Life Insurance for the Older Generation

Life insurance for the senior generation has altered substantially in Canada. Although insurance companies look more closely at applications the actual charges, in most cases, are a lot lower.

The following are six factors to keep in mind when looking into when thinking about life insurance as a senior:

1. Life insurance up to the age of 85 is now quite normal. Nonetheless, the premiums vary significantly between ages 65, 75 and 85. What a lot of people fail to contemplate is the best time to buy life insurance is now, that's because you are looking at today's rate.

2. The premiums payable can be anywhere from $20 per month with a face value of $5,000. If you are searching for traditional life insurance and want an instant life insurance quote, hunt no further.

3. Many creditor insurance plans end at age 69. Individual life insurance is certainly the better option if you are in good health and coming up to or have already retired.

4. If you fortunate enough to be in excellent health with an excellent family health history you could probably qualify for the preferred rates.

5. A last-to-die policy often has a smaller rate than the normal life insurance policies, this is on offer at a lot of insurance companies. This type of insurance is used largely for estate planning and pays out a tax-free death benefit upon the passing of the last surviving spouse. It's because the the insurance monies are paid out further in the future that the price are substantially smaller.

6. If you do have a few health problems then look at Simplified Issue policies. These policies do not have medical examinations, but they do have health questions. When picking which company you should go with, have a look at the medical questions; select the one you can answer no to the most. If you are wanting a scheme that has no medical questions then you will be paying out a lot of money; they also state that the death benefit can't be claimed for two years.

Photo: Seniors by Grant Talbot.

How Does Obesity Effect Your Life Insurance?

Obesity is prevalent all round the globe and Canada is no exception. A survey undertaken in 2004 by the Canadian Community Health stated that over 23% of the adult public suffered from obesity. Another 8.6 million, or 36.1% were heavier than average.

For those that are overweight or obese purchasing life insurance is more complicated to purchase due to the direct health issues that go hand in hand with weight issues such as heart disease and diabetes. Life insurance comes in four types:

Preferred Rates: For people in very good health and with an outstanding family health history.
Standard Rates: The usual rate that an applicant is normally classified.
Rated/Substandard: Given to individuals who have a greater risk category.
Declined: Where the insurance company refuses to cover an customer.

Standard cover would be granted to a healthy man who weighed 250lbs and had a height of 5'9" - this is established on an in-house survey completed by some of the life insurance companies.

When working work the grouping a person comes under, insurance companies look at the risk variables linked with health problems that are often part and parcel of obesity. If you are obese find yourself a reputable broker as they are able to help obtain a reasonable premium for you.

Making an insurance company aware of lifestyle or any irregularities that may influence your quote is common sense if you want a fair quote, especially as many companies use the equivalent height/weight chart for both genders. Simplified Issue Life Insurance is another option for obese customers. These applications have no medical tests and less health questions. They come with higher costs and lower face amounts, but pricing options have increased significantly in recent years.

For more information, visit our instant life insurance quote calculator.

Image capture by Miran Rijavec.

Investing in a Life Insurance - Is It a Good Idea?

Life insurance policies can be divided into two very broad categories - term insurance and permanent life insurance. Term insurance policies are generally prepared to cover you for a temporary period of time, usually 10 or 20 years. With a permanent policy, the insurance can last for your lifetime. Furthermore, there are three sub categories of permanent life insurance policies: Term 100, Universal Life and Whole Life. There are several variations of the latter two policies. An independent and qualified advisor can help you to find which of them is best for you.

The primary difference between Whole and Universal Life insurance is in the investment component - on a Whole Life policy, it is built in the premium, while on a Universal Life insurance it is separate. In addition, Universal Life policies offer a wider variety of investment possibilities. However, the most important aspect when buying a life insurance policy is that it must fulfil your needs. Let's suppose your needs are met and you can pay for a permanent policy. Now you need to ask - is it a sound investment?

