Critical Illness Insurance Explained

Critical Illness Insurance Explained

Why consider Critical Illness Insurance?

The purpose of Critical Illness Insurance is to provide a tax-free lump sum benefit if you’re diagnosed with a covered serious illness. It’s designed to ease the financial pressure that often comes with time away from work, medical costs not covered by government plans, and other unexpected expenses — so you can focus on your recovery, not your finances.

Even if you already have life insurance or workplace benefits, Critical Illness Insurance offers unique protection. Group plans often include only small amounts of coverage, may end if you leave your job, and usually don’t let you choose the benefit amount. A personal policy stays with you and can be tailored to your needs.

What does it cover?

Critical Illness Insurance pays out if you’re diagnosed with one of the serious medical conditions listed in your policy. These commonly include:

  • Cancer
  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Major organ transplant
  • Kidney failure
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Paralysis, loss of sight, hearing, or limbs
  • Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neuron disease
  • Severe burns, benign brain tumour, aortic surgery

Some policies also provide partial payments for early-stage diagnoses. Your advisor can explain the specific definitions and conditions covered by your plan.

What types of policies are available?

Critical Illness Insurance is available in several forms, so you can choose the one that fits your needs and budget. The most common types include:

  • Term policies: Coverage for a fixed period, such as 10, 20, or 25 years.
  • Permanent policies: Coverage that lasts for life, as long as you pay the premiums.
  • Return of premium policies: Refund some or all premiums if no claim is made.
  • Group plans through an employer: Limited and usually not portable.

Is there a waiting period?

Yes — most policies include a short waiting period after diagnosis, usually 30 days, before the benefit is paid.

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What factors affect the cost of Critical Illness Insurance?

The premium you pay for Critical Illness Insurance is influenced by both your personal situation and the policy you select. Understanding these factors can help you plan your coverage effectively:

  • Age: Younger applicants generally pay lower premiums, since the risk of serious illness increases with age.
  • Health history: Your medical history, as well as your family history, may lead to higher premiums or exclusions if there are risk factors.
  • Gender: Rates can differ slightly between men and women because of different incidence rates for certain conditions.
  • Smoking status: Smokers face higher premiums because of significantly greater risks of illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
  • Lifestyle and occupation: Risky hobbies or high-stress, physically demanding jobs can also impact your cost.
  • Coverage amount: The larger the lump sum benefit you choose, the higher your premium.
  • Policy term: Permanent policies tend to cost more than term policies with fixed durations.
  • Optional riders: Adding features such as return of premium, premium waivers, or child coverage increases your premium.

By working with an advisor, you can balance these factors and find a policy that gives you the right level of protection at a price you’re comfortable with.

Are the benefits taxable?

No — in Canada, Critical Illness Insurance pays a tax-free lump sum benefit you can use however you wish.

How can you use the money?

The benefit is completely flexible. Many use it to:

  • Cover household expenses while off work
  • Pay for medications or private care
  • Reduce debts
  • Compensate a caregiver’s lost income
  • Travel for specialized treatment

When is the best time to purchase?

The best time to purchase Critical Illness Insurance is when you’re younger and healthy, so you qualify more easily and pay lower premiums.

How does Critical Illness Insurance fit into your insurance plan?

Most people already include life insurance in their plans to protect their family if they pass away. Many also rely on group disability insurance to replace part of their income if they can’t work due to illness or injury.

But Critical Illness Insurance is often overlooked — and that can leave a gap.

Life insurance only pays if you die, and disability insurance often replaces only a portion of your income, usually with limits and waiting periods. Neither addresses the immediate, unexpected costs of a serious illness, like out-of-pocket medical expenses, travel for treatment, hiring help at home, or paying off debts quickly.

Critical Illness Insurance fills this gap by providing a lump sum, tax-free benefit right after diagnosis, even if you’re still able to work. It complements your life and disability insurance to give you and your family a more complete, well-rounded safety net.

It’s worth reviewing your overall plan to make sure all three pieces — life, disability, and critical illness — are working together to protect your family and your lifestyle no matter what happens.

Critical Illness Insurance provides financial security during one of life’s most challenging times. It’s flexible, tax-free, and tailored to your needs — giving you and your family confidence that you’ll have support if the unexpected happens.

