Protecting Your Loved Ones with Family Insurance

You would do just about anything for the people you love – especially family! In the many stages of family life – expecting your first child, parenting little ones, teenagers giving you all the attitude, or young adults slowly leaving the nest to pursue their career aspirations – your dependents deserve the best protection if the unexpected happens. Family insurance does just that – protect those you love the most! On the blog today, we will explain all the types of family insurance available to protect your family.

Why is Family Insurance Important?

Talking about financial planning around illness and death is a sensitive topic; no one likes to imagine a loved one getting severely ill, becoming disabled, or passing away unexpectedly. However, if something were to happen, you would be thankful to have family insurance. Without family insurance, the loss of a beloved family member or a primary care provider succumbing to a critical illness could cause great strain on your finances. Costs for treatments, time off work, funeral expenses, home care, and estate taxes could drain your savings, wipe out your long-term retirement saving plans, or create debt for your family.

At a time when your family needs each other for support more than ever, family insurance alleviates the financial burden for everyone involved. Family insurance enables you and your family to focus on what’s most important, whether it’s recovering from an illness, adjusting to a disability, or properly grieving and remembering a loved one’s life.

What is Family Insurance?

Family insurance is a broad term to refer to many life insurance and living benefits insurance options that are uniquely selected for your family situation. A BIG life insurance broker is able to sit down with you and assess your financial and family situations to provide a specific family insurance package for your needs. Some available options include term life insurance, whole life insurance, child riders, and critical illness and disability insurance.

What’s the Best Family Insurance for You?

Talking to a BIG life insurance broker will be the best way to find out the ideal options for you. Here, we will lay out some of the types of life insurance included in a family insurance policy – a necessary part of your financial plan.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance offers coverage for a fixed length of time ranging from five years and up. Coverage lasts as long as you choose to pay, however there is no investment element to this type of policy. Term life insurance is a very affordable option, especially if you lock in your premium as a young, healthy, non-smoker. If you have financial obligations such as a mortgage, or post-secondary education costs, this will provide peace of mind in the event of an untimely death.

Whole Life Insurance

A whole (permanent) life insurance policy covers you for – yep, you guessed it – your whole life. It does offer additional benefits, too! It can be treated as an investment account where your premiums are invested by the insurance company to collect dividends. If you have maxed out your TFSAs, RRSPs, and the like, this is a great option for continuing to grow your wealth and plan your estate. At the time of death, money is then paid out to your beneficiaries as a tax-free benefit. The earlier you purchase a whole life insurance plan, the lower your rates will be, and you will be able to lock in that lower premium for life.

Disability & Critical Illness Insurance

It’s not just the loss of life that can be challenging for your family; battling a critical illness or encountering a long-term disability can create significant difficulties and financial hardship for everyone in your household. To maintain your family’s standard of living, adding disability insurance and critical illness insurance to your family insurance package is advisable. These types of insurance may provide the financial freedom to allow for loss of income, home care, support and medical treatments not covered by government funding.

Another great perk to critical illness insurance is that many providers will return the money you paid in premiums if you don’t end up making a claim.

Do You Need a Child Term Rider on Your Family Insurance Policy?

If you’re looking for a very affordable way to add your children to your life insurance policy, a child term rider is the perfect option. A child term rider can be converted into a term life insurance policy for your child, kickstarting their financial savings for the future. In the unfortunate event that you have to make a claim, a child rider provides financial protection so that parents don’t have to pay out of pocket for final expenses. 

You might also consider a permanent life insurance policy that later provides extra cash flow. If you treat it like a savings account, the tax-deferred dividends could help fund your child’s financial needs such as post-secondary education or a house down payment.

How Much Family Insurance Do You Need?

There are several factors that greatly impact how much family insurance you will need, but it’s easy to underestimate how much you would need. That’s why it’s best to speak with a BIG expert. We care about protecting your family’s future and we have the experience and knowledge to recommend the right amount of coverage.

 

If you’re ready to take the next step in protecting your family, give us a call, or get started on a quote. Our BIG team would love to sit down, get to know you, and recommend the nothing but the best! We will work together to find the perfect family insurance plan for you.