Frank, a business owner and father of three, came to me for help setting up family planning insurance. I’d been encouraging him for years to put a plan in place, but like many of us, he found the whole subject uncomfortable. “My wife has been at me about this too,” he said when he walked in to my office. “I figured it was about time I dealt with it.”

Now, when I help people set up family planning insurance, I have to go over their financial situation with a fine-toothed comb. This requires a great deal of trust and openness on their part. They need to have complete faith in me, and they need to be willing to face up to the fact that one day, they won’t be here – but their spouse and/or children will be, and will need to be taken care of. It’s not a pleasant topic of discussion, but it is a necessary one. As Frank put it, “I don’t really want to think about the world without me in it. But I love my family. I want them to be okay, with or without me.”

Together, Frank and I worked out a plan that guaranteed his wife and children were safe from any financial pain should something happen to him. They would have plenty to live on, no debt, and no change in their standard of living. He was very happy, and thanked me profusely.

But then, Frank said something that I’ll never forget: “Cindy, this was a gift. What you’ve done for me here is going to let me sleep at night, and I’m grateful. But I just realized that this is also me giving a gift, a huge gift, to my family.” He smiled. “I’m going to wait and tell my wife about it over the holidays!”

Frank was right – insurance planning is a gift that you give to your family. It’s the gift of security, of safety, of commitment and love. That much has always been obvious to me.

It also occurred to me that Frank, and clients like you, give me gifts as well. You let me in to the intimate details of your financial lives, and in doing so you give me the gift of your trust. I feel so very lucky to be able to get up every day and know that the work I do actually helps make people’s lives better.

So, I am posting this letter to thank you – really thank you – for allowing me to do the work I love for the past 33 years. It’s been a privilege, and an honour.

It turned out that they owned the building they worked out of. So, I asked them some basic questions: how is the building funded? What plans are in place if one of the partners dissolves the partnership? What about if a partner becomes disabled… how are salaries, benefits and debts handled? Who pays?

They looked at each other, then at me. One of them shrugged. “We have no idea,” he said. “No-one has ever asked us that before. We hadn’t even thought of it.”

Then I asked about their existing employee coverage. I asked how long ill or disabled employees would be covered by the business before turning the responsibility over to the insurance company. Not only did they have no idea… they discovered that they didn’t even have disability insurance!

Whether you are a business owner, an employee, a retiree… it’s essential that you know the details of your insurance plan – especially, where the gaps are. Not knowing means that you, your business, and your family could be at risk. For these three partners, their individual financial obligations were intertwined with their business, which meant that if the business folded, or a partner left, they’d be on the hook personally. And if an employee had to take long-term leave for illness, they (not their insurance company) would be paying out of pocket indefinitely.

By asking some basic questions based on their business and individual situations (questions that, apparently, not every advisor or firm asks, even though they should), I was able to set up corporate and group plans that protected the company and the employees. Then, after determining each partner’s individual needs and goals, I filled in the gaps with personal plans that ensured they and their families were protected – no matter what happened to the business.

If your personal, group and business plans aren’t integrated, it’s very likely that there are gaps in your coverage that leave you at risk. That’s why I specialize in integrating all three – so I can spot the gaps, and fill them before they become a problem. So… where are YOUR gaps?

PS: Thanks to all of you who have sent referrals our way. We appreciate your confidence in us.

Several years ago, I helped an employee of one of my client’s companies put a comprehensive personal insurance plan in place. In addition to the group benefits her employer and I had implemented, I added personal life, disability and critical illness insurance for her and her family.

About two months ago, I met with her for a review… and it turned out that her husband had suffered a stroke. Luckily, it was covered by her critical illness insurance. Their claim was paid successfully, and the family was delighted.

Before they received their money, I met with her to discuss how those funds might be used in the context of their current and potential future financial situation. I wanted to make sure that this windfall did what it was designed to do – put her family in a secure financial position, despite the loss of her husband’s income.

Like most of us, she had a million uses for the money – she just wasn’t sure what her best move would be. Should she use it to pay off her mortgage? To reduce debt? To renovate the house? And what about fun stuff, like a family trip?

I showed her how all of the various uses for the money integrated with one another, how they might be prioritized, and what could happen down the road depending on her decisions in the present. We ended up with a plan that took care of some immediate debt, solidified her family’s future financial stability… and allowed for a few well-deserved tropical vacations!

So what would you do with a financial windfall? When it happens, we owe it to ourselves to have some fun with it today, but also to make it last far into tomorrow. And knowing how all of our financial pieces are integrated and work together lets us make informed decisions – and turn a windfall into a future.

PS: Thanks to all of you who have sent referrals our way. We appreciate your confidence in us.

What I found had me concerned for her. First, since she was still working elsewhere, there was no reason for her to start a pension. If she had let it sit another five or six years and then taken it, her monthly payments could have been much, much higher. What’s more, she was going to have to pay more tax due to the increase in her income.

But worse – in the event of her death, her pension would actually drop by 40%! Since this would leave her husband short, she now had to make up for that 40% downfall somehow… plus inflation.

When I asked her why she had taken this package, her response was (unfortunately) typical of many people I encounter. “I don’t know,” she said. “I just took it. It seemed to be my only choice.”

When it comes to pensions, most of us really don’t know what we don’t know. We aren’t sure what we need – we just know we need something. And when we research our options, the information is very hard to understand and full of jargon. So, we take the first plan that comes our way; a generic package that doesn’t take into account the specifics of our situation.

If Joan had come to me first, I would have reviewed her financial situation, and helped her create a retirement strategy that made sense for her… and for her family. We would have assessed the true value of the pension and requested information from the supplier about numerous options available to her. Then we would have made recommendations for action that took into consideration all her other assets, liabilities, responsibilities and goals.

So the next time you’re wondering what to do about your retirement, give me a call. After all… when it comes to making decisions about the rest of your life, it pays to be in the know!

PS: Thanks to all of you who have sent referrals our way. We appreciate your confidence in us.

As I went over the details, he mentioned that he’d just moved his employee group benefits plan to a different carrier. When I asked him for information about the plan, he couldn’t answer me. He had no idea how much or what kind of coverage he had. In fact, he couldn’t even remember the name of the carrier, or the broker who gave him the plan!

But the biggest surprise came when I asked him why he hadn’t come to me for his group plan. He looked at me in complete shock, then shook his head. “Cindy,” he said, “It didn’t even occur to me to ask you!”

I realize that nobody (except me, of course) enjoys talking about insurance. It’s complicated. It’s no fun. And let’s be honest – it can feel downright uncomfortable to sit around planning for all the bad things that could possibly happen.

When Jim needed to change group plans, he didn’t want to spend much time thinking about it – he just wanted to handle it and move on. So, he took the first plan that came his way; a generic package that did not take into account the specifics of his situation or the coverage he already had in place. What he didn’t realize, however, was that the solution he needed was already right under his nose!

As a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), I’m fully trained to integrate all three areas of your insurance and group benefits needs. I help business owners like Jim save time and money, and avoid the kinds of problems that give them headaches (or worse!) down the line.

So the next time your insurance requirements change and you find yourself wondering what to do, give me a call. The perfect solution might just be right under your nose!

PS: If you know a business owner, senior manager, or anyone else who could benefit from my services and advice, please feel free to pass my contact information or website url along to them – and make sure they tell me you sent them!