Hey, do you recognize this logo?
This is the logo of Gofundme,
a for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows
people to raise money for events ranging from
celebrations to challenging circumstances.
But do you know what the
majority of people use go fund me for?
Unfortunately,
it’s to support accident and illness particularly.
I am sure if you heard someone you loved
got diagnosed with cancer,
heart attack or stroke….
it for sure causes both emotional
and financial stress…
Now, what most people don’t know is that in Canada,
you can get a form of insurance that is
specifically designed for
severe and critical illnesses condition.
And with this special insurance,
you don’t have to rely on pages like Gofundme.
We’ll go over
the benefits of having a Critical Illness Insurance,
whom it’s designed for,
and what to watch out for.
I will also tell you some of the differences
between disability insurance,
life insurance,
and critical illness insurance.
My goal is that by the end of this video
you can make a more informed decision
about whether CI insurance is for you or not.
And of course,
before we start.
If this is your first here,
thanks for dropping by
My name is Thomas,
This channel is to help Canadians to make
better choices on
Retirement, Wealth and Insurance
My goal is to make sure you take
1 or 2 ideas home
And start making better financial decisions today
If you found this video valuable,
make sure you click the subscribe button below!
Let’s get started!
CI insurance is relatively new compared
to life insurance or disability insurance.
And this was initiated by Dr. Marius Barnard
back in 1983 in South Africa.
Dr. Barnard witnessed first hand while
patients‘ survival rate was getting higher,
they were often left in serious financial
difficulties on the patients and their family.
For example,
treatment cost,
recovery phase,
and other liabilities.
If you survive a severe illness,
your life insurance can’t be paid out.
That’s why Dr. Barnard believed that there
should be a product out there
to provide immediate financial relief.
The insurance was first introduced
to cover 4 major conditions:
Cancer
Heart attack
Stroke
Heart bypass surgery
And now,
CI insurance can cover up to 25-26
different serve sicknesses and conditions.
Included are,
for example,
Multiple sclerosis
Parkinson or Alzheimer’s Disease.
why do you need CI insurance in the first place?
Can’t you just get life insurance or
disability insurance and be done with it?
There is one main reason
why CI insurance is getting more important:
More and more people who get sick
survive the sickness.
This is an amazing trend thanks to modern medicine.
But as a result,
people who survive a critical illness
need financial help.
Let’s look at some numbers
to give you a better picture.
Take Cancer for example:
Right now,
cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada
and is responsible for 30% of all deaths.
An estimate of 225,000 new cases of cancer
and 32% deaths from cancer
will occur in Canada in 2020.
On average,
617 Canadians get diagnosed with cancer every day.
And the trend will be that 1 in 2 Canadians
is expected to develop cancer during their lifetime.
But the amazing part is,
even if you were diagnosed with cancer now
as opposed to getting the same diagnosis
15 years earlier,
the survival rate is much better
thanks to the advanced medication.
For sure in Canada,
the health care system is publicly funded,
which means the majority of the medical expense
happen in the hospital has been taking care.
However,
this also means everything outside
of hospital such as mortgage payment,
certain treatments,
and the transportation between hospitals
will not be covered.
And those add up,
therefore,
it’s good to have some form of insurance
that helps you in the time after –
the transition phase where you beat the illness
and find your way back into ordinary life.
Imagine if you were battling a serve illness,
would it reduce your stress level if you know
that your mortgage payment has been dealt with?
Or that your spouse or other family members
can take some time off and care for you?
Or how about having the freedom to get
a second doctor’s opinion or
to get treatment immediately without a waiting list?
All of this is possible with this kind of insurance.
The biggest difference between CI insurance
and Disability Insurance is that
Disability insurance is designed for
job income replacement.
Therefore the cost of insurance
depends on the nature of your job.
It provides a monthly payment and
most of the plans expire at age 65
when most people retire.
CI insurance,
on the other hand,
pays in a lump sum of cash and the coverage can
last until the day the insured person passes away.
The cost of Ci insurance is base on
age and gender, lifestyle, and family history
For coverage of $100,000,
the cost for a 30-year-old healthy,
non-smoker Canadian will start around
40 to 50 dollars per month.
And there is a choice of getting coverage for
a set interval such as for the next 5, 10, or 20 years
or longer time to age 75 or 100.
There are other side benefits
such as full premium refund at the expiry,
meaning you can get all your money back
if no claim involved.
For details,
feel free to ask your insurance advisor.
I always believe the great thing about
critical illness insurance is not just to provide
the financial relief
but to help that person to gain independence.
You are not forced to work or
forced yourself to ask others for money.
It can cover what life insurance
or disability cannot do.
Life insurance only pays out if you die.
It’s a great way to care for your family
after you are gone.
But it doesn’t protect you in the
more likely case of surviving a critical illness.
Also,
one of the unique features about
CI insurance in Canada,
Is that the plan is a guaranteed premium.
Unlike auto insurance,
once the contract is made,
the insurance company cannot
adjust the premium or
make any future changes to your policy.
Now some people might be thinking,
I don’t need CI insurance because
I live very healthy and I shouldn’t get sick.
Unfortunately,
health doesn’t work that way.
If you take a group of healthy and fit people
and a group of less health-conscious people,
did you know that both groups have about
the same chance to get sick
at some point in their life?
But there is one big difference.
If you belong to the healthy group,
you are much more likely to survive the illness.
Because your body has more resources to heal you.
if you are healthy and fit,
CI insurance can be more beneficial for you
than life insurance.
Some people might think that
they can save up the money themselves,
or if they really need a lump sum
they can just take it from their RRSP
or savings account.
The problem is that taking money from
these accounts might cause tax problems
and have to time the market.
And both might result losing a part of your money.
CI insurance payout is guaranteed tax-free
and you don’t need to worry about
the market performance
Oh lastly.
There is one more thing I want to address
when it comes to CI insurance.
This is back to the go fund me
I mentioned earlier.
Have you ever seen people on Gofundme or
other sites asking for donations for a sick relative?
Maybe they can’t pay their mortgage
because they are in the hospital.
Maybe they need a medical device
like a wheelchair and can’t afford it.
As a result,
they have to go online,
ask for donations and rely on the kindness
of strangers on the internet.
Needless to say,
all of this creates extra stress
on the sick person and their family.
And it can be 100% avoided
if you have critical illness insurance.
One thing I know for sure
when the stress goes down,
the chances you recover from cancer,
heart attack, or stroke will be much higher.
So to sum up,
CI insurance is one of the effective way
to transfer risk.
You get a lump sum of tax free money that
helps you overcome the psychological and
financial stress during that tough time.
And since our medical system gets better,
it’s expected that more and more people
survive critical illness.
Even if you are on a budget,
having a small CI insurance plan
can make your life easier.
Imagine getting $15k or $30k extra
while you are at home recovering.
I think it would help a lot.
So please while you are thinking to get
a life insurance to help your family,
please consider this illness insurance
to help yourself as well.
If you have any questions about this,
click on the link in the description
to book a free consultation with me.
During the consultation,
my team and I will help you find out
what insurance plan will work best for you
how it ties in
with other insurance or investment you have.
Thanks for watching!
If you want more videos like this,
make sure you let me know by giving
a thumbs up and to share your thoughts
This is Thomas
And I will see you in the next video!