[ezdiv id=”” class=”gray-box” style=””][ezcol_1half] PROBLEM: Client had over $60,000 of high interest debt and was sinking financially.[/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1half_end]SOLUTION: Refinanced their home and obtained a mortgage with a lower interest rate thus saving them $1,500.00 monthly.[/ezcol_1half_end][/ezdiv]

[ezdiv id=”” class=”gray-box” style=””][ezcol_1half] PROBLEM: Single mother was unsure of the benefit of a critical illness policy, but moved forward with it on my suggestion and ended up contracting breast cancer 2 1/2 years later.[/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1half_end]SOLUTION: Her critical illness insurance paid her out $70,000.00 giving her peace of mind and allowing her to focus on getting better.[/ezcol_1half_end][/ezdiv]

[ezdiv id=”” class=”gray-box” style=””][ezcol_1half] PROBLEM: Client had a lien put on their home by their creditors for $45,000.00.[/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1half_end]SOLUTION: Negotiated a 30% settlement thus saving the client $15,750.00 but more importantly removing the lien.[/ezcol_1half_end][/ezdiv]

[ezdiv id=”” class=”gray-box” style=””][ezcol_1half] PROBLEM: Young 38 year old client was advised to put their $12,000 in a G.I.C at 1.5% by the bank they had dealt with for the last 20 years. After 10 years their money grew to $13, 926.00.[/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1half_end]SOLUTION: Client was advised to invest in a segregated fund which guarantees the clients money. After 1 year the client made 7% or $974.82.[/ezcol_1half_end][/ezdiv]

[ezdiv id=”” class=”gray-box” style=””][ezcol_1half] PROBLEM: Client had a tax problem and did not like RRSPs (Registered Retirement Saving Plans).[/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1half_end]SOLUTION: Advised the client to borrow money and invest, thus being able to attack his tax problem.[/ezcol_1half_end][/ezdiv]

[ezdiv id=”” class=”gray-box” style=””][ezcol_1half] PROBLEM: Client was fed up with his losing mutual fund portfolio and the emotional market roller coaster.[/ezcol_1half][ezcol_1half_end]SOLUTION: Advised the client to invest in real estate at a secured rate of 8% yearly, paid out monthly.[/ezcol_1half_end][/ezdiv]

In the Press

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Nurse buys critical illness policy and relatively new type of insurance pays lump sum

JEFF SANFORD
SPECIAL TO THE STAR[/ezdiv]

It’s little wonder Denah Smith worries. A nurse employed in a downtown hospital emergency ward, she sees how fast critical illness can change someone’s life. “It’s not something the general population thinks about, but I see it every day – a life changes in a second through the diagnosis of an illness,” says Smith.

The single mother of 6-year old D’nikeh, Smith is acutely aware of a family history of cancer and heart disease, as well as the lack of immediate family to help out in the case of disaster. In evaluating that risk, she adds another, however small, of catching a blood-borne disease on duty.

Smith recently made the decision to look into getting more health insurance. “I wonder what would happen to my daughter if something happened to me. I have insurance at work, but I felt I needed to top it up,” she says.

After consulting with her financial adviser, Smith settled on critical-illness insurance, a relatively new type of policy that pays out a lump sum to the policyholder on diagnosis of a critical illness.

Smith’s adviser, Ian Webster, with Brown Pineo Van Kempen and Associates Ltd., says this policy is often a good accompaniment to disability insurance, which many Canadians already have through their employer, and which is designed to replace income. 

“Critical-illness provides a lump sum on diagnosis that you can use in any way you want. You can pay off a mortgage, take more time off work to get well, or even just take a recuperative vacation,” says Webster.

“The thing that can make you more ill is the stress. Critical-illness insurance allows you to get better without any financial worries.”[/ezcol_1half]

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Students have easier access to more credit cards than their parents or even their professors do

JILL ANDREW
METRO TORONTO[/ezdiv]

A growing number of secondary and post-secondary students have easier access to more credit cards than their parents or even their professors do. For many students, jobs like babysitting have proven good enough for credit applications to be approved. With this growing trend, the temptation to ‘buy today pay whenever’ is stronger than ever.

On Saturday, speakers will offer tips to soon-to-be and post-secondary students on how to manage their academic careers at the It Takes a Village Family Resource Centre’s Small Steps & Giant Leaps: Guiding African-Canadian Students to Academic Success education conference.

“All students experience difficulties in the planning stages of post-secondary education. For many African-Canadian students there are particular concerns around exposure to post-secondary education as a viable option in secondary schools … socio-economic concerns. Our conference is geared to get them there (post-secondary) and to keep them excelling once there,” says Yaa Shange, It Takes A Village Family Resource Centre executive director.

Ian Webster, a professional financial planner with Laurentian Financial Services in Toronto, will lead a workshop called Creatively Financing Post-Secondary Education which is geared to getting students out of the financial rut he sees them often falling into.

“Students (and sometimes parents) tend to procrastinate in their future planning, and this is a trend I’m hoping to offer solutions to,” says Webster.

“Planning has to start well before the college or university application process and can begin with students being well-informed of their options through ongoing financial counselling, for example,” Webster adds.

While many of us have high hopes in achieving bursary and scholarship dreams, Webster cautions those only placing their eggs in that one basket.

“Bursaries and scholarships are always helpful when awarded, but over-reliance on them represents a lack of long term realistic vision and can also contribute to burnout as students push themselves to endless limits in pursuit of them.”

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