If you’d like help exploring your options or getting a personalized quote, reach out anytime.

Benefits of Consolidation

When putting together your financial plan, there is no question about the benefits of consolidation. It’s common to have your finances all over the place. Savings at the bank, investments with several financial institutions, retirement savings at another. The importance of having a financial plan is the ability to coordinate, consolidate and be able to implement your plan to achieve your goals.

By putting it all together, it allows for better planning where there’s less confusion, more control over your finances, efficient investing and tax planning and creates a clear picture of what needs to be done to fulfill your financial goals.

Consolidation means you have an accountability partner on your side that will keep you on track and stay the course and address gaps in your plan and introduce you to specialists if needed.

Financial Planning issues that should be addressed are:

  • Wealth Protection
  • Is your disability insurance adequate? 
  • What about your life insurance in case of premature death? 
  • What do you do in case of a critical illness? 
  • Estate Planning- what’s the primary goal of your estate plan? 
  • Wealth Accumulation
  • Are you looking to preserve or grow your investments? 
  • Is your investment mix suitable for you? 
  • Are your investments tax efficient? 
  • When do you plan to retire? 

These issues are just scraping the surface, talk to us and we can chat further on how we can help.  

What is Critical Illness Insurance?

Nowadays, people survive serious medical issues such as cancer, a heart attack, or a stroke. And while this is good news if a critical
illness happens to you – your recovery may come with costs that you don’t have the money to cover.

This is where critical illness insurance can play a crucial role. In this article, we’ll explain:

  • What critical illness insurance is.
  • What you can use the money from a critical illness insurance payout for.
  • How you can get critical illness insurance.

What is critical illness insurance?

A critical illness policy is designed to help you pay the costs associated with a serious medical issue such as cancer, a stroke or a
heart attack.  With critical illness insurance, your insurance company will issue you a lump-sum payment once the waiting period has passed.

Critical illness insurance can help you pay for costs that aren’t covered by other health plans or disability insurance.

What can I use the money from critical illness insurance for?

With a critical illness lump-sum payment, there are no restrictions on what you can use the money for. You can choose to use the money
to:

  • Pay down debt or cover costs such as travel to and from your treatment.
  • Cover lost income for you if you cannot work. This is especially important if you are self-employed.
  • Pay for a caregiver or lost wages if your spouse takes time off work to be a caregiver.
  • Cover renovations on your house that are necessary due to your illness.
  • Cover medical treatments and medications not covered by a government or private health plan.

Being able to spend your critical illness insurance lump-sum payment freely takes a lot of stress off you and your family.

How do I get critical illness insurance?

We can help you get critical illness insurance.  If you’re interested in critical illness insurance, these are the steps you’ll need to follow:

  1. Think about why you want critical illness insurance and what kind of coverage you need.
  2. Book an appointment to speak to us. Apply for coverage.
  3. We’ll let you know when you’re approved and deliver your policy.

If you do get any of the illnesses listed in your policy, contact us, and we’ll guide you through the steps you need to file a claim. After your claim is approved, we’ll let you know when to expect your lump-sum payment.

Contact us!

It can be scary to think about getting ill, but critical illness insurance can help put your mind at ease that you’ll have the financial
resources you need. Reach out to us today to learn more!

Getting the best from a financial advisor

Working with a professional to help you to make sense of your finances can be a wise move, but for this relationship to work effectively it is important that you understand what to expect from your financial advisor.

What can your financial advisor help you with?

  • Defining your financial goals and creating a step by step plan or strategy to achieve them.

  • Planning for the future, including for retirement, future education or housing needs.

  • Choosing the mix of investments and assets that suit your goals, lifestyle, time horizon and appetite for risk.

  • Building a solid estate for your family to inherit in the future.

  • Choosing the most tax-efficient methods of saving and investing.

What should your financial advisor inform you of?

  • The range of services that they offer and how much and by which method you will compensate them.

  • Your mutual responsibilities and obligations towards each other.

  • What the planning process will look like and the documents that they will provide you with.

What will your financial advisor need from you or need to ask you about?

  • What your financial goals are.

  • What your personal circumstances – such as your marital status, any dependents, your job, earnings and tax situation.

  • Any investments or assets that you currently have – such as registered accounts, workplace pensions, property etc.