Opinions on this subject vary, in part because life insurance as an investment is a very misunderstood topic. Now we will present the crucial pluses and minuses of using life insurance as an investment:

Advantages

* Profits within the policy and the MTAR limits grow on a tax sheltered basis. In case of Whole Life insurance, the premium shouldn't exceed the MTAR limit, Universal Life policies set a maximum premium according to the MTAR limit.
* The investment portion on an increasing death benefit Universal Life insurance and the dividends on a Whole Life policy are added to the face amount and are paid out on top of the policy face amount tax free.
* You can use the investment component on a permanent insurance to pay for future premiums, allowing you to pay future premiums with pre-tax money, rather than after-tax money.
* The minimum investment rate guarantees are set to more than 4% in case of numerous Universal Life insurance products. This is a great plus for investors who don't like to risk, particularly in today's low interest rate environment.

Disadvantages

* For numerous permanent policies, there are strict penalties, if you decide to cancel your insurance within the first few years.
* Generally, it is not a good idea to select a permanent policy, if you don't need a permanent life insurance, as the mortality charge for the life insurance would be higher.

Photo source: thinkpanama

Why Not to Get Life Insurance Policy Directly from a Website

When you see the title of this article, you might think we are fighting against ourselves, as a company specializing in the online marketing of life and health insurance. Every day, thousands of people check our website and many of them contact us inquiring if it's possible to buy an insurance policy directly via our website. After pondering on this problem for a long time, we came to a conclusion that buying life insurance online would mean a disservice to our clients.
The following reasons are supporting our opinion why Internet is not the perfect way to buy a life insurance policy.

1. When you buy a life insurance directly on the Internet, it is just a single product and not a part of an overall financial portfolio. It should always be evaluated carefully and considered for a specific client - why and how much insurance is necessary and what's the best type of insurance. It is very difficult to do this without speaking to a broker over the phone or in person.

2. When you decide to buy your life insurance online, you can get only a limited product offer. Most companies selling life insurance online limit their portfolio to a few carriers and in some cases, just one carrier with just a few of their products.

3. There are often some features of the insurance policy that may not be fully explained to you when you buy the insurance online. When you buy your life insurance online, you may be surprised later about some details - for instance some ten-year term policies are not renewable or convertible, or may have a higher than usual renewable premium, and so on.

4. Many insurance products are just too complex to be sold online. There are too many details in some products (for example Universal Life or Whole Life insurance) that cannot be disclosed when the policy is purchased directly online. In case of BMO's Universal Life insurance policy, there are more than 400 investment possibilities available. There are just too many nuances in the whole plan, which makes it difficult to be offered online.

5. If you wish to get in touch with someone from the insurance company, it would be most likely with a call centre and not a broker.

Just to be understood correctly - of course the Internet is a great source of information when buying life insurance. Some Internet pages can give you a lot of useful information concerning life insurance. For instance tools such as our Instant Quote Calculator or Needs Analysis Calculator may be a great help. But finding information is very different to purchasing.

Record Declining Sales for US Life Insurance

US life insurance sales took their biggest six-month decline since 1942, reported by LIMRA International. The current news from Bloomberg show that people have lost hope in investments associated to stocks which is having a knock on effect on sales of individual life insurance.

This however is a totally different story in Canada. While sales of universal life policies have declined 14% compared to the same six-month time span just a year ago, advisers have been able to use steady term life and whole life policy sales to offset those losses. Annual premiums in general have witnessed only a 1% drop this year.

A personal budget may be more rigid in the US, but the best part of US citizens will still have life insurance as the basis of their financial planning. Without decent life insurance, an unexpected death can create a financial tsunami in the normal household. For family members left behind, life insurance policies give security from financial worries.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can't still save cash on your scheme. The following are six brilliant ways to save cash on your life insurance.

One kind of policy to refrain from is accidental death insurance. This is the main type of policy to be sold by Canadian insurance companies to people that don't really require it. Accidental death is extremely profitable for these companies, but provides only rare benefit to the consumer because lower than 3% of all life insurance claims are paid out thanks to death-by-accident. When comparing this policy to a term policy the majority of the time the term policy costs less.

Be wary of captive agents. They can only sell that company's products. Insurance companies employing captive agents generally charge higher premiums than the organizations employing independent brokers do. Captive agents cannot shop the market for the best value for you and, in some instances, may not offer the product best suited to your needs.

