In media – LSM Insurance

Sun Life Canada changes approach to pot

Marijuana is becoming increasingly normal in Canada as legalization inches ever closer – and now it seems insurers are making changes too. Sun Life Canada has become the first major life insurance firm in Canada to alter its approach to the drug by deciding to treat cannabis users in the same way it treats non-smokers....

Investment strategy: Am I on the right path to riches?

Eight years ago, Seth and Rachel Jacobson of Edmonton met through an online dating website. The two hit it off right away in their initial meeting at a local diner. “We realized immediately that we had a lot in common,” says Rachel, 37, an office manager in Edmonton. “We both love adventure travel and given...

Single and pregnant—again

If someone had told Janice Barr three years ago that she’d find herself in the devastating position she’s in right now—single and pregnant—she wouldn’t have believed it. After months of planning, Janice, 33, is expecting a child with her ex-husband Richard, 52—a man she had been married to for just five months after a lengthy...

How do I keep my disability insurance premiums low?

Alana McCabe asks: I earn $120,000 per year at two part time jobs. I do not have health benefits or disability with my employers. I really need some good advice on disability insurance. I have been quoted $165 per month and feel that is a lot of money for just disability insurance. Is this the...

Two insurers to stop treating all pot users as smokers as marijuana increasingly accepted

In a sign of marijuana’s growing normalization in Canada, two major life insurance companies have decided to treat cannabis users as non-smokers, reversing a long-standing policy and offering many of them far cheaper premiums. The change comes as cannabis is increasingly accepted as a medicine for various ailments, and the federal government prepares to legalize...

I’m young and healthy. Do I need life insurance?

Lindsay Stevenson never thought she needed life insurance. At 27, she was busy establishing her career as a dental hygienist and starting her life with then-boyfriend, Garrick. But when the two decided to buy a house together in Waterloo, Ont., Stevenson realized it was time to get serious about protecting her investment—and her partner. “We...

Term life insurance vs. universal life

Sam K. from Toronto and his wife have two joint life insurance policies. One is term life insurance purchased in 2002 and the other is universal life purchased in 2004. The couple with two kids are now considering calcellation of the one of the policies and keeping the other. However, they don’t know which one...

Are you covered by health insurance in Canada?

Universal health care, it turns out, may not mean what many Canadians think it does. William Shung, a senior insurance advisor with LSM Insurance Services in Markham, Ont., says few Canadians appreciate the importance of having insurance for travel within Canada. “They don’t realize they could incur very high costs should something happen when they’re...

Do I really need life insurance?

“Katerina, a single 70-year-old woman with a reasonable mortgage of about $115,000 on her home, who has no family and no dependents and lives on her limited budget, asks if she needs life insurance and what for since she believes it’s a cost that she can do without. Insurance expert Lorne Marr has the answer.”

Alumni life insurance gets a failing grade

Think twice about purchasing a “discounted” term life insurance policy from your alma mater. Why? Those exclusive rates for university grads aren’t that great of a deal, according to insurance expert Lorne Marr of LSM Insurance.While easier to apply for than standard life insurance (just a questionnaire and usually no medical tests required), the actual...

How much does your insurance agent get paid?

If an advisor wants you to buy whole or universal life insurance, be sure it’s based on your needs—and not a big, fat selling commission. LSM Insurance looked at the average first-year commission and bonus that agents at Canada’s top five life insurers are paid when they sell new policies. While there are some situations...

What first-time home buyers need to know about insurance – The Globe and Mail

If you’re buying houses in an expensive market and working in contract positions, it’s crucial to make sure you have proper coverage. We’ll be studying the personal-finance implications of inflated housing prices for years to come. But one thing we already know is that high housing costs are putting more responsibility on owners to have...

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