  • Your appetite for risk and investment preferences.

  • Information on your income and also your outgoings, including debts such as mortgages, loans or credit cards.

  • Whether or not you have a will, and its contents.

  • Your estate and inheritance planning situation.

If you’re looking to achieve your financial goals, talk to us. We can help. 

Estate Planning for Blended Families

Blended families – where two people get married but have children from previous relationships – are becoming more common. It can be challenging enough to take care of the everyday logistics; from where to live to making sure everyone gets along. So trying to make sure you properly take of estate planning often doesn’t get taken care of.

In most families – blended or not – spouses leave everything to each other. Then, when the surviving spouse dies, the remainder is divided amongst all of the children. The problem with this setup is that there is no guarantee that the surviving spouse will not remarry and inadvertently disinherit the deceased’s children.

To make sure that everyone is treated fairly, it’s essential to consider how to handle each of the following estate planning issues for blended families:

  • Sharing the Family Home

  • Make the Most of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan

  • How to Share Non-Registered Investments and Other Assets

  • Why It’s Important to Select a Good Trustee

  • The Advantages of Life Insurance for Blended Family Estate Planning

It’s essential to have a full discussion with your spouse and children to avoid misunderstandings and reduce uncertainty. But you don’t have to do it alone! We can provide you with tailored solutions to ensure your wishes are carried out.

Sharing The Family Home

This can be challenging, depending on whether the blended family moves into a new home or into a house one spouse already owns. An option to consider is that the spouse who is moving into the home already owned by the other spouse can then purchase an interest in the family home. If this occurs, each spouse can own the home as tenants-in-common, enabling them to manage their interest in the house separately.

When it comes time for each spouse to draw up a will, provisions can be made for the surviving spouse to remain in the home until the time of their choosing (or death) before passing on the interest to their respective children.

Make the Most of a Registered Retirement Savings Plans

The best way to take advantage of the tax-free rollover from an RRSP is for each spouse to name each other the beneficiary. While it may be tempting to leave your RRSP to your estate or one or more of your children, this can have ramifications. If you leave it to your estate, it will have to go through probate and also be taxed. If you leave it an adult child, the RRSP won’t have to go through probate, but the entire RRSP will be considered taxable to the deceased in the year of death.

How to Share Non-Registered Investments and Other Assets

You can set up your estate planning so that your spouse can benefit from income-producing assets during their lifetime, without necessarily impacting the capital in those assets. Your children can then benefit from them after your spouse dies.

Each spouse can set up a spousal testamentary trust to contain their income-producing investments and assets. The surviving spouse will then receive all the income from the trust and the option to access the capital for specific needs (if specified in the trust). After the surviving spouse dies, the assets will pass to whoever was identified as the trust’s inheritors. You can make the inheritors your children. This ensures that both your spouse and your children are taken care of.

Why It’s Important to Select a Good Trustee

Trusts are a vital part of effective estate planning for blended families. This means that it’s critical to pick the right trustee – as they will control and manage the assets of the deceased’s estate as outlined in the deceased’s will. You may even want to consider multiple trustees or the services of a trust company. A strong but neutral trustee will help ensure that your wishes are followed without causing fighting amongst family members.

Advantages of Life Insurance for Blended Family Estate Planning

There are several advantages to using life insurance policies as part of your estate planning for blended families:

  • The death benefit is tax-free. You can have it paid out in cash directly or create trusts, so the capital goes to your spouse while they live and your children after your spouse dies.

  • Since you can name the beneficiary, you can control who inherits the proceeds. It’s not considered part of the will, so it cannot be included in any wills variation action (more commonly known as challenging the will).

  • If one spouse enters the marriage with significantly more wealth than the other, life insurance can help create a fair division of assets.

The Takeaway

No matter what choices you make about estate planning for your blended family, you must communicate openly and honestly with everyone in the family. This will help ensure that everyone is aware of the state of affairs and reduces misunderstandings and uncertainty about what the future may hold for everyone in the family.

Using professional advice while you are estate planning for blended families can help you create a solution that satisfies both spouses and their respective children’s objectives. Reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns about your estate planning – I’m here to help!

