Life Insurance 101
Life insurance is an agreement between you and the insurer that if you die, they will pay a tax-free lump sum benefit to your beneficiary. It could be your spouse, children, other family member or friend. The choice is yours. In exchange, you pay the insurer a small amount of money over time known as a premium. If your loved ones would be financially impacted if something happens to you, life insurance offers peace of mind.
What is Life Insurance?
Life insurance protects the financial future of the ones you love by paying a tax-free cash benefit to your beneficiaries. This is particularly important if your loved ones would experience financial hardship. This money can help:
- Pay off loans, debts, mortgages
- Maintain their lifestyle and pay day-to-day expenses
- Pay for your children’s education
- Cover funeral expenses
What about my work plan?
While you may have basic life insurance through work, the coverage may not meet your needs and typically ends when you leave your employer. With your own plan, you’re covered, regardless of what happens with your job.
TYPES OF LIFE INSURANCE
Benefits of Term Life Insurance
- Term life insurance provides simple and affordable protection for a defined period of time when insurance needs are high but available funds are limited.
- In the event of your death, the policy pays a cash benefit, tax-free, to your beneficiaries.
- The costs never increase for the entire term.
- Ideal for people who want to ensure debts, like mortgages or loans are paid off, children’s education needs are met or to replace the income of loved ones if they were no longer able to support their family.
Term Life Insurance vs Mortgage insurance
There are many reasons why a term life policy is a better choice:
Premiums - With mortgage insurance, there are no discounts for being a non-smoker or for being healthy. Everyone pays the same premiums.
Underwriting - Mortgage companies use “post-claim” underwriting, which means they’ll only decide if you qualify after a claim is made, at which point they may decide that you never qualified.
Declining Benefit - Mortgage insurance declines as you pay off your mortgage, but the premiums stay the same.
Beneficiary - With mortgage insurance, the beneficiary is the bank. With personal term insurance, you assign the beneficiary.
Portability - Mortgage insurance is tied to your home. A simple term policy is portable and covers you regardless of who holds your mortgage.
Consolidation of coverage - Mortgage insurance only covers your mortgage, a personal term policy can cover all your insurance needs (mortgage, income replacement, education, childcare etc.)
Participating life insurance
Participating life insurance provides lifelong protection, with an opportunity for tax-advantaged cash value growth
Amount of coverage and annual costs are guaranteed for life, and you may be eligible to receive dividends which can buy more coverage, reduce your premium payments, earn interest inside the policy or be taken out as cash.
Ideal for people who want to supplement their retirement income, help pay for children’s education or increase their death benefit over time to keep pace with inflation.
Universal life insurance
Flexible lifelong protection combined with an investment component that you choose and manage based on your risk profile and objectives.
You choose a guaranteed death benefit that will be paid to your beneficiaries
The money you pay goes into a policy fund that’s used to pay for the cost of your insurance. The remaining balance is invested on a tax-advantaged basis from a variety of investment options.
Ideal for people who have maximized their RRSP contributions, want to enhance their estate for their children and grandchildren or are business owners looking for a tax-efficient way to protect the value of their business.
Disability Waiver of Premium
This optional benefit is designed to waive the premium if the life insured under the basic plan becomes totally disabled prior to attaining age 60 and is disabled for 4 consecutive months. Upon receipt of proof of disability, all premiums paid during the 4-month waiting period will be refunded.
EasyInsure will help you find the best term life insurance policy without medical tests online within minutes! Your premiums are locked in, and you can rest easy knowing the financial security of your loved ones is protected.
Now that’s easy!