Business owners are busy… they’re busy running a successful business, wearing lots of hats and making a ton of decisions. We've put together a list of 10 essential decisions for every business owner to consider.

Financial Tech Tools Sep 1, 2021 business owners

10 Essential Decisions for Business Owners

Business owners are busy… they are busy running a successful business, wearing lots of hats and making a ton of decisions. We’ve put together a list of 10 essential decisions for every business owner to consider; from corporate structure to retirement and succession planning:

Best structure for your business (ex. Sole Proprietor, Corporation, Partnership)
Reduce taxes
What to do with surplus cash
Build employee loyalty
Reduce risk
Deal with the unexpected
Retire from your business
Sell your business
Keep your business in the family
What to do when you’re retired

As a financial advisor, we are uniquely positioned to help business owners, talk to us about your situation and we can provide the guidance you need.

You may have had life insurance for as long as you can remember. You knew it was important to make sure that your family would be taken care of and be able to pay their bills if anything happened to you. But now that you’re over 60, your children are grown, and your mortgage is paid off, you may feel you don’t need life insurance anymore. However, there are some circumstances under which it may still make sense for you to have life insurance: • You still have substantial debt. • You have dependent children or grandchildren. • You want to be able to leave a financial legacy.

Financial Tech Tools Aug 17, 2021

You may have had life insurance for as long as you can remember. You wanted to make sure that your family would be taken care of and be able to pay their bills if anything happened to you.

But now that you’re older and your children are grown – and hopefully your mortgage is paid off – you may not feel you still need life insurance. This could be a valid assumption; however, there are some circumstances under which it may still make sense for you to have life insurance. They are:

You still have substantial debt.
You have dependent children or grandchildren.
You want to leave a financial legacy.

You still have substantial debt

No one likes the thought of leaving their loved ones to pay their debts if they die. If, however, someone has co-signed a loan with you – for example, for a mortgage or a car – and you die, then they will be on the hook for the entire amount.

If you have life insurance and name your co-signer as the beneficiary, this will help relieve any financial burden your death could cause them.

You have dependent children or grandchildren

If you have children who are still dependent on you because they have a mental or physical disability, life insurance can be an excellent way to ensure they will still have access to funds after you die. Lifelong care can be expensive, and a life insurance benefit will go a long way to helping fund it.

You may have grandchildren you are caring for or that you are not responsible for but want to leave money they can use towards higher
education. A life insurance payout can be a great way to help a grandchild get a good start in life without having to go into debt.

You want to leave a financial legacy

You may not have dependent children or grandchildren but still want to leave them something when you die. Life insurance can be a great way to do this without cutting back on your spending during your lifetime.

Life insurance can also help make sure that you have something to leave everyone in your will. If you have a family cottage, it can
be complicated to leave it to more than one person or family. Life insurance gives you the option to leave one person or family the cottage and another person or family the cash equivalent.

We can help you!

If you’re unsure whether or not it still makes sense to have life insurance after the age of 60, we’d be happy to sit down with you and talk through your options. Give us a call or email us today!

For business owners, making sure your business is financially protected can be overwhelming. Business owners face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing risk. Insurance can play an important role.

Financial Tech Tools Jul 1, 2021

For business owners, making sure your business is financially protected can be overwhelming. Business owners face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing risk. Insurance can play an important role when it comes to reducing the financial impact on your business in the case of uncontrollable events such as disability, critical illness or loss of a key shareholder or employee.

This infographic addresses the importance of corporate insurance.

The 4 areas of insurance a business owner should take care of are:

Health
Disability
Critical Illness
Life

Health: We are fortunate in Canada, where the healthcare system pays for basic healthcare services for Canadian citizens and permanent residents. However, not everything healthcare related is covered, in reality, 30% of our health costs* are paid for out of pocket or through private insurance such as prescription medication, dental, prescription glasses, physiotherapy, etc.

For business owners, offering employee health benefits make smart business sense because health benefits can form part of a compensation package and can help retain key employees and attract new talent.

For business owners that are looking to provide alternative health plans in a cost effective manner, you may want to consider a health spending account.

Consider the financial impact this would have on your business if you, a key employee or shareholder were to suffer from an injury or illness. Disability insurance can provide a monthly income to help keep your business running.

Business overhead expense insurance can provide monthly reimbursement of expenses during total disability such as rent for commercial space, utilities, employee salaries and benefits, equipment leasing costs, accounting fees, insurance premiums for property and liability, etc.

Key person disability insurance can be used to provide monthly funds for the key employee while they’re disabled and protect the business from lost revenue while your business finds and trains an appropriate replacement.

Buy sell disability insurance can provide you with a lump sum payment if your business partner were to become totally disabled. These funds can be used to purchase the shares of the disabled partner, fund a buy sell agreement and reassure creditors and suppliers.

Critical Illness: For a lot of us, the idea of experiencing a critical illness such as a heart attack, stroke or cancer can seem unlikely, but almost 3 in 4 (73%) working Canadians know someone who experience a serious illness. Sadly, this can have serious consequences on you, your family and business, with Critical Illness insurance, it provides a lump sum payment so you can focus on your recovery.

Key person critical illness insurance can be used to provide funds to the company so it can supplement income during time away, cover debt repayment, salary for key employees or fixed overhead expenses.

Buy sell critical illness insurance can provide you with a lump sum payment if your business partner or shareholder were to suffer from a critical illness. These funds can be used to purchase the shares of the partner, fund a buy sell agreement and reassure creditors and suppliers.

Life: For a business owner, not only do your employees depend on you for financial support but your loved ones do too. Life insurance is important because it can protect your business and also be another form of investment for excess company funds.

