Slide 2

Insurance

Life comes with few guarantees, but with Front Gate Financial Group, you can count on guaranteed disability insurance, as well as many other products to protect the wellbeing of your family. We work with North America’s top insurers to help you find a plan with the right amount of coverage and at a price that is affordable.

Life Insurance

Why Life Insurance?

Let’s face the facts on this issue; nobody gets excited about buying life insurance! It is one of those topics that people simply do not talk about around the breakfast table. That being said, knowing that one’s family is protected from financial hardship in the event of an untimely death can provide you with great peace of mind. With respect to a small business, life insurance can provide a means of buying out the shares of deceased partners, ensure the survival of a business after the untimely passing of a key person or owner and make use of certain products during your retirement planning efforts.

As advisors, we sometimes hear people claim they cannot afford life insurance. It may sound cliché, but whether you are a parent, a business owner or an individual who cares about the wellbeing of a loved one or a cause, you really cannot afford not to have life insurance! Many folks are often quite surprised just how affordable coverage can be. Our advice: Know the facts before you determine that a plan is not for you. An email, a text, or a simple phone call can dispel many of the myths around this most important topic in your financial planning efforts.

Let’s take a look at a couple of case studies. These are actual case studies of situations that have happened to our clients over the years. Out of respect to the clients’ privacy, we have changed the names of the clients involved.
Bruce and Mary
Bruce, a man in his early 60s, owns a family business with his wife, Mary. The two of them work full-time in the business. Although his wife is very knowledgeable about the business, the two of them realize that there would be no way possible that one of them could run the business on their own. When we discussed the topic of life insurance with this couple they explained that Bruce had a few minor health challenges (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes) but, all were regulated with medication. The couple thought that life insurance was out of reach because Bruce could not qualify medically anymore. With this in mind, we explained that there are guaranteed issue life insurance products available based on easier qualification criteria for those that cannot pass the full underwriting of a traditional life insurance policy. Although they could not buy as much coverage as they had hoped, based on the maximums that the type of policy that Bruce had to buy allowed for, they were able to buy enough coverage to look after all of their short-term debts of the business and two full years of the couples’ wages that they normally withdrew from the business.

Within just two years after buying the policy, Bruce unfortunately passed away from complications related to a surgery. A few weeks after his passing, the life insurance policy paid out to Mary. She was able to take the time to properly sell the business (as opposed to a fire sale) and found a great young couple who would do a good job looking after the clientele that she and Bruce had built up over their many years in business. Although Mary misses Bruce very much, she took comfort in knowing that she was okay financially and that Bruce’s wishes for her wellbeing were carried out.

Pierre and Tammy
Pierre and Tammy had been doing business with Front Gate Financial Group for years. During a slow period in their business, like previous years, they met with our adviser for an annual review. Given that they had just purchased a new (and expensive) machine for their business, a daughter ready to go to university within two years, a boy several years later and they just bought a travel trailer, it was recommended that they increase their term insurance coverage. They also had just made the decision to have Tammy leave her job and work in the business full-time with Pierre. Given that the household income was predominantly based on Pierre’s ability to manage the family’s small business, it was obvious that they needed to “beef up” their current plan. Always watching the nickels and dimes, Pierre hesitated to increase their monthly payments for insurance. He told his adviser, “We are insurance poor! We really cannot afford more coverage.” His adviser looked him straight in the eye and said, “If something happened to you, Pierre, that is exactly how you would leave your family — in an extremely poor situation.” It was the right message, with just the right delivery to drive home the point for Pierre. He finally agreed to increase the amount of term insurance, covering his wife and himself.

Only four months after finalizing the coverage increase, Pierre was killed in a tragic motor vehicle accident. Upon meeting with Tammy to deliver the death claim cheque, she asked her adviser, “What are we going to do now?” He went into his briefcase and pulled out the needs analysis document that he had filled out just a few months ago with both of them. The adviser began to explain, “This is exactly what Pierre and yourself agreed would be your wishes if one of you were to pass away prematurely. Now that this worst-case scenario has happened, we don’t deviate from the plan.” After taking a few minutes to review the document, Tammy became overwhelmed with emotion. The amount of coverage that Pierre had agreed to purchase allowed for the family’s mortgage and household debts to be paid off. The expensive machine that the business had just bought had its loan retired. There was a reserve amount allocated for the kids’ university or college education. Most importantly, there were enough life insurance proceeds left over to invest and replicate the income that the family enjoyed while Pierre was working the family business. Tammy knew that she did not have the skills necessary to maintain the family business. There was enough money allocated in the plan to recruit and hire a very good manager for the business. That individual was able to take a lot of the short-term business stress off of Tammy, so that she could focus on what really mattered — the couple’s children.

Inevitably, Pierre did not leave his family in a “poor situation” — quite the contrary. Even though he really did not want to increase his premium payments, he also did not want to see his wife and kids go without the things that they enjoyed while he was with them. The life insurance proceeds proved to be a real blessing for this family. In the end, it was an expense that they simply could not live without.

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Front Gate Financial’s service areas are New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Alberta.