Easy Exit: Business Succession in a Nutshell

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Getting into the world of business is a meticulous task, but so is getting out of it

Whether you’ve just hit the ground running on your business or if you’ve been at it for a long time, there is no better time to plan your exit strategy than now. Although the process may seem taxing, we’ve answered a few questions you may have about planning your business succession strategy. 

1. Who do I talk to about this? 

Deciding on how to go about the transition requires careful planning, and you need to consult no less than people who are well equipped to help you out. First, talk to your key advisors such as bankers and financial partners. You could also use some advice from your accountant and lawyers. If your company has an advisory board, better consult them as well. You may also hire a specialist or a consultant, depending on how you choose to go about your business succession plan. 

2. Who should I choose as a successor? 

There are several ways to go about this, and your decision will ultimately be your personal choice. You may pass on your business to a family member or to your top executives or managers. You may also choose to sell it to an outsider. Whichever path you choose, you can also decide on how much you want to be involved in the business after you pass it on. That is, if you want to be involved at all. 

3. When should I inform my successor about my plans? 

While a surprise inheritance may be heartwarming, it’s not the same with inheriting a business. Getting a successor ready—whether it’s a family member or someone from your company—requires careful planning and training. As soon as you’ve chosen a successor, better get started on getting them ready for the big shoes they’re about to fill. This includes helping them equip themselves with the necessary skills, knowledge, and qualifications necessary to run your business. 

4. How do I plan the transition itself? 

The transition will be twofold—transferring ownership and handing over the business itself. As far as transferring ownership is concerned, you need to consider legal and financial details. These include valuation, financing and taxation. You also need to consider if you wish to keep your current legal structure (corporation, sole prop, partnership, etc.) or if you (or your successor) would like to change it. You also need to plan how to prepare various stakeholders in the business for the transition. How will you prepare your customers, clients, and employees? What would be their level of involvement? Make sure that you put different strategies in place in order to ensure transparency and consistency in communicating changes in your business, especially something as drastic as succession. 

5. Now that I have a business succession plan ready, can I go back to business as usual? 

Not really. Your business and your customers’ needs may change over time. This means that you need to keep reviewing and adjusting your plan as your business also evolves. 

Don’t lose all your hard-earned money to taxes

Don’t lose all your hard-earned money to taxes

Tax planning is an essential part of managing your money – both while living and after your death. You want to maximize the amount of money to your beneficiaries, not the government. We have three tips to help you reduce taxes on your hard-earned money:

  1. Make the most of the lifetime capital gains exemption

  2. Decrease your end-of-life tax bill

  3. Look into Immediate Financing Arrangements

Lifetime capital gains exemption

The good news is that you can save a lot of money on taxes using the lifetime capital gains exemption. The bad news is that you could lose out on some of those savings unless you follow all the appropriate steps. Having a financial team to guide you through these steps is essential. When it comes to selling all or part of your business, your lawyer, accountant, and financial advisor must be all on the same page.

End-of-life tax bill

As with the lifetime capital gains exemption, working with your financial team to ensure your affairs are in order is crucial. Without the proper paperwork, your hard-earned money may not go to the family members, friends, or charities you want to support. Take the time to ensure that your wishes are properly documented and that you have filled out all essential paperwork.

Consider an Immediate Financing Arrangement

An Immediate Financing Arrangement (IFA) lets your business:

  • Get a life insurance premium on behalf of a shareholder

  • Create a tax deduction

  • Transfer assets tax-free from the business to a shareholder’s estate

Also, you can use an IFA to help increase your business’ cash flow by pledging the life insurance policy as collateral for a loan. The loan can be invested into the business or other investments if the company does not need the additional cash flow.

The Takeaway

While this can all seem overwhelming, it is essential to make sure you take the proper steps to protect your business and minimize your tax bill. But you don’t have to do this alone – contact us today for expert advice and guidance.

Do you need an estate plan?

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Managing your finances raises a number of topics but none as tricky and potentially unpleasant as planning for your family and finances in the event that you pass away or become incapacitated. Understandably, these questions are often ignored by many—but don’t fall into the trap of avoiding these difficult matters. Good estate planning will help to make sure that your wishes are carried out, and your family and assets are well protected.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the key areas that you should consider when designing your estate plan:

  • Choosing a guardian – One of the most important considerations is who you select to become the legal guardian of your children. This is a very personal and complex decision, and you will consider several unique factors depending on your circumstances, but your principal concerns might be how physically able the person is to look after your children, as well as such practical matters as how close they live to you and their personal and financial situation and stability.

