LifeMatters

Insights on Life Insurance, Retirement and Estate Planning

How to Get Your Financial House in Order

Top 10 To Do List for 2007

  1. Protect Yourself and your family with a proper and up-to-date Will, and two Powers of Attorney: one for personal health and one for personal property.
  2. Protect Assets such as the family cottage from capital gains tax when you pass away by considering an ownership transfer now, a Cottage Trust, or the purchase of inexpensive joint and last- to-die life insurance to cover final tax costs.
  3. Complete the free Estate Planning Directory . A completed Estate Planning Directory is an essential roadmap. It will ease the burden, ensure that wishes are respected, and facilitate a quick and efficient wind-up of an estate should the worst happen.
  4. Consider Critical Illness Insurance that provides a lump-sum, tax-free payout 30 days after diagnosis of cancer, heart attack, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and many other illnesses. The money can be used for any purpose, including gaining access to the finest medical attention available.
  5. Group Insurance Plans are usually limited and restrictive. You should consider personally - owned Critical Illness insurance and Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance to provide the necessary guarantees for maintaining your standard of living. It is vital that you understand the difference between Critical Illness insurance and LTD.
  6. Review existing Life Insurance for adequacy of protection. In this low interest rate environment, $1 Million of life insurance proceeds generates only $40,000 of before tax income. Sadly, 85% of Canadians are under-insured.
  7. Term Insurance costs have declined by as much as 50% in recent years. If you are healthy, a review of your policies more than 10 years old could provide premium savings.
  8. Mortgage Life Insurance offers a better and less costly alternative to traditional bank mortgage insurance, with more coverage and monies left over for family and loved ones.
  9. Ensure that the assets and well-being of Aging Parents are secured and that finances are available for their long term care. You need to have the conversation before it’s too late. Read this recent Toronto Star article to learn more.
  10. Donate Securities directly to a charity (rather than selling them and donating the cash) in order to avoid the capital gains tax. It’s also a good thing to do!

Take care,
Mark Halpern, CFP, FMA

Copyright® 2007 Mark Halpern, CFP, FMA