What kind of common coverage pitfalls for wisdom teeth removal should you be concerned about? Sifting through all of the different plans offered by the major companies can be a daunting task. There are Guaranteed Acceptance Plans, Different Levels of Coverage, Different Benefits, and more. What sorts of things can you expect from your Wisdom Teeth Dental Coverage?
1. A lot of the major corporations have no dental coverage for the most basic plans. This means you may want to look at having more coverage if your family includes children who may need to get their wisdom teeth out. If you haven't had your wisdom teeth removed, you may also want to go with more wisdom teeth dental coverage.
2. Most plans offer between 50-80% coverage for wisdom teeth removal. The amount of wisdom teeth dental coverage varies typically with the comprehensiveness of the plan.
3. There are often waiting periods involved in the plans. Some plans have three month no claims waiting periods (Great West Life Sonata Plan), while other companies have a standard 6 month no claims waiting period (Blue Cross).
4. Plans frequently offer greater maximum dental coverage after several years into the program. Initially you can expect lower coverage, and as time goes on from years one, to years two, and often into year three you can often receive more coverage in cash value. If your current health plan isn't very good, you can switch easily and be back at maximum coverage within three years. However, be wary of switching often, as your overall coverage over the long haul will suffer.
5. Accidental Dental coverage varies between different dental service providers. Some offer 100% coverage on all plans except their Guaranteed Acceptance Plan. Other providers only offer accidental dental coverage on their more comprehensive coverage policies.
Remember that getting adequate dental coverage in your health plan is important. Typical dental expenses that are often covered in a dental plan include:
Checkup $128
Fillings $50-$217
Root Canals $390 - $806
Denture Relines $149 - $361
Removal of four impacted wisdom teeth $423 - $1318
Be sure to consult an agent who is familiar with the different health plans available to you. The plans are quite comprehensive, and it takes a lot of time to get up to speed on what all the different major providers offer. Insurance brokers shop around to all the different providers, and find the plan that offers the best benefits for you and/or your family.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Life happens and it can foul up your RRSP for you
Mr. X just collapsed an RRSP for nearly $50,000. I explained the deep tax consequences he would experience, suggested alternatives, but still he insisted, so we got him his money. Why was he drawing this cash from his RRSP?
His wife had gotten a better job offer to improve her career, and this involved relocating. Since his RRSP was a spousal RRSP the last three years of her contributions were taxed back at her higher tax rate when they withdrew that money. Also the extra income in his name will bump him up into a higher tax rate. The good news is they had about $35,000 left to use for their relocation moving expenses.
On the broader picture why do so many people raid their RRSPs before retirement?
Some take advantage of the Homebuyer Plan or the LifeLong Learning Plan; these have been introduced in recent years. Excluding these two programs how much money comes out?
StatsCan reports that nearly 39% of RRSPs are raided and about half of these people make several withdrawals before retirement. Many times these withdrawals bump people into higher tax brackets so they actually pay more in taxes than the tax deduction they got in the first place.
This is only one reason why I suggest that people who are not over age 35 and don't have over $35,000 saved outside an RRSP shouldn't start an RRSP program. Another reason is that careers frequently lead to higher incomes in later years so wouldn't it be smarter to tax advantage of the higher taxes associated with those incomes involved with career advancement?
Using up RRSP room in early years may not be so smart. Invest outside the RRSP first. Always check with a financial planner, but remember many financial advisers do buy into the large company advertising which is geared to making money for their shareholders and is not always a good deal for the client.
Using up RRSP room in early years may not be so smart. Invest outside the RRSP first. Always check with a financial planner, but remember many financial advisers do buy into the large company advertising which is geared to making money for their shareholders and is not always a good deal for the client.
Monday, July 4, 2011
If you are in business there are only five ways out.
You sell your business, you retire, you die, you go bankrupt or your become disabled. Are you prepared?
Entrepreneurs are optimists in general. They believe they can achieve their dreams and move ahead into ventures where many people who fancy themselves to be realists would not dare to attempt. The problem with this optimism is when we discuss disability. They tend to realize they are doing what many would not, so they believe they can do what others cannot. Many of them under value their contribution to their business. So here are a few questions to answer honestly for yourself:
Could your business operate profitably without you if you were sick or injured for six months?
If you said yes, and you believe that is true, then why don’t you take six months vacation each year? Honestly, if you are not needed why do you show up each day?
Could your spouse take over your responsibilities while you are sick?
Really? Can your spouse do what they do now, and in addition to that take care of you plus run your business for you?
