Often Overlooked, Insurance Can Be a Lifeline for Your Business

Considering the effort it takes any entrepreneur to amass wealth, protecting that wealth should be a top financial planning priority—and in this regard, insurance plays a key role in any protection plan.

However, James Pelmore, partner, private wealth manager at Foundation Wealth Partners, points out that too often he comes across seasoned entrepreneurs whose businesses are “woefully” underinsured—or not insured at all.

“The reasons for this are almost innumerable,” he says. “They range from the fear that insurance will be expensive to the idea that it was never needed in the past, so why bother now when things are going so well?”

Pelmore adds that it usually takes an undesirable and potentially calamitous event for people to seek help from financial advisors—such as being turned down for a bank loan due to lack of insurance, “or because a partner has died and there’s not enough cash to buy out the deceased’s shares.”

The irony is that protecting one’s wealth by developing an effective insurance structure “can be compared to getting one’s will in order in that it’s not such a bad or complicated experience,” says Pelmore, who stresses that this is a normal outcome when a professional with considerable experience in the field is engaged.

Foundation Wealth conducts insurance policy reviews and evaluations based on a deep knowledge of corporate structures, taxation, life insurance capabilities, and challenging medical or circumstantial underwriting issues. Its resulting solutions can, among other things, provide immediate liquidity for an estate tax need, to protect a business, or replace an income in the event of death or disability.

One of the many ways Foundation Wealth distinguishes itself is its decades-long partnership with PPI, one of Canada’s leading insurance marketers that offers all of the major insurance company contracts and provides access to a full range of insurance products (life, living benefits, and annuities).

With PPI and other resources at its disposal, Pelmore and his colleagues can determine exactly what clients’ insurance needs are and develop a product that suits them. Plus, the policies will be sound. “There have been cases in the past of policies sold by others in our profession whose tax exemption were challenged by Revenue Canada, and which led to audits and fines,” he says. By contrast, PPI’s policies are so effective they have been widely copied within the Canadian insurance industry.

Whether it’s for business or family, Pelmore is firm in his conviction that there’s no excuse that warrants putting off consulting with an advisor to create an effective insurance strategy. “It’s not all right to put this off when you have people in your life who rely on you,” he says. “Procrastinating isn’t just irresponsible, it’s tantamount to putting business colleagues and loved ones in harm’s way.”

Originally published in BC Business.