Just because a premiums seems low cost, it doesn't mean that it works out the cheapest. The start up premiums could be cheap, but work out the complete cost as it could be more expensive than acquiring a slightly higher priced policy in the first case. Start up offers such as low start up premiums are incentives used by insurance companies to lure you in. Term insurance policies, which offer low start up premiums that grow as the insured ages, are pertinent if used for temporary insurance needs. The main problem with this philosophy is we are not all the same, nor do we all have the same requirements. They don't take alot of time to examine why you're seeking insurance, or how long you'll need it.

See if you can uncover a company offering preferred rates. When it comes to standard or preferred term premiums there can be a telling difference is cost. A 40-year-old man, non-smoker would hand over $62.55/month with Equitable Life for standard rates on a $500,000 Term 20 policy. Taking the same details, using the preferred rates this policy would cost just about $20 less. Click this link to see if you are eligible for your own preferred policy.

Be very careful that you have not got too much insurance. By making use of our Needs Analysis Calculator you can observe at a brief look whether you are over or under insured.

Don't try and go it by yourself, work with an independent broker. A broker that has access to the whole insurance market is more likely to accomplish your requirements than someone who has only got access to their own company or one or two others.

Photo source: Jonathon Colman

Canadian Tire Term Life Insurance: Is It As Favorable As It Seems To Be?

You many believe that Canadian Tire is firm that deals with furniture, tools and outdoor living, but it is life insurance. The home hardware company adjusted their life insurance policy and came up with a new plan. This plan is underwritten by Canada Life and subject to a new marketing drive. Analyzed next to an individual term life policy this plan isn’t necessarily up to scratch. Applying for this policy is very easy. You have the choice of applying online, by phone or mail. You will be have to fill in seven health questions and you will be expected to fill them all in. You may find you have to provide more facts or be subject to a nursing visit if any of the questions are answered yes to. The fees stay the same for the first five years, after that the fees increase. The value of the plan is $250,000.

What's the trouble? This all looks great to me.

Now we need to demonstrate to you the contrast between this type of plan and a Canada Life individual term life policy. If we examine a 40 year old male smoker. On the Canada Life policy the payments are $40 lower. The Canada Life policies are greatly lower. An individual policy offers more versatility and customization.The disadvantages to the Canadian Tire plan include limited benefits of only $250,000 and a term of no longer than 5 years. A Canadian Tire Plan also charges you PST. You can add riders to individual plans which give your extra benefits. Also you can connect it with another policy if you wish. Exclusive advise from your broker which leads to a policy worked on your individual lifestyle are another bonus rather than a standard group policy which is offered by the Canadian Tire Term Life Insurance plans. To recap: Although the Tire Plan looks great on paper your will be better off with a customized plan which suits your own lifestyle. To find out more about the Canadian Term Life Insurance, please refer to our more detailed article.

Photo source: kenyee

Paychecks for insurance agents.

Insurance advisers generally get their commission when an insurance policy is made valid. This goes both for captive advisers, who are paid just by one company, and for independent ones, who work for more different insurance companies. Two pluses of working with a broker are that they can advise you on the optimum type and amount of coverage and they can shop the market for the best premium. Well, we have to remark that it is the insurance company that is paying the agent. Certain misunderstanding has been brought about by the media and consumer skepticism. The following are points usually misunderstood concerning the payment process.

"The price of the life insurance policy is driven up by the commissions." The fact is that life insurance policies have some distribution costs, no matter if they are sold via salaried employees or self-employed advisers. With the price of the insurance policy, you already pay also the cost of distribution. It usually doesn't make any difference how the consumer buys the policy. Some companies, for example RBC Insurance or Manulife, charge the same rates for the same life insurance sold via multiple distribution models. A $200,000 Term 10 policy from Manulife will be the same price whether the policy is bought via their call center, website, or an independent advisor. "It is possible to negotiate the life insurance commissions." That is not true, they are not. The situation is different from when you are buying a car or a house. Once again, the commissions are built into the distribution costs of the policy and cannot be altered.

