Life Insurance for Accountants

There are approximately 361,128 accountants working across Canada, according to statistics provided by the Canadian Government. They make, on average, a salary of $26.27 an hour. Typically, accountants are the arbiters of our financial future, determining our budgets and how much money we take in versus how much we take out.

Life insurance can cushion them and their families for their own financial future, and it's usually divided into two categories.

Term Insurance starts off lower in cost and increases as the insured gets older. The term length can vary depending on the policy. As a rule of thumb, the longer the term, the higher the initial premium, but the shorter the term, the lower the initial premium. Most term life policies in Canada are renewable and convertible, which means the insured can renew the coverage without a medical examination, albeit at a much higher premium. It also means that it's possible to convert the coverage to a permanent plan without a medical examination. Term rates can vary significantly from company to company, and many companies offer preferred rates, which can lower the insured’s premium by as much as 30 per cent if they happen to be in very good health and has excellent family health history.

Children’s Term Life Insurance

Assumption Life introduced a children's term life policy called Youth Plus.

The policy is available to applicants ages 15 days old to 17 years old. The premiums remain level for the insured's lifetime, while the face amount can range from $35,000 to $175,000.

There's an annual policy fee of $40 and a built-in critical illness benefit. The benefit pays out if the insured is diagnosed with one of the following critical illnesses: cancer, stroke, heart attack, vital organ transplant, paraplegia, or quadriplegia.

The benefit is equal to $10,000 per $35,000 of the sum insured up to a maximum of $25,000. The premiums on the policy are $100 per year for every $35,000 of life insurance benefit.

For more details on children's life insurance, please contact us at 1-866-899-4849 or e-mail us at

How to Sell Your Book of Business

As insurance and investment advisors reach retirement age, they start thinking about divesting their books of business and selling it to the next advisor who can manage the needs of their various clients. However, there are a few things every advisor should know going in when they're about to take the plunge and sell their book.

Do you want to actively market yourself? This is the first question advisors and financial planners need to ask themselves, according to Cameron D. Jacox and James E.C. Hilton, managing partners of Jacox-Hilton Producer Consulting, a Toronto- and Boston-based firm that helps insurance advisors and financial planners value their books of business and match buyers with sellers.

"Some advisors may want to do things privately because they don't want their clients to know that they are retiring," says Jacox. "There are different channels for finding a buyer, such as of online networks, conferences and coming to us to match you up with one of our buyers or sellers who would be interested in your book or selling a book."

There are a lot of informal selling options, including LinkedIn, which supports buy/sell book groups and financial practice groups. You can also go to your MGA or your insurance carrier and tell them of your plans, and they will generally know who is out there looking to buy or they may buy your book off of you themselves.

"Industry events and conferences are also excellent for networking, and I've seen conversations emerge that revolve around buying or selling a book on numerous occasions," says Hilton.

Life Insurance for Doctors

According to the Canadian Government, there are 111,843 doctors working across the country.

GPs and family physicians make an average of $79 an hour, while specialists take in about $117 an hour. All of them would be better served by life insurance to protect the future of their families.

Life insurance can be broken down into two categories, Term insurance and Permanent Insurance.

Assumption Life Youth Plus

Assumption Life recently introduced Youth Plus. It is a term life insurance product designed for children. The policy is available to insure children between 15 days old and 17 years of age. The features on the policy include the following:

1. Term life insurance until the child has turned 25

2. Guaranteed sum insured payable upon death

3. Non-participating insurance (no dividend is payable)

4. Guaranteed level premiums, which means the premiums remain the same for the duration of the premium payment period

5. Available as a stand-alone policy or a rider

What To Do Before Your Life Insurance Medical Test

When applying for life insurance, the insured often has to complete medical tests. These medical tests can include blood pressure checks, blood profile tests, urine analyses, or ecocardiograms.

Though these tests are harmless, they should still be taken seriously and adequately prepared for. Some of the things the insured should keep in mind before completing their life insurance medical tests are the following:

Standard Life will No Longer Sell Individual Life Insurance and Critical Illness Policies

Effective January 1, 2012, Standard Life will no longer sell individual life insurance and critical illness policies.

However, the company will still serve those holding existing policies and applications received right up until December 31 and will still own that block of business after January 1. Its staff will continue to service these policies and give clients the opportunity to increase coverage, add coverage, and convert coverage. This includes converting group life insurance policies to individual ones.

Instead of continuing to sell individual life insurance, Standard Life will continue to focus on retail investments, including Standard Life Mutual Funds, group savings, and retirement plans, and group benefits and disability management, as it has since 2005.

Life Insurance for Lawyers

According to the Canadian Government, there are approximately 77,935 lawyers working across Canada, 93% of whom work full-time and make a median hourly wage of $40 — exactly double all the other occupations.

This translates to just under 80,000 lawyers who could potentially need life insurance.

Life insurance can be broken down into two categories Term insurance and Permanent Insurance.

Term insurance starts off lower in costs and increases as the insured gets older. The length of the term can vary. As a rule of thumb, the longer the term, the higher the initial premium, but the shorter the term, the lower the initial premium.

Most term life policies in Canada are renewable and convertible, which means that the insured can renew coverage without a medical exam, albeit at a much higher premium. They can also convert the coverage to a permanent plan without a medical. Term rates can vary significantly from company to company, and many companies offer preferred rates, which can lower the insured’s premium by as much as 30%, but only if the insured happens to be in very good health and has an excellent family health history.

Canada’s Net-Worth Tops the United States

As reported in the December/January 2012 issue of Money Sense, Canada’s average median citizen's net worth has topped the United states.

A Credit Suisse 2011 Global Report found that Canadians are now officially wealthier than Americans. The median net-worth per adult in Canada is $89,014 US, but in America, it's $52,752 US.

The median amount represents an individual with a net worth in the middle range relative to the rest of the country. However, if you look at the average net worth per adult in the two countries, you will find very different results. The average net worth of Canadians in general is $245,455 US, and in the United States, the average net worth for citizens is $248,395 US.