Life insurance
Bought well, it is the cheapest way to keep a promise you cannot be there to keep yourself. Bought carelessly, it is a bill nobody understands.
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How much cover do I actually need?
That arithmetic beats the rules of thumb, because ten times your salary is either far too much or nowhere near enough depending on your debt, your children's ages and whether your spouse earns. We do the calculation with your figures and show you the working, so you can see exactly what each dollar of cover is there to pay for.
Term or permanent, which is right for me?
The needs with an end date, a mortgage, children at home, a business loan, are term needs. The needs without one, final taxes on an estate, a disabled dependant, a corporate share redemption, are permanent needs. Almost every sensible answer is a mix, and the term policy's conversion privilege lets you change your mind later without new medical questions. Cover for illness rather than death is here.
Why would my corporation own a policy?
The Capital Dividend Account, or CDA, is a running notional total the tax rules let a private corporation build up from certain tax-free receipts, including most of a life insurance death benefit. Whatever sits in it can be paid out to shareholders as a capital dividend, which they receive completely tax free. The adjusted cost basis is roughly the premiums paid less the accumulated cost of the insurance itself; only the amount above it reaches the CDA.
Corporate ownership is not automatically right. It only works where the corporation is the one with the need or the cash, the premiums are not deductible, and a structure with a holding company needs care over which entity owns and which benefits. We set this up alongside your corporate plan, with your accountant tracking the CDA balance.
What is cash value and can I use it?
Each route has consequences. Borrowing usually leaves the tax-free growth intact but accrues interest and reduces the death benefit if unpaid. Withdrawing can trigger a taxable gain. Surrendering ends the cover you bought in the first place. Cash value is a genuine asset, but it is a slow one, and a policy sold mainly as an investment rarely beats a plain term policy plus the difference invested elsewhere. We compare both before recommending either.
Can it fund a buy-sell agreement?
Without funding, the agreement is a promise your partners keep by borrowing, selling assets or paying your family in instalments over years. With it, your family receives fair value promptly and your partners keep control of the business. The ownership structure, whether the company holds the policies or the shareholders hold them on each other, changes the tax treatment and the CDA credit, so it belongs in the same conversation as the agreement itself. Estate planning ties this to the rest of your affairs.
What does the right ownership change?
A life insurance case study will be added here when the approved figures and story are ready.
See all case studiesPolicy and tax details on this page are current as of September 2026. Rules change, and we review this page whenever they do.
What else should you know?
Do I need life insurance if nobody depends on me?
Usually not much, and we will say so. The exceptions are co-signed debt somebody else would inherit, a business partner relying on you, and locking in a low rate while you are young and healthy if dependants are likely later.
Will I need a medical exam?
Often, though many policies now issue on a questionnaire and a phone interview alone. Fuller underwriting usually buys a lower price, so it is worth the appointment on larger amounts of cover.
Is the death benefit taxable?
No. A life insurance death benefit is received tax free by the named beneficiary, and when a beneficiary is named it passes outside the estate, avoiding probate fees and delay.
What happens if I stop paying?
A term policy lapses and the cover ends. A permanent policy with cash value may keep itself going for a while from that value, or convert to a smaller paid-up amount, and we check which applies before anyone cancels anything.
Can I change or cancel later?
Yes, cover can be reduced or cancelled at any time, and most term policies can be converted to permanent without new medical questions within a set period. That conversion privilege is one of the most valuable features people forget they hold.
Do you know what your policy would actually pay?
Bring what you have to a complimentary 20-minute assessment and we will read it with you.