"Whole Life or Universal Life insurance pay higher commissions than Term Life insurance." Life insurance commissions are based mostly on the price of the policy, that means the higher the premium, the higher the commission. Whole and Universal policies have higher initial premiums than Term policies, but the Whole and Universal policies are bought once. If a person decides to purchase a Term policy, there are usually more of them necessary during his/her lifetime. Their price grows as the insured gets older. Each time a new policy is bought, the agent gets paid the commission, but also the insured person is older each time, so he/she has to pay a higher insurance rate. The insurance premium also depends on the health condition of the applicant - in case it has changed, the premium will increase or the coverage won't be available. It is key that the insured have a keen understanding of how much life insurance they need and how the different life insurance policies work. "Some companies pay better commissions than others." The truth is that the differences between commission rates from different providers are only slight. But anyway, this shouldn't influence the customer's decision, as insurance commissions are a fixed cost within the policy. Make sure the broker works with multiple carriers, some brokers, while independent, only work with two or three. We can ensure that you get the best possible price on the market, as our brokers cooperate with 15 different life insurance providers.

Photo source: escalade328s

Ever thought of insuring your collection of stamps?

We all have heard of at least one person who falls into a category of collector. It can be assumed that most us have, at one time or another, collected a variety of things such as stamps, bubble gum stickers, Zippos or toy sets from breakfast cereal boxes. Then, after some time, we lose interest in what we used to thought of as collectible and boxes full of junk litter the attic floor.

But some of us turn out to be consistent and continue with their hobby for ever. There is, however, a certain type of collectors, who have taken this hobby to a higher level and have diversified their portfolios by investing in valuable coins or stamps.

So, who needs a special cover? Think about this: if you have standard homeowner insurance, it is probably good enough for your every day household needs But valuable collections are completely different story. In certain situations low value collections may be covered, but submitting a claim to the insurer is fraught with difficulties and can often be unsuccessful. The majority of homeowner policies will typically cover just the material cost and not its perceived value. Of course it is easy to claim for a broken TV set, but try claiming for a priceless rare Roman coin.

So, fellow collectors, what is the best approach to insurance if you collection is more valuable than your new car? Do you lie awake at night waiting for it to be stolen? Fortunately, an simple solution is at hand, with specialist insurance policies now available just for these kinds of collections. AIG and Allianz are but two of many insurance companies that have specialist policies for valuable collections.

Being a serious collector, it is most likely you will choose an 'all risk' policy which will insure your valuables against everything from fire to nuclear attack to 'mysterious disappearance' The strange phenomenon of 'mysterious disappearance' can be found in the cover that is provided by the Fireman's Fund policy. Transportation and traveling doesn't have to be a worry as both are covered in all specialist policies.

As it is natural for collections to increase in both size and value, policy writers account for this in the way their policies are written. You can simply phone your insurance provider to tell them them that you have invested in another item and this would be added to your policy immediately. If you are nervous about going to collect a new addition, then a quick phone call to your insurer prior to going and your new investment is insured.

Nothing can replace sentimental value in collection built up over many years.

Nevertheless, if you have adequate insurance cover, the financial impact of such a loss won't be nearly as bad as the emotional one. Unfortunately, you can't insure your emotions.

Photo source: Michael Wheeler

Strange Insurance: Weather Insurance

Weather insurance - doesn't it sound strange? Well, in any case it represents one of the oldest forms of insurance. Weather has been the decisive circumstance for farmers and their living, ever since the beginning of agriculture. Nowadays, much more than crops can be covered by weather insurance.

Rain is the primary target of weather insurance. Luckily, it is quite easy to negotiate a rain insurance policy. Concerning rain policies, you can choose rain accumulation policies (for this, you need to determine how much rain would still be acceptable for your event and how much would already waste it) or dry hours (how many hours in a period of time were without any rain). Counteraction on snow are available in a similar way, either aiming on inches per session or per storm. A unique version of this insurance is particularly for municipalities and public organs, who want to cover extra costs by a special snow removal insurance policy.

And the whole insurance business goes even further. There is wind insurance against undesired wind conditions, perfect for instance for a hot air ballooning show. An ice cream promotion can pay for temperature insurance to secure the investment in the face of cold weather.

