5 Reasons Way You Should Go For Critical Illness Insurance

A critical illness can happen to anyone. Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 196,900 Canadians will develop cancer in 2015. About 2 in 5 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime. Heart and Stroke Foundation’s report shows 1 in 2 Canadians has been touched by heart disease. The incidence of critical illnesses has become more common. Can you bear the costs associated with becoming critically ill? How would it affect you if you were to withdraw savings to bear the illness burden? Would it do you any good to be stressed with money worries while you or your loved ones are battling a life-altering illness?

Majdoub Financial Planners, Ottawa tell you why it is advisable to get critical illness insurance.  Critical illness insurance can help families survive the financial burden caused by having a major illness such as cancer, a heart attack or a stroke. Here are the top 5 reasons why critical illness insurance is a good idea.

Expensive medical services

Dealing with a life-threatening critical illness can be physically, emotionally and financially challenging. A critical illness insurance policy ensures you can handle the monetary burden that comes with a critical illness, says Meiz Majdoub of Majdoub Financial Services at Ontario.

Drain on savings

The expenses on a critical illness can be a huge drain on your accumulated savings and the money you have set aside for your children and other loved ones. Your savings or pension may not even be sufficient to cover the medical expenses. Critical illness insurance helps to keep your life savings intact without affecting your medical treatment. It also gives your family a safety net in case you get sick.

Add to your health insurance

Your health insurance may not be enough for certain illnesses or treatments. Getting the right critical illness coverage can add to the health insurance you already have. An experienced financial planner such as Majdoub in Ontario can help you decide which critical illness insurance plan and how much coverage is right for you.

Flexibility

Critical Illness policy premiums can be quite flexible. Your policy can be designed to cover you to age 65, 75, or to age 100. You may choose the amount of coverage you want, and you can even add a “return of premium” waiver. This waiver allows you to get back as much as 100% of premiums if you do not claim by a predetermined anniversary, making this an affordable option for everyone.

Peace of mind

Insurance experts at Majdoub Financial Planners tell us that most people underestimate the need for Critical Illness insurance thinking their health insurance would cover it. But that is not the case. Imagine a person who needs to undergo chemotherapy immediately but the wait is about a month long. The same treatment is also available instantly if you pay, say $40,000. Critical illness insurance takes care of that. Not only that, critical illness insurance can be used to pay piling bills while you fight and recover from a life-altering disease. 

3 Things To Consider While Buying Individual Health Insurance In Ontario

Individual health and dental insurance is an excellent option for every Canadian if you do not have access to health benefits or group insurance. Individual health and dental insurance in Ontario is a good idea as it provides coverage for unexpected health expenses. Majdoub Financial Planners at Ontario say you can choose plans with additional options depending upon your drug or dental needs.

Understand your needs

Great insurance plans can cover your medical expenses as well as protect you against illnesses and accidents. There are comprehensive plans that cover doctors, tests, drugs, inpatient care, outpatient treatment and other therapies.

Check out the options

Before making a decision to buy, check out what individual health and dental insurance options are available. Don’t get carried away by “low premium” tags. Find out if the plan covers emergency, hospitalization, drugs etc. before signing up for it. Talk to us.

Ensure that you buy the right plan

Check out what are you going to pay for the plan – the premium as well as the out-of-pocket expenses that you may have to shell out when you receive medical care. An expert individual health and dental insurance advisor such as Majdoub Financial Planners in Ottawa can help you figure out which insurance option is best for you keeping in mind your needs. The risk tolerance, affordability and value for money vary from person to person. Hence, you must ask a professional for advice before putting your money into one.

Insure And Live Worry Free

If you are not covered under a group health insurance plan or you leave an employer who was providing health benefits, you should go in for an individual health and dental insurance plan. Costs of health services are becoming increasingly daunting. Even if you are young and healthy, it makes sense to invest in insurance for future security. Knowing you and your family are insured against unexpected illness and injury ensures peace of mind. In such a scenario, it becomes essential to have a health insurance plan before you actually need it.

With individual health and dental insurance Ontario, you can choose options which are best suited to you and your family. You have the option to add -

• Preventive and restorative dental,
• Drugs (you may also include a ‘co-pay’ program where you partially pay for the drugs),
• vision,
• hospital benefits and
• Supplementary health care such as chiropractic care.

You may opt for a basic plan that does not require a medical or a full plan where you may be asked to complete a health questionnaire prior to being issued a policy. To sum up, investing in individual health and dental insurance Ontariohelps you take care of any future health issues with you or your loved ones and lets you go to sleep worry free.

Ensuring Your Child’s Future With Registered Education Savings Plan

Massive tuition costs and related expenses make college education today an almost unachievable dream. However, with a little bit of organized planning you can ensure that funding doesn't prove to be a roadblock between your child and a well-earned higher education that you and he/she have been dreaming about ever since his/her first day in kindergarten.This is where a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) has you covered.

How a RESP works is that once you set-it up for your child you become the subscriber and he/she the beneficiary. You can contribute any amount to the plan over a period of maximum 31 years, with the contribution cap subject to a limit of $50,000 per beneficiary. To be a beneficiary to this plan the individual needs to be a Canadian resident and with a social insurance number.

Now coming to the benefits – first of course is the relief of having built a college fund nest for your child. Additionally, registered education savings plan in Canada have the unique benefit of having the right to use the Canada Education Grants Scheme (CEGS) Canada Learning Bond (CLB), or any provincial registered education savings plan. Under the CEGS scheme, government contributes an amount to the RESP plan; amount being dependent on the amount contributed by the subscriber and the family’s income level. In any case payment under the scheme is at least 20% of the total annual contributions. For families with lower income, it may even be up to 40% on the first $500 and 20% on the balance amount. The maximum lifetime government contribution is $7200 per child under this scheme.

Contributions made to an RESP are not deductible from the taxable income; however, the subsequent investment earnings on RESP are duly tax-deferred. When the earnings are withdrawn by the beneficiary to cover qualifying education expenses, they are taxable to the beneficiary and not to the subscriber.

The promoter, usually a bank/financial services firm, pays the contributions and the income earned on those contributions to the beneficiaries, termed as educational assistance payments (EAPs). If for some reason RESP contributions do not get availed of and not paid out to the beneficiary (say in case your child gets a full scholarship), the promoter pays the amount back to the subscriber at the end of the contract. This payback amount needn't be included in the subscriber’s income statement.

The reason the plan is prefixed ‘registered’ is because the education savings plan needs to be necessarily registered with the Canada Revenue agency and limits set on the amount that can be contributed for each beneficiary as per the contribution limits specified under the Income Tax Act.

Investing In Your Company With A Group Retirement Savings Plan

Customized training and skills development programs, performance linked salary raises are few of the sure shot ways of investing in your workforce, the true asset of any company. There is another equally compelling way that takes investing in your workforce all too literally – we are of course referring to the group retirement savings plan for your employees. While at the first look it may not afford the luster of your typical employee engagement programs, but what it does communicate to your employees is that you care about their future and your intent to create a long term connection with them.

Economy and markets are as fragile as ever, tottering ever so often on the brink of collapse. For salaried individuals in particular, finance remains the greatest source of tension and anxiety with most living paycheck to paycheck. With a group registered retirement savings plan you would be helping them build a safe nest for a worry-free future.

As an employer offering a group retirement savings plan to your workforce, you need to take into account a few essential aspects before finalizing on one. Always opt for a group registered retirement savings plan that offers and supports more than one type of retirement savings option and packages multiple plans in one product bundle. Your task force is diverse and employees will differ in their retirement plan goals and financial needs, and it makes sense to opt for a plan that offers choices.