Business Owners & Professional Corporations
Key Challenges:
Continuity planning:
- Buy-sell insurance
- Key person insurance
- Borrowing to purchase equipment and property
- Finding flexible loan options
Employee strategies for retention, commitment, and engagement:
- Group health and dental plans
- Group retirement plans
Managing cash:
- High interest cash accounts
- Tax-efficient investing
Extracting cash:
- Tax free life insurance strategies that benefit from CDA
- Investment strategies that create capital gains (50% taxed) - eg. corporate class funds or buy stocks for long-term
Generating retirement income:
- Insured Retirement Plan (IRP) - a tax efficient strategy which borrows from the cash surrender value of a life insurance policy that is owned by your corporation
- Individual Pension Plan (IPP) - a personal defined benefit pension plan which you create for yourself
Term Life Insurance
Whether you are looking to protect your family or your business, Term life insurance offers affordable and flexible protection you can customize to meet your temporary and growing needs.
You can choose term life coverage that protects you for 10 or 20 years or until you reach age 65 or age 100.
Business Term from Manulife Financial
The simple structure and flexible features of Business Term allow you to protect the key elements of your business so you can be sure it will carry forward with minimal disruption.
The affordable and easy-to-manage design of Business Term creates financial security for your business with:
- Key person protection
- Business collateral and buy-sell funding
- Estate tax coverage
Your Business Term insurance can be customized using options called ‘riders’, such as Business Value Protector (adding additional coverage as your business grows), Total Disability Waiver (waiving premiums if you become disabled) and more.
Business Term is a registered trademark of and is offered through Manulife Financial (The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company)
The Proguard Series
Designed for executives and professionals, Proguard Series is one of the most comprehensive income replacement protection plans available. Featuring unique and flexible benefits, you can customize a plan to meet your specific needs. Plus, built-in automatic coverage enhancements help ensure your coverage keeps pace with your income growth.
Proguard Series is ideal for:
- Comprehensive income replacement for the changing needs of executives and professionals
- Topping-up employer provided long-term disability benefits
- Protecting employees through an Income Loss Replacement Plan
- Future insurance planning – exchange your coverage for a long term care insurance plan when the time is right (Future Care Option)
Proguard Series is offered through Manulife Financial (The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company).
Group Benefits for Small Businesses
Running a business presents many daily challenges, but here’s a decision that’s easy to make. When seeking an affordable way to give your employees the advantages offered by a group benefits plan, I can help.
The LaunchPlan™ is a group benefits program designed exclusively for companies with 2 to 9 employees. It’s a straightforward plan that’s easy to get started and easy for your employees to use and understand. It offers an affordable, sustainable way to protect employees and build a better business.
If you are looking for a wider selection of benefits products and services with greater flexibility for your company, ask us about AlphaPlus®, a benefits plan suited for small businesses with 2 to 24 employees.
The LaunchPlan™, AlphaPlus® and Group Benefits are offered through Manulife Financial (The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company). The LaunchPlan is not offered to groups with a business presence in the province of Quebec.
Buy-Sell Plus
Buy-Sell Plus is a great complement to a business buy-out agreement. It offers flexibility and choice in how to fund the purchase of a disabled owner's share of the business.
Buy-Sell Plus business buy-out coverage is ideal for owners of small, closely held businesses (generally two to five owners) who own at least 10% of the business and who work full-time for the business.
Buy-Sell Plus is sold by, and is a trademark of Manulife Financial (The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company).
The Value Behind the Venture Series
The ability to earn an income is the single most valuable asset of any individual during their working years. Yet many Canadians overlook the need for income replacement insurance in their financial plans.
Others may assume that the traditional safety nets such as employer/government benefits or personal savings are enough to see them through. However, individual income replacement insurance is the only protection that is both comprehensive and portable, and provides a source of income that can be counted on during a period of otherwise complete uncertainty.
The Venture Series provides cost-effective coverage to a wide range of occupations. The basic plan provides total disability benefits, with Residual or Partial Disability riders also available.
To learn more, click here.
Corporate In-Kind Donating
As more and more corporations invest their retained earnings directly in various vehicles like mutual funds or publicly traded securities, the value of their portfolio continues to grow. And as business owners build their corporation's portfolio, they may also want to 'give back' while taking advantage of the tax benefits of donating investment funds to charity. However, what many business owners may not know is that where corporate investments have increased in value, a corporate donation in-kind results in a more favourable tax consequence than selling the investment and donating the cash. To see why this is, please click here or contact us.
How to understand the value of your private business
Private companies make up a large proportion of businesses in Canada and across the globe; however, the average investor most likely cannot tell you how to assign a value to a company that does not trade its shares publicly. This article is an introduction to placing a value on a private company and the factors that can affect that value. Click here to learn more.
Taxation of investment income within a corporation
For individuals with cash or investments within their corporation, the tax cost of withdrawing these funds or winding up the corporation can be quite high. However, having the corporation invest in a tax-efficient manner can make a big difference to its net after-tax return; unfortunately the taxation of investment income within a corporation is not well understood. To learn more, please click here or contact us.
Identifying Potential Barriers to Selling Your Private Business
Selling your business should never be an impulse decision, and the process leading up to the sale can take years. It is critical for a business owner to have a realistic understanding of the steps involved to prepare for a potential or eventual sale, even if there are no current plans to sell in the next few months. Click here to learn more.