Mostly you can choose your own combination of the various policies needed for your event. Are you making a movie and need to insure underwater visibility or against lack of snow? No problem, film productions are typical customers for many unusual insurance policies. Another usual customer is a manager of a sports event, a concert, a festival or a trade show. For us, whose business is not directly influenced by the weather, like me, selling disability insurance, we can still purchase weather insurance for our free time and our holidays.

This is quite a new product, just getting to the customers from the whole world. You can get some of your money back if it rains more than expected during your holidays - this is available by some French travel agencies, in cooperation with Aon France. Analogically, a new sunshine insurance is now available by Lufthansa, the German airlines. A simple insurance policy is available for €20 ($31.24) for passengers from Germany. They can get €20 back for each day during their holiday when it rains more than 5mm.

Naturally, for destinations such as Tunisia or Greece, weather insurance is not really needed. And for places like Vancouver, they may not be willing to sell you a weather insurance. It wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Can you insure the weather, please?

Most of us have already some experience with some insurance products - for instance life insurance, long term care or disability insurance. The financial safety of our daily life is at least a bit guarded by these options. While there are so many different types of insurance available, the whole selection might seem to be a bit conservative. But the world of insurance is more colourful than you would ever expect There are even some special policies that look quite bizarre One of them is events insurance.

Imagine yourself planning a marvelous wedding ceremony full of romance - taking place on the beach, with roses all around and guest count going into hundreds. But in the worst case scenario, it may happen that just before the ceremony begins, you step on your veil, slip and end up with a broken leg. For such cases, there is a special insurance product available, just to limit the damage to the minimum. Almost all imaginable attributes of an event can be secured by the insurance, and it doesn't make a difference if it is a birthday party, a wedding or a bar mitzvah you want to insure. The most common insurance types are liability and cancellation insurance, but you can adjust the insurance according to your specific needs. But what to do if you have dreamed of an outdoor party and the weather shows you its unfriendly face? No problem, if you purchase the policy in advance (around two weeks), you can ask also for this protection.

And there are many more possibilities concerning your events insurance. You can even retake your pictures, if the first ones were destroyed by an unskilled photographer, but you had purchased the right insurance. Also, all the gifts, jewelery and rental property can be covered And think about a case of a bride running away from the altar... Yes, trust me; you can cover cold feet too

Event insurance is sold by some of the most famous insurance companies in the world. Allianz offers it via Fireman's Fund subsidiary; Axa adds fireworks and Christmas light insurance, some other offer the option to cover alcohol related accidents. Prices often start below $100 for the basic coverage.

Briefly, you can cover your events from A to Z.

Photo source: Teozilla

Disability Insurance: Disability Insurance

When you hear the word 'disability', you probably think of mobility loss as an effect of a sudden work or sport mishap. But as we can see from the statistics, the reality is quite different: twice more people become handicapped because of a serious sickness (cancer, diabetes or heart disease) than due to an accident.

Your chances of becoming handicapped

Twice more people under 65 years of age become long-term handicapped than decease due to an accident or illness. But naturally the older is the person, the bigger his/her chances of becoming handicapped are:

* out of every 100 children up to 14 years, 3 are classified as handicapped
* 4% of young people between 15 and 24 years become handicapped
* 7% of adults between 25 and 44 years become handicapped
* 17 in 100 adults between 45 to 64 become handicapped
* 40 in 100 adults 65 and over become handicapped
* 53% of adults older than 75 become handicapped

The current numbers tell us that right now, about 14% of Canadians are classified as handicapped, which is some 4.4 million in real numbers.

What are the advantages of disability insurance?

Different kinds of insurance were created to fit the different needs and situations one might meet. For example life insurance provides adequate amount of money for people who suffer not only from an emotional trauma, but also a change of financial situation after the loss of a close person. In the opposite case, after someone turns (completely) handicapped, the first problem is his/her not being able to keep earning a sufficient salary for themselves and the whole family. Moreover, there are even higher expenses connected to the extra medical and other care the person suddenly needs, which means even more of a financial issue for the family of the person who was once able to support him/herself and now needs specialized care. Thus we can see that a good disability insurance can help you solve even more problems than a life insurance. Being classed as handicapped doesn’t always mean that the person is not able of some kind of employment (see the various definitions of disability), but it has been reported that around 15% of those filing for bankruptcy have done it due to illness or accident. Disabled people can sign up for some government benefits, but this is only a limited option. The coverage group plans don't help to maintain your current wages either, as they usually cover between 50% and 60% of the previous net income.

