The Four Feasibility Gates

Your health and lifestyle qualify you for insurance. Either could lead to higher premiums or denial of coverage. At a certain point, the insurance is simply too costly.

We conduct a Preliminary Insurability Review.  If you have health issues, we submit an anonymized profile of you to insurers to gauge potential underwriting outcomes.

• Proceed: You are likely to qualify for Standard or Preferred rates, or recieve a minimal rating (requirement to pay additional premiums).
• Pause: You have uncompleted medical tests and would likely be approve at Standard or Preferred rates otherwise. We can revisit after the tests are completed.
• Stop: You are likely to be highly rated or declined.
  • The Pivot: We explore insuring a different life (e.g., a business partner, spouse, or adult child) or using Joint Last-to-Die coverage.

You must be able to comfortably fund premiums with after-tax, unborrowed dollars. 

The safest approach is to cover the premiums not from cash flow, but by reallocating non-registered assets you already have.

We perform a Financial Capacity Review. We look at your current investible assets (retained earnings or personal non-registered savings) and how much you add to them annually.

• Proceed: You have “True Surplus”—capital that will never be needed for lifestyle or business operations, even in a 30% revenue downturn.
• Pause: You are adding a significant amount to your retained earning annually, but are unsure if you will require those funds in the future. Further analysis will be done in this case.
• Stop: The premiums would consume more capital than is comfortably available.
  • The Pivot: We shift to a low-cost Term 10 policy. This locks in your insurability (health status) and premiums (which increase with age) today, with a contractual right to convert to a permanent corporate strategy once you have more capital available.

Your patience, tolerance for risk, and philosophy dictate what designs suit you best. 

Here are some questions we consider:

• Do you prefer predictable returns even if they may be lower than those of a more volatile strategy, or the other way around?
• Are you prepared to stick to a strategy for decades and focus on long-term appreciation rather than short-term downturns?

We match your temperament to viable strategies. There are many ways to approach wealth with insurance: creation, protection and distribution. A combination of strategies can achieve your goals.

• Proceed: You have a good grasp on what you are and are not comfortable with financially, and the designs we have are compatible with your mindset.
• Pause: You like some of what our strategies can do, but have reservations or feel there are shortfalls. More modelling and discussion can help you decide if you want to Proceed or Stop.
• Stop: We don’t have strategies that are a fit for you right now.
  • The Pivot: We remain available to discuss insurance if it becomes more appropriate for you in the future.

It’s important that the strategies you select mesh with your goals.

For instance, if you plan to sell your business in 3 years and leave Canada, a corporate policy becomes a massive liability—an “anchor” that complicates your exit.

If instead you want to ensure that as many of your assets as possible pass to your heirs unhindered, that same corporate policy could be a major boon. 

Are you focused more on enhancing wealth for your own use, for your heirs, or both in equal measure?

Every situation is unique and there are likely ways insurance can assist in yours.

We clarify what your goals are. We ensure that you have a strong reason to get insured.

• Proceed: You have a desire to increase your Impact (Heirs/Philanthropy) or your net worth’s long-term after-tax Growth.

• Pause: You are still considering what you want to do in the future. We can show you how insurance has helped people in situations like yours.

• Stop: Your goals are all oriented towards the short-term.

  • The Pivot: We remain available to discuss insurance if your goals change.