Change is inevitable. It’s just a part of life. Some changes you can predict, while others you simply cannot. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a plan in place to help mitigate the impacts and protect your wealth should something change in your life like your career, your health or even your family situation.
Fortunately, there are many wealth protection strategies you can use to protect your nest egg. These strategies can help you gain peace of mind knowing that you’ve taken the necessary steps to secure your financial future, alleviate any unnecessary financial stress on your family and ensure the full value of your assets are protected for future generations.
You’ve worked hard for the things you have, so by planning today, you can protect your tomorrow.
As Rhonda Oakden, our Manager of Westoba Financial Solutions says, “Everyone can benefit from working with a financial advisor or planner. A team, like ours, can take you through a process to ensure your wealth is protected and eliminate any anxieties you have about your financial situation so that you can spend time doing what matters most to you.”
Before we delve into things, it’s important to first ask the question – what is WEALTH?
When most people think of wealth, they think of money. But wealth is actually so much more than that. Wealth includes all of the things that you own that give you financial security – so your investments, your home or property, your vehicle(s), valuable possessions, and yes, of course, what you have in the bank. Over your lifetime, you can accumulate a large amount of savings, assets and investments and that’s why protecting them is so important.
So, let’s get started and take a look at some of the best wealth protection tips available to you.
1. Financial Planning
It all starts with a financial plan. Anyone who has financial goals should have one. A financial plan is a summary of your financial goals and the strategies designed to achieve them. Essentially, your goals are destinations, and the plan is the roadmap.
At Westoba, we have a full team of Financial Planners ready to help. By fully understanding your financial situation, and your short- and long-term goals, they can recommend strategies designed to meet your objectives including:
- Retirement planning
- Education savings
- Estate planning and trust services
- Investment advice and management
- Pension decisions
You are more likely to achieve your goals with a financial plan as it outlines action steps to follow within designed timelines while providing opportunities to review and amend or adjust. They also are incredibly helpful in achieving peace of mind by identifying risks and putting plans in place to mitigate them.
By consulting with a Financial Planner, you can also develop strategies on tax efficiency, maximizing income generation, protection of assets and income, as well as ensuring a proper estate plan is in place (read more on this later).
2. Insurance
Insurance is an important component that should be integrated into your wealth protection plan. If faced with an unexpected illness, disability, or even death, insurance gives you options to cover your family’s ongoing living expenses. A variety of insurance policies exist and can lessen the impact of a negative situation on yourself, your family and your long-term financial goals. Here are a few options to consider:
- Life Insurance – protects the financial security of the people you love by giving them a tax-free payment in the event that you pass away. Before purchasing, you should consider your financial situation (i.e., what sort of debt you have outstanding etc.) and the standard of living you want your family to have once you’re gone.
- Critical Illness Protection – provides you with money to help pay the costs associated with surviving a life-altering illness. These types of plans allow you to focus on getting well and spending time with your loved ones instead of worrying about making ends meet when you have additional health care costs.
- Disability Coverage – provides a monthly payment that replaces your income while you are unable to work. The duration of a disability can be either short- or long-term and can result from several causes, including an injury, a serious illness or a mental health issue.
- Long Term Care Insurance – provides an income-style benefit if you become unable to care for yourself due to aging, an accident, illness or deteriorated mental abilities. It helps cover any costs incurred for needing assistance to manage daily living activities
3. Investing
If you have built a substantial amount of wealth over your lifetime you may want to consider investing it as a way to preserve it and even grow it. There are a number of investment strategies you can deploy that will allow you to continue enjoying your wealth while also keeping it intact.
Westoba offers a full range of investment products and services that can be matched to members’ specific needs now and well into the future. No matter what stage of life you’re in, we have the experience and expertise to work with you to find the right investment options and strategies to make your money work for you. Take a look at our Registered Investments, Term Deposits (GICs) and our competitive Rates.
4. Estate Planning
Now that you’ve built your wealth, you want to safeguard it for your children, grandchildren, and causes you care about. Detailed estate planning and the drafting of your will is an essential part of the entire financial plan. It should be given the same amount of time and consideration as the other stages of your financial planning.
Estate planning is a process that can help you answer questions like:
- What happens to my wealth when I am gone?
- How can I preserve even more of my wealth for my family?
- Can my assets be easily located?
- How can I make things easier for my loved ones?
- How do I ensure my wishes are carried out after my death?
Estate planning is an ongoing process and the best time to create, review and revise is when you are in good health. It will need to be revisited as your circumstances change and assets become more complex.
Financial planning, insurance, investing and estate planning are just a few of the recommended options you can consider when putting together your wealth protection strategy. No two strategies are the same and creating and implementing your wealth protection plan requires careful consideration. But you don’t need to do it alone.
We invite you to make an appointment with one of our financial consultants by calling 1-877-WESTOBA or book below. We’re mobile and virtual and will meet wherever you like! We believe in making the process as simple as possible.