If you are thinking about applying for disability insurance, first think about the resources you would have in case you couldn't earn a sufficient amount of money.

You might decide to:

* place the confidence in your spouse/family
* spend your savings or retirement funds
* sell your property/other assets
* live on credit
* be sufficiently covered by disability insurance that would supplement the missing income

Illustration: credits to World of Oddy

Canadian Universal Health Insurance: the Common Prenotations

During the many years I've been an professional insurance broker, I've had more than enough of occasions to answer questions concerning the ups and downs of both the US and Canadian health care system. Although non of them is hundred per cent, I absolutely hate some of the lies that are spread about the Canadian system. Let's have a look at some of them.

"The health system in Canada is much more expensive than the system in the USA."

To begin with, there's this faulty assumption about the cost. It is often claimed that the Canadian system costs more than the US system, but in fact while Canada spends only 10% of its GDP, covering 100 percent of its population, the USA spends over 15 percent GDP, while at least 15 percent of Americans is not covered at all and even more Americans are left with not enough coverage. For example in 2005, the US government spent US$6,401 per capita on their health expenditures - that's almost twice the sum spent in Canada that year - US$3,359. (picture:pills by erix!)

"In Canada, it's up to the administration to make a decision who gets the treatment."

That's totally wrong: the only people in charge of these decisions are in fact the physicians. On the other hand, the situation is quite different in the States, where in fact it is up to your insurance administrators to determine what treatment you are allowed to get, never mind what you doctor thinks.

"The plan only covers the bare basics, so you end up paying a lot on any extras anyway."

Every province has its own rules concerning what is and what is not included by the public health insurance. The least you can count on is that the physician's fees and all the hospital procedures will be included in the insurance - which are generally the most costly items. Other stuff like medical equipment, dental & vision care would generally not be included. Because it's not too hard to average the cost of these extras, since all those big troublesome items are already covered by the national health insurance, number of insurance companies offers some additional low premium insurance that takes care of all these extras. For example the FlexCare Program from Manulife. All in all, to get the same level of service in the USA as in Canada, the Americans have to pay much much more. The system is simply running better in Canada.

"The biggest problem with the Canadian system are the long waits. In fact, Canadians rather travel to the US for their treatment."

The situation doesn't differ that much from the one in the States, because the waits associated with some specialist treatments (up to four weeks some selective surgery takes even longer. On the other hand, all urgent treatment, you will get it fast one way or the other. And, unlike in the US, noone cares whether you're rich or poor. For example, if you cannot get urgent care you need (i.e. surgery) and you cannot get it as fast as it is medically required, you will most likely be sent to the US - at the expense of the state insurance. If you spoke to a Canadian who rushed to the the US for their treatment and had to pay for it themselves, they most likely didn't need the treatment as fast as they wanted it.

"In Canada, the physicians work for the government. Also, you've no choice: you get your physicians picked by the government!"

Not true. The provincial government doesn’t act as an employer, since the physicians in Canada own their private practises just like their colleagues in the States, but constitutes the only insurer that the physicians have to deal with, therefore the paperwork is kept to the necessary minimum. Don't worry: you get to choose your doctor yourself.

Lorne Marr: Our Bios

I have written some words so far and suddenly realized I haven't told much about me and my team. So, why not now?!

• Lorne Marr CFP MBA (Marketing Consultant) Proud Ontarian, I have been a practicing financial planner since 1993 having my diploma from the University of Windsor with a Master of Business Administration. Nine years ago I completed the internationally respected Certified Financial Planner designation. I have also been a keynote speaker at numerous industry functions and have appeared in The Toronto Sun, The National Post, the Investment Executive, the Insurance Journal and the Advisor's Edge. My commitment to providing clients with valuable service has made me an industry leader.