Do you believe you will be able to run your business from a wheelchair or bed?
Have you given proper value to your sharp decision making ability? What if your disability or your medication or treatment lessen your alertness or altar your thinking? What if you feel ill and aren’t up to decision making? What happens to the business? What happens to your employees? Your family?
There are several solutions and many variations of these which can be adapted to suit your particular situation. Consider a buy sell agreement in the event of illness. Many people get it all set up in the event of death, but fewer business have a proper buy sell that deals with disability. Another option is disability insurance for your personal income protection, so your business doesn’t get drained paying you when you are not helping out at work. Another form of disability insurance for business owners is business overhead insurance. Business overhead Insurance will pay your routine business expenses such as phone, hydro, office expenses and in some cases even office staff usually up to one year or at the most two years while you recuperate or arrange a sale of the business.
If there are partners or several executives there is an income replacement agreement which can reduce after tax expenses that can range into thousands of dollars annually when compared to individual disability insurance policies. The Tax Planning and Financial Planning pay off. Make sure you have a life insurance and disability insurance specialist as part of your adviser team. Accountants and lawyers are necessary but they are not the whole team.
By Gordon Hughes CFP who can be reached at www.SmartChoiceLife.com or call 1-800-471-0411
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Does your family earn less than $40,000 a year? Do you want free cash to go towards their education?
The Canada Learning Bond is a program setup by the government. The program allows people to claim $500 in free cash to go towards a child's education. Although this money is available for all families, 80% of people who qualify never apply. We would really like you to spread the word for anyone who earns less than $40,000 a year for a family. This program is $500 free cash for anyone who has a child that is under the age of 7, born since 2003 for this year.
Children can also qualify for the national tax benefit, which is a supplement to the baby bonus. All they need to do is fill out the forms to get the benefit. We have the forms available in our office at Smart Choice Life. The government will even put in extra money. There is another education savings grant from another program which matches 20%, for up to $2500. All that has to be done is for forms to be filled out.
We can help this for you. We open the accounts, fill out the forms for you, and send them in. It is simple, easy to do, and takes minutes. It's a simple one page form, check mark, and signature. We look after everything for you.
If you have an infant and deposit every year until that child is 17, you would end up with $3000 to help them start with their education. This represents a significant boost, and makes a big difference in a child's life. This could be a turning point in their lives, because it may affect their decision to go to University, College, or seek further secondary education.
Their decision if they have $3,000 extra to go to University could be significantly effected. Visit our website or give us a call at 1-800-471-0411.
Children can also qualify for the national tax benefit, which is a supplement to the baby bonus. All they need to do is fill out the forms to get the benefit. We have the forms available in our office at Smart Choice Life. The government will even put in extra money. There is another education savings grant from another program which matches 20%, for up to $2500. All that has to be done is for forms to be filled out.
We can help this for you. We open the accounts, fill out the forms for you, and send them in. It is simple, easy to do, and takes minutes. It's a simple one page form, check mark, and signature. We look after everything for you.
If you have an infant and deposit every year until that child is 17, you would end up with $3000 to help them start with their education. This represents a significant boost, and makes a big difference in a child's life. This could be a turning point in their lives, because it may affect their decision to go to University, College, or seek further secondary education.
Their decision if they have $3,000 extra to go to University could be significantly effected. Visit our website or give us a call at 1-800-471-0411.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
What does it cost to leave a $50,000 legacy?
Jake, age 65 with a $40,000 income could leave $50,000 to a charity, non-profit sport organization, church or other organization that qualifies with CRA as a charitable donation, for only $1,046 a year.
How is this possible?
Jake has a $40,000 income and a marginal tax rate of 27.5%, but when he gives to a charity he gets a 43.3% tax credit on everything he donates over $200 up to 75% of his income. How is that possible? It is possible because a tax credit is more valuable than a tax deduction.
So how does he turn $1,046 a year into $50,000?
Jake buys a $50,000 life insurance policy. He makes a charity the beneficiary and the owner of the policy. He pays the premiums of $1,786 a year. The charity issues him a receipt for his premiums which triggers tax credits of $740. That’s how it costs him only $1,046 a year to leave $50,000.
Sally, age 50 could leave $100,000 for $486 a year after calculating tax credits.
How is this possible?
Jake has a $40,000 income and a marginal tax rate of 27.5%, but when he gives to a charity he gets a 43.3% tax credit on everything he donates over $200 up to 75% of his income. How is that possible? It is possible because a tax credit is more valuable than a tax deduction.
So how does he turn $1,046 a year into $50,000?
