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Father's Day is just around the corner!

It is a day when many of us reflect on what it means to be a father and what our fathers mean to us. Let me take a minute here to thank all fathers for their hard work and dedication to their families. Happy Fathers Day! 

Don't rush to spend your Tax Return.

Tax season has come to an end. And many Canadians already received their tax returns. Financial advisors warn against treating the return as a lottery win and spending it on expensive tech gadget or designer item. Remember: tax return is a portion of your hard earned money and it is best to use it to grow your savings and income.

With Halloween just around the corner, children's thoughts turn to candy and costumes. Their parents and grandparents should be focusing on more macabre matters -- like the life insurance policies they bought (or are thinking of buying) to secure the financial future of these little ghosts and goblins if a key provider dies.

Though life insurance can serve various purposes, for most people, it is a tool for income replacement -- to pay the mortgage or foot the bill for college if the unthinkable happens. Often a term-life policy, which provides a preset death benefit when the insured person dies, is all they need. Premiums for these policies, typically offered for 10- or 20-year terms, have fallen sharply in recent years.

But unfortunately it's not enough to stuff the policy in a drawer and forget about it. Term Life Insurance is an affordable option for many, but it comes with one spooky item in the contract- renewal date. You may remember your wedding anniversary, but will most likely forget when your 10 or 20 year Life Insurance Term will come up for a renewal. On that date your premiums change, and in most cases more than double. To avoid the shocking bill and ensure options for continuous coverage use a trusted Insurance Broker.

At Finkelstein Financial we will get in touch with you MONTHS before your Term Policy's renewal date. We will re-evaluate your Life Insurance needs, most likely they have changed in the past decade or two. We will then prepare several replacement plans for you to choose from, in accordance to your changed needs and health level. Trust us with servicing your insurance and you won't have to worry about the spooky renewal dates again.

Happy Halloween!

The leaves have fallen off the trees and the temperature is dropping. Thanksgiving is here and we’ll be parked in front of a turkey dinner before you know it. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the wonderful things in your life, and give thanks for everything we have that makes life worth living. To ensure you can continue to enjoy the good things in life, you should have a sound insurance plan in place. This Thanksgiving, you probably didn’t plan on thinking about the “what ifs” in life, the bad things that could happen, but it might do you good to set aside some time to to check your insurance coverage to see if it is sufficient should the unfortunate happen. 

Even if we know the importance of it, it's easy to procrastinate since we always think we have more time...until it's too late. So after enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, make the time to have some important family conversations with those who may be directly affected. After all, there may be few other times when you're all together. Tell your family your wishes – what type of medical care you’ll want when you can’t talk for yourself, what you want your final services to be like, who you want to raise your minor children, and how you want your possessions handled. Then help make sure your wishes are actually carried out with this checklist of documents and insurance policies:

Life Insurance is a great choice for anyone wanting to make sure their family is taken care of in the future or hoping to leave a financial legacy for their family. And be aware before you begin your research — life insurance has become an increasingly flexible financial tool that can provide both Death (proceeds to your named beneficiary) and Living Benefits (proceeds to you while you are living).

Disability insurance can replace up to 60% of your income if you're unable to work. See if it's offered through your employer since it's generally much more expensive on the individual marketplace. In deciding how much you need, just keep in mind that the benefits are taxable if your employer is paying for it and tax-free if you are. 

Contact our professional team to assist you in creating and reviewing you Life, Disability and/or Critical Illness Insurance portfolio.

A health care directive includes a living will specifying your wishes for end-of-life care and a health care proxy or power of attorney appointing someone to make health care decisions for you if you're unable to.

A durable power of attorney appoints someone to make financial decisions and manage your money on your behalf. If you make it "springing," it would only take effect if you're incapacitated.

A Will can designate who inherits your assets and perhaps even more importantly, who would be the guardian of any minor children you may have.

Beneficiary designations on any retirement accounts, HSAs, education savings accounts, and life insurance policies you have trump your will and allow those assets to pass on directly to your beneficiaries without going through the time and cost of probate.

Knowing that you have everything covered could give you that added peace of mind during the holidays and year to come.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your beloved!