• Chantal Marr BEd (Company President) Chantal Marr was born in the province of Quebec and was raised in Ontario. She completed her Bachelor of Arts at Laval University in Quebec City and Bachelor of Education at the University of Western Ontario. Chantal has a enthusiasm for helping people and has very strong organizational and leadership abilities. Chantal is in charge of new business development at LSM insurance and works closely with our group of insurance brokers. Chantal's hobbies include languages and travel and she speaks French and English.

• Elisabeth Prosper (New Business Coordinator) Elisabeth comes from the island of Haiti before heading to France where she completed a Master Degree in Economics at the University of Aix-En Provence. Elisabeth is trilingual (Creole, French and English) and enjoys putting her strong communication and organizational skills to work helping clients. Elisabeth has her life insurance license and takes a serious interest in natural nutrition.

• Jack Bendahan BA (Senior Insurance Consultant) Jack was born and raised in Canada and studied at York University in Toronto, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts. He has vast additional education and professional experience in finance and debt management. Jack is also bilingual (French and English) and is keen tennis player and traveler.

• Aman Kapur MBA (Senior Insurance Consultant) Aman comes from New Delhi, India where he acquired a BA (honours) in Economics. He further moved to the United Kingdom to do his Masters in Business Administration from the Heriot Watt University. Aman has fantastic experience of working over four continents and has performed various roles in Marketing and Finance. Apart from fluency in English, he speaks Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Russian. Aman admires various performing arts, travelling and living healthy.

Reasons Why Canadians do not Buy Life Insurance in Canada

Lorne Marr, my husband says this question has been said billion times during his career. It's interesting, despite being a foundation of the majority of financial plans, crowds of people are postponing this question. It it can have value of millions. Why such a decision?


1. Canadians consider themselves too old. Many are unaware that most Canadian insurance carriers~companies insure individuals up to the age of 85 For sure there is no need to hesitate your age.

2. You may consider own health too weak. However, many life insurance Canada policies are accessible without a medical test and many others only ask a handful of basic medical questions. Besides, many clients who have a history heart attack, stroke, or cancer in the family can still qualify for life insurance in Canada. Try to visit our Non-Medical Life Insurance Page for a free quote.

3. It's too expensive. This is wrong information, your life insurance premiums can be as little as $180 a year

4. What's the point of life insurance?. Believe me, even in cases where you are debt free with no children, Life insurance can have a meaning for you to deal with final expenses. When you do havewith no children and/or burden of debt, life insurance is a perfect way to create instant liquidity when your family need it most.

5. I can;t understand all those terms and conditions. I have to admit you are right. Terms and conditions can be pretty confusing, but with my team of brokers we can help simplify the process for you. You can also visit LSM Instant Life Insurance Needs Calculator to find out exactly how much life insurance you need.

Buying a life insurance is important step in your life. You should be careful, on the other hand all information should be considered.

AIG - what about Canada?

American Insurance Group was among the first companies, asking for government help in the USA. It's shares plunged to historical minimals and this huge insurance company (with history dating back to 1919) was fighting for life.

Canadian clients may know AIG Life of Canada - many of them put their money in it. Due to big loss of confidence, AIG LoC sales have plunged in last months. Are there any reasons to concern?

No - AIG Life of Canada doesn't carry bigger risk than any other Canadian life insurance company. 

For some reasons:

1.AIG Life of Canada was sold to Bank of Montral few weeks ago. Bank of Montreal holds more than $400 billion of assets and represents a very respectable partner.

2. Canadian branch hasn't been financially connected to its American mother. Operations with sub-prime mortgages, which caused the main troubles were not important for Canadian AIG.

3. AIG LoC is member of Assuris, which provides protection for all policy holders. Policies below $200000 are 100% covered, those over this limit are 85% covered. Other kinds of insurance (like disability insurance or long term care) are secured too.

As an independent broker I have no interest on promoting any insurance company, but I ma trying to save your money. Cancelling AIG policy can you cause both direct (cancelling penalty) and (even more serious) indirect costs (changed health conditions, age, new suicide and incontestability periods, lost tax benefit...). So before you do, try to think about the real pros and cons of this step.