Jake buys a $50,000 life insurance policy. He makes a charity the beneficiary and the owner of the policy. He pays the premiums of $1,786 a year. The charity issues him a receipt for his premiums which triggers tax credits of $740. That’s how it costs him only $1,046 a year to leave $50,000.
Sally, age 50 could leave $100,000 for $486 a year after calculating tax credits.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Recession Proof Investments
To identify with real life experience
Printed with permission of my clients Roberta and Marty. Here are their comments:
In the summer of 2007 and early in 2008 Gordon warned us several times that a market crash was coming in 2008 or 2009 and wanted us to invest in these new Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Balance segregated funds. He said they would help us avoid the major cost of a market downturn.
We were dealing with other advisers and wanted to think things over before we shifted our business to Gordon. By the time we got our funds moved into these new GMWB products the crash had actually taken place. Ouch! We wish we had acted sooner.
We were dealing with advisers at two different banks and a mutual fund company before we shifted to the GMWB funds. What we find hard to believe is why didn't any of those advisers see this coming?
In any event these GMWB funds guarantee a 5% annual increase to your retirement portfolio. In 2010 our funds grew well over the 5% so our adviser was able to manually reset our funds into a new contract. Now your guarantee is over 6% annually if you calculate back to when we first invested. The reason for the higher rate is not a change in the GMWB product, rather it is due to the reset to the higher amount arranged by our adviser. Where else can you get a 6% guarantee annual increase in your retirement portfolio?
That ends their comments.
There is no better time to get involved with Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Balance (GMWB) funds that today. They work to save your investment in down markets and are also a great tool to increase wealth during rising markets.
Another client, Bob, did move before the downturn for safety sake, but stayed invested in equities. His funds dropped nearly 20% in 2008 but his Withdrawal Balance increased by 5% in 2008, 2009, and 2010. He wants to retire this year. Even though his investments are only back to the value they were in early 2008 he will get 5% of the higher amount guaranteed for life. Let's look at actual figures:
June 2008 funds $100,000 which dropped to $80,000 in the fall of 2008. They are now back to $100,000 three years later. That is the way equity funds work. But Bob's withdrawal balance has grown to $115,000 (5% per year) so he is now guaranteed a minimum of $5,575 per year for the rest of his life even if his funds run out his income will never run out.
Bob is happy, as he knows if markets rise enough his income will also rise. Every increase he gets will be guaranteed for life. It takes the financial worries out of retirement and the fear of outliving his money is gone.
Printed with permission of my clients Roberta and Marty. Here are their comments:
In the summer of 2007 and early in 2008 Gordon warned us several times that a market crash was coming in 2008 or 2009 and wanted us to invest in these new Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Balance segregated funds. He said they would help us avoid the major cost of a market downturn.
We were dealing with other advisers and wanted to think things over before we shifted our business to Gordon. By the time we got our funds moved into these new GMWB products the crash had actually taken place. Ouch! We wish we had acted sooner.
We were dealing with advisers at two different banks and a mutual fund company before we shifted to the GMWB funds. What we find hard to believe is why didn't any of those advisers see this coming?
In any event these GMWB funds guarantee a 5% annual increase to your retirement portfolio. In 2010 our funds grew well over the 5% so our adviser was able to manually reset our funds into a new contract. Now your guarantee is over 6% annually if you calculate back to when we first invested. The reason for the higher rate is not a change in the GMWB product, rather it is due to the reset to the higher amount arranged by our adviser. Where else can you get a 6% guarantee annual increase in your retirement portfolio?
That ends their comments.
There is no better time to get involved with Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Balance (GMWB) funds that today. They work to save your investment in down markets and are also a great tool to increase wealth during rising markets.
Another client, Bob, did move before the downturn for safety sake, but stayed invested in equities. His funds dropped nearly 20% in 2008 but his Withdrawal Balance increased by 5% in 2008, 2009, and 2010. He wants to retire this year. Even though his investments are only back to the value they were in early 2008 he will get 5% of the higher amount guaranteed for life. Let's look at actual figures:
June 2008 funds $100,000 which dropped to $80,000 in the fall of 2008. They are now back to $100,000 three years later. That is the way equity funds work. But Bob's withdrawal balance has grown to $115,000 (5% per year) so he is now guaranteed a minimum of $5,575 per year for the rest of his life even if his funds run out his income will never run out.
Bob is happy, as he knows if markets rise enough his income will also rise. Every increase he gets will be guaranteed for life. It takes the financial worries out of retirement and the fear of outliving his money is gone.
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