Life Insurance Taxation: The Definitive Guide
Most people know that life insurance proceeds are paid out tax-free.
But how about the cash value inside a policy? Can you also take that out without paying tax?
And in what situations can you deduct your premium from your income?
This post answers these questions and more, all the while simplifying life insurance taxation to make it easy to understand.
Creditor Protection And Life Insurance
Do you have assets that you want to protect from creditors?
Did you know that insurance products like life insurance, annuities, and segregated funds can provide creditor protection?
In this post, you will learn:
Why creditor protection is so important for business owners
How you can shield your assets from creditors using insurance products
And much more.
So if you want to find out how you can use life insurance to shield your assets from creditors, this post is for you.
What are the odds of a tragedy occurring?
We face many risks in our lives on a daily basis: the risk of being in a car accident, the risk of a snow storm grounding our flights, the risk of a home burglary, just to name a few. While some of the risks are a minor nuisance and not of financial significance, others have a catastrophic effect on our finances. The purpose of insurance is to transfer some of the risk to an insurance company in exchange for a fee known as the premium.
Charitable Giving Using Life Insurance
Charitable donations totaled $9.6 billion in 2017, and this number is on the rise.
But did you know that besides donating cash, you can also give the gift of a life insurance policy?
How does it work? And what are the tax benefits?
In this post, we’ll go over your options for charitable giving using life insurance. You’ll learn:
-Which method gives you a tax credit while you’re alive and which one gives it when you pass away
-What type of life insurance you should use for charitable giving
-How using life insurance can increase your contribution by 50% compared to other investments
Let’s begin.
Should you replace your life insurance policy?
Last week we looked at when you should perform a life insurance review. One of the suggestions that was brought up during a review was to replace your current policy if a new one would better serve your needs. How do you determine if a new policy is more suitable for you? In which way is it better? Worse? Is there a cash surrender value in the old policy that would trigger tax if you cancelled it? Would you qualify for a new policy for the same or better rate? These are all questions that you need to ask before replacing a life insurance policy.
When do you need to review your life insurance?
Some people buy life insurance and have a ‘set it and forget it’ attitude, opting never to look at their policy again. After all, they’ve done their research, and are certain they have the most suitable policy. Why should they have to change anything? The reason of course is that life is never static. Circumstances change – sometimes abruptly – which may call for a life insurance review. You may find yourself wondering if you have enough coverage, or if you should renew the term or not, among other similarly tough decisions. It’s recommended that you perform a life insurance review whenever the following events occurs.
The 10 Most Dangerous Hobbies For Life Insurance in Canada
For many Canadians, free time isn’t spent sitting still—it’s spent chasing adrenaline. From scuba diving off the West Coast to skydiving over the Prairies, high-risk hobbies are a big part of how people live their lives.
When it comes to life insurance in Canada, however, insurers look at these activities very differently. What feels controlled and well-trained to you is evaluated through statistics, claims history, and underwriting guidelines.
If you participate in what insurers call hazardous hobbies or hazardous avocations, you may be wondering:
Can I still qualify for life insurance?
Will my premiums be higher?
Should I expect exclusions or declines?
The short answer is: most dangerous hobbies are still insurable in Canada. The key is understanding how insurers assess risk—and choosing the right company from the start.
87 Simple Tips To Save On Life Insurance
This is the ultimate guide for saving on life insurance.
Here, you will find a massive list of 87 simple tips to maximize your insurance dollars, leaving you more money in your pocket.
So don’t buy life insurance until you read this. It could end up saving you thousands of dollars over the life of the policy.
Product review: Humania’s P.A.G.E.
A few posts back we reviewed Manulife’s Synergy, a 3-in-1 solution that encompasses life, critical illness and disability insurance. While it’s a simple product that covers the major risks in life, there isn’t much customization associated with it. Every Synergy policy must be comprised of the three types of insurance, with no way of mixing and matching the type of protection you want. That doesn’t mean there is no product with more customization available. Humania, a company based in Quebec, came up with a solution that satisfies all your customization needs by allowing you to mix and match to your heart’s content. The product is called P.A.G.E., and it’s short for ‘Protection for the entire family, Affordable rates, Global coverage, Easy application.’
Product review: Foresters’ Quit Smoking Incentive Plan
Are you a smoker who wants to kick the habit? Chances are, if you currently smoke, that thought has crossed your mind. Besides the health benefit of quitting, there are also financial incentives. The obvious one is saving the money you used to spend on cigarettes. According to Preet Banerjee’s new book, Stop Over-Thinking Your Money, a teenager who pays $9 for a pack of cigarettes would have amassed over $375,000 if he instead would have directed the money to an investment yielding 3%. Now, Foresters has another financial incentive for you to quit smoking. In this week’s product review, we will look at Foresters’ Familylife participating whole life insurance product and its automatically included rider – Quit Smoking Incentive Plan. Chances are you haven’t heard of Familylife before. That’s because it launched in April of 2013, so it’s a brand new product in the insurance industry, and it’s one of a kind in the Canadian marketplace.