You spend time worrying about risk management for your company, but do you periodically review your personal financial risk management needs? Knowing that the answer is often, “no,” here are a number of areas that you may wish to consider and discuss with an insurance/financial advisor.

Buy-Sell Agreements
As a shareholder or a partner in a business, you likely have a buy-sell agreement. Is it just to cover the sale of the business at the time of death? Does it also cover in the event of disability after a specified period of time has passed? Hopefully it covers both, but how will the purchase be funded? Is the funding in place by way of life and disability insurance policies? Discuss this with your advisor, lawyer, and accountant.

Key Person Coverage
Is there a key person in your organization whose extended absence, due to death or disability, would cause a negative financial impact? Perhaps a disability would mean paying two salaries and entail expensive recruitment costs. Would sales be reduced as a result of the loss of the employee? Life insurance and disability insurance can be in place to respond.

Business Overhead Expense
If you are disabled and unable to work, your ability to generate income to pay fixed overhead expenses may be impacted. Often used to compliment a disability income policy, business overhead expense policy can address some of these needs.

Group Benefits
Ensure your group benefits plan includes disability insurance. While employees are covered by Workers’ Compensation for work related injury or illness, they need protection for other times. Reduce the risk of a non-occupational injury affecting an employee’s financial security, and ensure it doesn’t conveniently become a work related claim.

Living Benefits
Major components of the Living Benefits are disability insurance, critical illness insurance, and long-term care insurance. Make sure you at least learn about each. They go together in a financial security plan. Coverage can be designed based on factors including needs and budget. Does your disability plan have a non-occupational disability clause that makes your policy worthy of keeping into retirement? When assessing new coverage, talk about the opportunity to have a refund of premiums.

Out of Province/Country Travel Insurance
Understand why coverage is required if you are travelling within Canada but out of your home province. Also, when travelling internationally, be careful when warnings are in effect, such as for H1N1 flu. Insurer positions vary, so be sure to confirm that you will have coverage.

Financial Advisor
Help your employees by giving them access to a personal financial advisor. With group benefits, it may or may not be offered. This service is often provided without charge, as the advisor will be compensated for new business by the company with which it is placed. Invite a financial advisor to speak to staff at a session such as a Lunch ‘n Learn.

**This message is an expression of the author’s personal opinions. The companies represented by Antony (Tony) Ratcliffe of Ratcliffe Wealth & Risk Management, as an independent agent/broker in Alberta, Canada, will not be held liable in any way for the opinions expressed herein.