How good advice leads to more resilient wealth

Think about your income today and for the rest of your working years. If you’re 40, earning $100,000 per year and plan to work until age 65, that’s $2,500,000 of income at the very least. That’s worth protecting because no one can predict when a financial storm will hit or what kind of damage it will do, but they happen all the time. People lose their jobs, get sick, get sued, get sidelined by injury, or worse, every day. It’s only a nightmare if your wealth plan leaves you unprepared.

Our approach to managing our clients’ wealth combines insurance and investment strategies, working in lockstep to smooth out the ups and downs of the markets, account for setbacks, and ensure you're set up for long-term financial success, whatever life throws your way.

Here’s how we do it:

Wealth resilience starts with income protection

The four unpredictable threats to your income are death, injury, illness, and market volatility during retirement. Once we protect you from those things, we look at everything else in your financial plan through the long-term lens of resilience and efficiency.

When you’re financially prepared, you have an easy answer to four of life’s toughest financial challenges.  

1. “What happens if I die?”

Life insurance ought to be Job #1 when other people rely on your income. A tax-free death benefit, paid directly to your beneficiaries, can provide years of steady, predictable income so your loved ones can maintain their standard of living and keep pursuing their financial goals, like:

• Retirement savings

• Education savings

• Health and fitness

• Memberships

• Volunteering

• Travel

This is how income replacement through a combination of term life insurance and permanent life insurance creates wealth resilience well beyond your lifetime.

Even if you have lots of money and you think your family will be fine when you’re gone, give us 20 minutes to explain why this kind of coverage is far more valuable than ‘self-insuring’.

2. “What if I get hurt and I can’t work?”

Everyone who depends on a regular income should carry some form of disability insurance, either through their employer or on their own. This kind of coverage pays a percentage of your income until you can return to work or reach the age of retirement. With money coming in, you won’t have to use your savings to pay for:

• Rehabilitation

• Physical therapy

• Travel and parking

• Medication not covered by insurance

• Help around the home

Don’t let the scary word “disability” fool or mislead you. A disability doesn’t have to be permanent or life-changing to qualify for an insurance benefit. It can be anything that prevents you from working. That could include a broken ankle if you happen to be a karate instructor, or mental stress while you process the loss of a loved one.

3. “What if I get diagnosed with an illness?”

Lots of people get diagnosed with critical illnesses and survive. They go on to lead great lives. The same can’t be said for their wealth. If you are sidelined by one of the most common conditions, like cancer, and you can’t work, you will have to pay for expenses not covered by government insurance plans, such as:

• Treatment at a private clinic

• Counselling

• Physiotherapy and massage therapy

• Recovery time

• Additional child care

• Flying in relatives to help around the house

• Wigs and prosthetics

• Dog walkers (can’t forget the dog)

• Lawn-care services and home cleaning

To go through life with no plan to cover the out-of-pocket expenses that result from illness is essentially rolling the dice and putting your savings on the table. It’s the opposite of financial resilience. That’s why we recommend an investment in critical illness insurance.

4. “What happens if the markets tank?”

The stock market is a great place to invest, but it’s not the only game in town, and it has a history of tanking from time to time. The most effective way to insulate your wealth from unexpected ups and downs is to reduce risk by adopting a broader view of diversification.

Financial resilience is not an off-the-shelf product. It’s an outcome you achieve by making better decisions every day.

For example, a typical investment plan is limited to three types of assets: Cash, fixed income, and equities. A broader approach incorporates pension-style assets, like the ones favoured by pension funds, institutions, and sovereign wealth funds, such as:

• Real estate – to generate returns not tied to the markets.

• Private lending – to create steady, reliable interest income.

• Infrastructure investments – to create consistent revenue streams.

The performance of pension-style investments isn’t tied to stock market headlines or short-term volatility. When markets are turbulent, a properly diversified portfolio continues doing what it is designed to do: produce consistent, predictable income and return on investment.

In a nutshell

When you look at the cost of financial resilience compared to what you get back in return, the value is self-evident.

• Life insurance will provide your loved ones with income.

• Disability insurance and critical illness insurance will provide tax-free relief if anything happens to you.

• Because you have insurance, your wealth is more resilient, meaning you won’t have to cash in your savings or sell assets if you get injured or diagnosed with a critical illness.

• You don’t worry about things you can’t control, like the stock market.

• You have access to tax-free emergency funds.

• You can enjoy more of your money while you’re alive because your permanent life insurance policy is guaranteed to provide family money when you die.

This is what a resilient financial plan looks like. It’s simple, effective, and gets better with time.

How to get started

Financial resilience is not an off-the-shelf product. It’s an outcome you achieve by making better decisions every day. Give us 20 minutes to show you that resilient wealth is something you can achieve and enjoy for the rest of your life.