  • Life insurance and trusts – Life insurance gives your family the financial security to continue their standard of living and fulfil their dreams in the event that you are unable to provide for them yourself. Life insurance payouts can be used in various ways, including paying off debts, paying for college education, or simply helping with general living costs.

 

A trust is a way of specifying how and when you wish to pass money and other resources to your children. It can be an excellent way of ensuring that their inheritance reaches them before the age of eighteen or twenty-one, unlike a court-controlled process, as you will stipulate who manages and distributes the funds.

·      Choosing someone to make decisions on your behalf

It is crucial to make sure that somebody trustworthy is nominated to manage and distribute your various assets according to your wishes. This executor can be anybody, though spouses, older children, or close friends are often common choices. Similarly, if you become too sick to make your own decisions about your finances or your family’s care, a health care directive and a power of attorney will give you peace of mind and go a long way towards protecting your assets.

Now that we understand the key areas that should be considered in estate planning, here are some of the important components or documents involved in the process:

·      Will, trusts, and beneficiary forms

Both a will and a trust should detail your assets and how you wish them to be distributed when you die, as well as assigning the guardians of your children. However, one benefit that a trust has over a will is that a trust does not have to go through probate prior to being executed, as well as the option of coming into effect before you pass away; it remains under your control and transfers the role of trustee to someone else when you decease.

Beneficiary forms are slightly different. They assign designated beneficiaries to specific financial accounts such as mortgages and bank accounts. As this information holds more legal weight than a will itself, it is crucial to regularly ensure that your beneficiaries are up to date.

 

·      Durable powers of attorney

The term power of attorney refers to the person, or persons, that you nominate to act on your behalf in the event that you are too ill to state or carry out your own wishes. There are various ways to implement this; you can choose specific individuals for particular roles, such as one person to look after your finances and another to make your healthcare decisions, or you can designate one person full power of attorney to manage all of your affairs.

 

·      A living will

Not to be confused with a last will and testament, a living will details the type of medical treatment that you wish if you were ever incapacitated. Along with a general or healthcare power of attorney (see above), this document is known as your advance health care directive, and it not only provides you with peace of mind that your medical wishes will be respected, but it also gives direction and support to your family when faced with difficult decisions about your care.

 

·      Letter of intent

This document is not legally binding and can offer a more personal touch alongside an official will or trust. As the letter is less formal and binding than other documents, many people use it to express their wishes about more personal aspects such as their requests for funeral arrangements, or even preferences and desires for how their family should be brought up.

As with any financial arrangement, changes over time, not only in process and legislation but in your own personal situation, mean that it is imperative to keep your estate planning strategy under review and regularly updated to ensure it’s fit for its purpose and accurately reflects your wishes. 

Do you REALLY need life insurance?

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You most likely do, but the more important question is, What kind? Whether you’re a young professional starting out, a devoted parent or a successful CEO, securing a life insurance policy is probably one of the most important decisions you will have to make in your adult life. Most people would agree that having financial safety nets in place is a good way to make sure that your loved ones will be taken care of when you pass away. Insurance can also help support your financial obligations and even take care of your estate liabilities. The tricky part, however, is figuring out what kind of life insurance best suits your goals and needs. This quick guide will help you decide what life insurance policy is best for you, depending on who needs to benefit from it and how long you’ll need it. 

Permanent or Term? 

Life insurance can be classified into two principal types: permanent or term. Both have different strengths and weaknesses, depending on what you aim to achieve with your life insurance policy. 

Term life insurance provides death benefits for a limited amount of time, usually for a fixed number of years. Let’s say you get a 30-year term. This means you’ll only pay for each year of those 30 years. If you die before the 30-year period, then your beneficiaries shall receive the death benefits they are entitled to. After the period, the insurance shall expire. You will no longer need to pay premiums, and your beneficiaries will no longer be entitled to any benefits.

Term life insurance is right for you if you are: 

  • The family breadwinner. Death benefits will replace your income for the years that you will have been working, in order to support your family’s needs.

