for the majority of her treatments, I don’t think I could have made an impact greater than having her insured going through what she went through.
The benefits of insurance to my sister and her family were lifechanging. Critical illness insurance meant she received a tax-free lump sum of money when she was diagnosed, alleviating the financial stress of taking time away from work to focus on healing and family. Life Insurance means that if anything ever happens to her my brother-in-law and niece will be taken care of.
My sister's story has also fueled my passion about the urgency of insurance. On an uneventful average day, my sister went to have a facial spa treatment. At the end of this cosmetic appointment, they noticed an area of concern on her skin. I had delivered her critical illness insurance policy to her that very morning. She literally received her policy hours before being told she had a medical concern, which was soon diagnosed as melanoma. She had no previous health symptoms or concerns. Her diagnosis came as a total shock to everyone.
I share this because for anyone who thinks they have time to think about this, or they want to put this conversation on the backburner and save it for another day, I urge you not to. If you are thinking about or have questions about insurance, please don’t wait. Schedule a call. My experience with my sister has showed me that everyday matters, she literally would have been left without coverage if I hadn’t given her the policy the day that I gave it to her. It is urgent, our health can change quickly, sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly. After you are diagnosed with a critical illness like cancer, you are often uninsurable.
While many people know about the basic benefits of insurance payouts, less are aware of the many creative and smart ways to use insurance products to enhance your financial security and build wealth, benefiting you and your family in the long-term. A few examples standout.
Besides RRSP’s and TFSA’s, permanent life insurance is the last tax-sheltered investment platform in Canada. It’s a financial tool used by people for the last 150 years. It can strategically protect you while building your family’s wealth for generations.