Critical Illness Insurance - Do I Need It?
Do you know someone who has been affected by a critical illness such as cancer, heart disease, or stroke? If you ask them, they’ll likely tell you that the illness wasn’t the only problem they faced. A MEDICAL problem brings with it a set of EMOTIONAL, LOGISTICAL, and FINANCIAL problems that make the whole scenario a lot more difficult.
You can’t always control if you’re going to get sick. But you can equip yourself financially to withstand the non-medical problems by having CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE.
Critical Illness Insurance pays a tax-free lump sum, 30 days after diagnosis. And you can use that money for anything you want - it’s yours! But the intent is that you’re financially able to face this challenging time.
Both of us, Richard and David, have benefitted directly from our personal critical illness coverage. In 2021 and 2023, respectively, we had heart surgery to repair our aortas. We each had to take about 2 months off of work to recover. During that time, we didn’t have to worry about finances, because we were able to claim our Critical Illness Insurance benefit. There are similar stories with the 30+ of our clients who have made CI claims over the years.
We generally recommend Critical Illness Insurance for any working adult. In many cases, it’s actually a higher priority than life insurance. A good rule of thumb is to have CI coverage equal to 1-2 years’ salary. Even if you have benefits at work, employer CI coverage is almost always just $25k or less, which is rarely enough. It’s better to get your own policy.
You can also build the policy with the Return of Premium at Death and Return of Premium at Expiry features. With these features, the outcome will be one of the following:
You’ll get sick during the coverage period, and receive your tax-free payout 30 days later.
You’ll pass away for a non-illness reason during the coverage period, and your survivors receive back every penny you paid for your policy.
You remain healthy and alive until policy expiry (usually Age 75), and you receive back every penny you paid for your policy - often tens of thousands of dollars.
It’s a compelling product, and it’s not discussed enough. For more info on how it might fit into your financial picture, book a free consultation at any time!
