Estate Planning – Randy Reynolds FAB Planning

What the Wealthy Know about Life Insurance

import Mar 23, 2017

If you have ever thought that life insurance was something you wouldn’t need after you reached a certain level of financial security, you might be interested in knowing why many wealthy individuals still carry large amounts of insurance. Consider the following:

A life insurance advisor in California recently placed a $201 million dollar life insurance policy on the life of a tech industry billionaire;
Well known music executive David Geffen was life insured for $100 million;
Malcolm Forbes, owner of Forbes Magazine, was insured at the time of his death in 1990 for $70 million.

While life insurance is most often looked upon as a vehicle to protect ones family or business, the question that springs to mind is why would individuals with wealth need life insurance?

The Corporate Estate Transfer

import Nov 21, 2016

If you are the owner of a successful company it is likely that you have retained profits or surplus cash in your corporation. If this is the case, chances are also good that this invested surplus is exposed to a high rate of corporate income tax. If this describes your company then you may be a candidate for the Corporate Estate Transfer. This strategy provides tax sheltered growth as well as maximizing the estate value of your company upon your death.

What is a Corporate Estate Transfer?

The Corporate Estate Transfer is an arrangement in which the company purchases a tax exempt life insurance policy on the life of the shareholder using corporate funds that are not needed for immediate business purposes. In doing so, the transferred surplus grows tax-deferred while the death benefit of the life insurance policy increases the value to the estate when the shareholder dies.

Boomer + Sandwich Generation + Club Sandwich + Boomerang = Financial Instability

import Oct 24, 2016

The Sandwich Generation was a term coined by Dorothy Miller in 1981 to describe adult children who were “sandwiched” between their aging parents and their own maturing children. There is even a term for those of us who are in our 50’s or 60’s with elderly parents, adult children and grandchildren – the Club Sandwich. More recently, the Boomerang Generation (the estimated 29% of adults ranging in ages 25 to 34, who live with their parents), are adding to the financial pressures as Boomers head into retirement. It is estimated that by 2026, 1 in 5 Canadians will be older than 65. This means fewer adults to both fund and provide for elder care. Today, it is likely that the average married couple will have more living parents than they do children.

What are the challenges?

The Single Premium Insured Annuity

import Aug 22, 2016

Available until January 1, 2017

A New Approach

A new method of structuring an insured annuity has restored its favourable results. The new approach involves combining the prescribed annuity with a Universal Life policy.

The UL policy is funded with a single deposit to provide lifetime coverage.
The remaining capital is then used to purchase the prescribed life annuity.
On the death of the insured/annuitant, the annuity income ceases
The Universal Life policy now returns the full amount of the capital to the intended beneficiaries.

Do You Need Individual Life Insurance?

import May 16, 2016

Canadians may need to rethink their risk management

In a recent study conducted by the Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA), it was reported that 61% of Canadians hold some form of life insurance. Surprisingly, it also revealed that only 38% of Canadians own an individual life insurance contract.

In another study of middle class Canadians, Manulife reported that 79% had no individual disability insurance and 87% had no individual critical illness coverage.

What both of these studies conclude is that most Canadians rely heavily on their group benefits for their family’s insurance protection.

Taxation of Life Insurance – New Rules Offer a Window of Opportunity

import Mar 21, 2016

Permanent life insurance, such as Whole Life or Universal Life, has long been accepted as a tax efficient way of accumulating cash for future needs. Soon the amount of funds that can be tax sheltered within a life insurance policy will be reduced by new tax rules which take effect January 1, 2017. These changes may make 2016 the best year to buy cash value life insurance.

The changes to the tax rules regarding life insurance have resulted in an update to the “exempt test” which measures how much cash value can accumulate in a policy before it becomes subject to income tax.

Highlights of the new rules and their effect

For Cash Value Life Insurance:

Changes to the Taxation of Estates

import Nov 16, 2015

Estate, trust and tax planners have long favoured testamentary trusts as vehicles to pass along assets to beneficiaries or heirs. A testamentary trust is generally a trust or estate that is created the day a person dies. Commonly, these trusts are established in a testator’s will.

A significant benefit to testamentary trusts had been that income earned and retained in the trust received the same graduated rate of income tax as an individual tax payer. Unfortunately, under the terms of Bill C-43, after January 1, 2016, all income retained in the trust will now be taxed at the highest rate of tax applicable in the province in which the trust is resident.

There will be two exceptions to this new rule – The Graduated Rate Estate (GRE) and a Qualified Disability Trust (QDT).

The Estate Bond

import Aug 18, 2015

Growing your estate without undue market risk and taxes

Often we see older investors shift gears near retirement and beyond. Many become risk adverse and move their assets into fixed income type investments. Unfortunately this often results in the assets being exposed to higher rates of income tax and lower rates of return – never a good combination.

Or maybe the older investor cannot fully enjoy their retirement years for fear of spending their children’s inheritance.

The Estate Bond financial planning strategy presents a solution to both of these problems.

Pay Attention to Your Beneficiary Designation

import Jul 20, 2015

It’s more important than you think

Naming a beneficiary is a valuable feature of life insurance and segregated funds policies so it is important to carefully choose your beneficiaries.

Estate – the default choice

Many people choose to name their “estate” as their beneficiary. Although this is an easy short-term solution, it is important to review the risks of doing this. If you are stuck for a significant “other” beneficiary, don’t forget to change it to a more appropriate option later. Why?

The proceeds will be subjected to probate fees and the benefits received will be co-mingled with all the other estate assets which may be exposed to various third parties.

Estate Planning for Blended Families

import Jun 11, 2015

Avoid Disinheriting Your Children

In today’s family it is not unusual for spouses to enter the marriage with children from previous relationships. Parents work hard at getting these children to functionally blend together to create a happy family environment. Often overlooked is what happens on the death of one of the parents. In most cases special consideration for estate planning is needed to avoid relationship loss and possibly legal action.

Typically spouses leave everything to each other and when the surviving spouse dies, the remainder is divided amongst the children. The problem? Even with the best of intentions, there is no guarantee that the surviving spouse will not remarry and inadvertently disinherit the deceased’s children.