Insurance Understood: Do holidays change your plans?

By Steve Melrdrum on January 4, 2020.

steve@swellwealth.com

I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on your recent holidays. For most, holidays are filled with activities and gatherings with family and friends.

Many people have a few days off and can relax and spend quality time but also a lot more time with these people than usual. Did you have anyone come stay over in your home? Are you familiar with the saying that after three days fish and family stink? How was your holiday experience overall?

We had about 30 family members stay over and this got me thinking about how some of them are included in my overall insurance plans. Do you have family members that are part of your plans? I am going to review some areas of your insurance plan to think about since you have had a good opportunity to see so many people close to you in a relatively short period of time.

First, who do you have listed as your beneficiaries of your insurance policies? Did you know that you can change them as many times as you like? Perhaps the people who you once adored may not be in the good books after the holidays. Or, maybe you have noticed a need that was not there before. For example, there is a child or relative with a health condition that will require financial support in the future. Remember, you can also have backup beneficiaries, also known as contingent beneficiaries.

Second, if you have minor children you may have designated a trustee of the insurance proceeds. This person will manage the money in prudent ways until the minor is of age. Think about the overall ability of that individual to manage their own life and financial affairs.

Is there still a good fit? If that individual is speculative with their own investments on one extreme or consistently behind on bills these may be warning signs. You can have more than one person be the trustee but that may only cause more complexity should the time come.

Another consideration is whether those people have moved or are in a stage of life where they would not be able to manage the role well. For example, if the trustee is starting a new business or going back to school.

Third, many people have gone to church services or been involved in causes such as the food bank or women’s shelter. There are a lot of options to allocate a portion of your insurance benefits to these causes and as I have written about in the past, there are often tax benefits for doing so. Receiving an insurance benefit could support or keep your values in place for many years.

Life can change a lot from one year to the next and the holidays are a great refresher on everyone’s situations. Take some time to reflect on your wishes and how your new intel may affect them.

From there, I encourage you to talk to your insurance advisor to review in greater detail the factors to consider. My office does annual insurance reviews to cover off such areas and encourage you to reach out to your insurance advisor if you have not heard from them in the last year. All the best and have a great new year!

Steve Meldrum B.Mgt. CFP CLU is the founder of Swell Private Wealth Ltd. For over a decade he has specialized in helping individuals and businesses expand protect and perpetuate their wealth. For further information or tailored advice, contact him at 403-487-0490, steve@swellwealth.com or connect on social media.

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