If you suffered a critical illness and if money were no object, I am sure all of us would spend every last dime we had to recover and get on with our lives. Sadly, most of us are not in such a position. Therefore, where would you as a business owner get the money if there were no bottomless money pouch available? Here are some different ways you could fund your recovery in the event of a critical illness.

• Dip into savings – most people have less than six months of income in an emergency fund let alone enough saved up to cover a long-term illness.
• Get a loan from the bank – unfortunately, I do not know of many banks that would be eager to lend someone money if they are currently out of work.
• Borrow from family – pride will usually not allow someone to become a financial burden to those close to them.
• Sell your home – you still need a place to live, selling could take time and/or drastically reduce the value of your house because you cannot wait for the best price. In addition, do you really want to deal with a move when someone is critically ill?
• Borrow from your RRSP – this usually has a long term affect on retirement savings. Not only are you using a fully taxable dollar when you withdraw it from an RRSP, you also lose the potential growth through compounding which is a key factor in building your wealth for retirement.
• Critical illness insurance – when this is set up correctly through a professional advisor, it will pay out a tax-free amount of money to you.

Facing a critical illness can affect anyone at any age or any time. Critical illness insurance is a unique product, which is designed for the living. You may well survive a critical illness, but there will certainly be a financial loss that you may never fully recover from.

For a business owner critical illness insurance can provide much-needed funds to:
• Cover business expenses
• Fund a Shareholder Buy-Out
• Key Person Coverage
• Corporate Debt Repayment
• Provide cash for family members to come into the business or to hire a contract person
Here are some other ways you can use critical illness insurance to fill a financial void.
• Leave of Absence for your spouse from their job
• Child Care costs
• Domestic help around the house
• Costs of medication that the provincial system might not provide
• Alternative treatment which can be costly but effective
• Timely treatment outside of Canada
• Time away from work to properly recover
• Nursing Home/Private Nursing Care costs
• Make changes to your home or vehicle if required
• Repayment of your debt
• A recovery vacation with loved ones

Finding out that you or someone you love has become critically ill can turn your life upside down. It can affect you, your spouse, family and business partner emotionally, physically and financially. Help protect yourself, your family and your business from unnecessary financial hardship by speaking with a professional advisor about adding critical illness insurance to your financial portfolio. Educate yourself about the real-life costs of having a critical illness. You will be thankful you did if anything unforeseen comes your way.
To your success!