  • A stay-at-home parent. You can set your insurance policy term to cover the years that your child will need financial support, especially for things that you would normally provide as a stay-at-home parent, such as childcare services.

  • A divorced parent. Insurance can cover the cost of child support, and the term can be set depending on how long you need to make support payments.

  • A mortgagor. If you are a homeowner with a mortgage, you can set up your term insurance to cover the years that you have to make payments. This way, your family won’t have to worry about losing their home.

  • A debtor with a co-signed debt. If you have credit card debt or student loans, a term life insurance policy can cover your debt payments. The term can be set to run for the duration of the payments. 

  • A business owner. If you’re a business owner, you may need either a term or permanent life insurance, depending on your needs. If you’re primarily concerned with paying off business debts, then a term life insurance may be your best option. 

Unlike term life insurance, a permanent life insurance does not expire. This means that your beneficiaries can receive death benefits no matter when you die. Aside from death benefits, a permanent life insurance policy can also double as a savings plan. A certain portion of your premiums can build cash value, which you may “withdraw” or borrow for future needs. You can do well with a permanent life insurance policy if you: 

  • …Have a special needs child. As a special needs child will most likely need support for health care and other expenses even as they enter adulthood. Your permanent life insurance can provide them with death benefits any time within their lifetime.

  • …Want to leave something for your loved ones. Regardless of your net worth, permanent life insurance will make sure that your beneficiaries receive what they are entitled to. If you have a high net worth, permanent life insurance can take care of estate taxes. Otherwise, they will still get even a small inheritance through death benefits.

  • …Want to make sure that your funeral expenses are covered. Final expense insurance can provide coverage for funeral expenses for smaller premiums.

  • …Have maximized your retirement plans. As permanent life insurance may also come with a savings component, this can also be used to help you out during retirement.

  • …Own a business. As mentioned earlier, business owners may need either permanent or term, depending on their needs.

A permanent insurance policy can help pay off estate taxes, so that the successors can inherit the business worry-free. Different people have different financial needs, so there is no one-sized-fits-all approach to choosing the right insurance policy for you. Talk to us now, and find out how a permanent or term life insurance can best give you security and peace of mind. 

Different types of life insurance explained

Different types of life insurance explained

You may already have or are interested in life insurance because it can provide significant financial protection for you and your family. To get the best coverage that suits your needs and lifestyle, it is essential to be familiar with the four most common types of life insurance available:

  1. Term life insurance
  2. Permanent life insurance
  3. Participating life insurance
  4. Universal life insurance

1) Term life insurance

Term life insurance provides coverage for a specific period, such as five, ten, or even fifteen or twenty years. Once that term is up, you can choose to renew your policy – but your premiums may go up.

If you die while your term life insurance policy is in effect, your beneficiaries will receive a tax-free death benefit equal to the amount of coverage you selected. Your beneficiaries can then use that benefit to pay for whatever they choose, such as debts, a mortgage, tuition, and everyday living expenses.

2) Permanent life insurance

With permanent life insurance, you will have coverage for your whole life. In addition, the cost of insurance can be structured so that the cost does not increase as you age, even if your health worsens. However, the level cost for life means that permanent life insurance may be more expensive than term insurance premiums in the early years but potentially less costly than term insurance premiums as you age.

As with term life insurance, your beneficiaries will be entitled to a tax-free death benefit after you die. Permanent life insurance also offers a cash value feature. You can use this cash value as collateral for a loan or withdraw the value – but this will reduce your death benefit.

3) Participating life insurance

Participating life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance – which offers the added bonus of letting you earn dividends. With these earned dividends, you can either reinvest them to help reduce the cost of your premiums or withdraw them as cash.

As with all life insurance policies, upon your death, your beneficiaries will receive a tax-free death benefit to spend as they deem fit.

4) Universal life insurance

Universal life insurance is also another form of permanent life insurance. Along with a tax-free death benefit, Universal Life also lets you invest extra money (if you choose) that can grow in a tax-advantaged account! With universal life insurance, you can provide for your beneficiaries upon death while saving extra cash for yourself or your business.

We can help!

If you are unsure what kind of life insurance is best for you, give us a call today! We can answer any questions about these different kinds of life insurance and what features and benefits are best for you.