Key person life insurance can be used to provide a lump sum payment to the company on death of the insured so it can keep the business going until you an appropriate replacement is found. It can also be used to retain loyal employees by supplying a retirement fund inside the insurance policy.

Buy sell life insurance can provide you with a lump sum payment if your business partner or shareholder were to pass away. These funds can be used to purchase the shares of the deceased partner, fund a buy sell agreement and reassure creditors and suppliers.

Loan coverage life insurance can help cover off any outstanding business loans and debts.

Reduce taxes & diversify your portfolio, often life insurance is viewed only as protection, however with permanent life insurance, there is an option to deposit excess company funds not needed for operations to provide for tax-free growth (within government limits) to diversify your portfolio and reduce taxes on passive investments.

Talk to us about helping making sure you and your business are protected.

At different stages of life, the need for life insurance will vary, here's a list of reasons for life insurance.

Financial Tech Tools May 4, 2021

At different stages of life, the need for life insurance will vary, here’s a list of reasons for life insurance:

Young Singles/Young Couples- cover off any debt including debts with co-signers, final expenses, does your family history have significant health issues?
Young Family – debts, mortgage, final expenses, ongoing income needs, education fund
Maturing Family- debts, mortgage, final expenses, ongoing income needs, education fund
Pre-Retirees- debts, mortgage, final expenses, ongoing income needs, final taxes
Retirees – debts, final expenses, leave a legacy, final taxes

For young families, making sure your family is financially protected can be overwhelming, especially since there’s so much information floating online. This infographic addresses the importance of insurance- personal insurance.

Financial Tech Tools Jun 2, 2020

For young families, making sure your family is financially protected can be overwhelming, especially since there’s so much information floating online. This infographic addresses the importance of insurance- personal insurance.

The 4 areas of personal insurance a young family should take care of are:

Health
Disability
Critical Illness
Life

Health: We are so fortunate to live in Canada, where the healthcare system pays for basic healthcare services for Canadian citizens and permanent residents. However, not everything healthcare related is covered, in reality, 30% of our health costs* are paid for out of pocket or through private insurance such as prescription medication, dental, prescription glasses, physiotherapy, etc.. Moreover, if you travel outside of Canada, medical emergencies can be extremely expensive.

Disability: Most people spend money on protecting their home and car, but many overlook protecting their greatest asset: their ability to earn income. Unfortunately one in three people on average will be disabled for 90 days or more at least once before age 65. Disability insurance can provide you with a portion of your income if you were to become disabled and unable to earn an income.

Critical Illness: For a lot of us, the idea of experiencing a critical illness such as a heart attack, stroke or cancer can seem unlikely, but almost 3 in 4 (73%) working Canadians know someone who experience a serious illness. Sadly, this can have serious consequences on you and your family, with Critical Illness insurance, it provides a lump sum payment so you can focus on your recovery.

Life: For young families, if your loved ones depend on you for financial support, then life insurance is absolutely necessary, because it replaces your income, pay off your debts and provides peace of mind.

Talk to us about helping making sure you and your family are protected.

Most of us take the opportunity to give our homes and garages a good clear out come springtime - so why not do the same with your finances and give them an annual health check to make sure that they are still fit for purpose? Here are our top tips for an effective financial spring clean:

Financial Tech Tools Mar 2, 2020

Most of us take the opportunity to give our homes and garages a good clean up come springtime – so why not do the same with your finances and give them an annual health check to make sure that they are still fit for purpose? The tax season provides you with the perfect chance to evaluate and possibly rethink your financial goals and actions and get you on the right track for the year ahead. Here are our top tips for an effective financial spring clean:

Get organized

Before you can work out where your finances are at and subsequently where you want them to be, you need to have all of your financial information, such as receipts, bills, tax returns etc, in one, easily accessible place. These days, paperless bank and credit card statements are often the norm, therefore it is often worth printing out a years’ worth of them for your own records.

Conversely, however, don’t hang onto old financial information for too long or when it is no longer useful for you. As a general rule of thumb, it is advised that you keep documents relating to historical tax returns for seven years, but other financial information can generally be disposed of once you have confidently verified their accuracy.

Draw up a realistic budget

A clear and realistic budget is the cornerstone of your financial success and, for it to work for you in the best possible way, it has to be updated regularly to reflect your changing circumstances. Big life changes such as a new job, marriage or the purchase of a property can inevitably have knock on effects on your personal finances and it is crucial to anticipate such changes as far as possible and plan for them in advance in your budget.

There are plenty of online calculators to help you to track your spending and your outgoings and give you great tips on how to maximise your savings and plan your finances effectively.

Find creative ways to save and earn

Saving for both the future and for any financial emergencies that may arise is key to good financial planning. From your budget, work out a realistic amount to save per month and stick to it – remember that your savings fund will grow with time and provide you with flexibility and stability if things go wrong. As part of this, you need to carefully consider your retirement plan and make sure that your RRSP allocations are appropriate.

There are plenty of other ways to save money if you have the time to go through your financial records. Your life, disability, critical illness, home or car insurance policies should be regularly reviewed to make sure that you are getting the best coverage at the best price.

Deal with your debts

Tackling your debts, be they mortgages, credit cards or others, is one of the best ways of improving your finances for the better. The first step is to face the music – work out how much you owe and how much you are paying in interest charges. Once you are clear on your debt position, shop around to make sure that you are getting the best possible deals from lenders and paying the least amount of interest possible. Consolidating your debts could be an option here.

Once you have readjusted your debts to the lowest possible costs to you, it’s time to make a realistic plan to chip away at them. Paying off the highest interest debts first will obviously save you the most in interest charges in the long term, though you may want to consider the fact that paying off whole, smaller debts in full can sometimes offer you greater satisfaction and more motivation to continue.

If you need help with your finances, please don’t hesitate to contact us.