12/13/2025
💡True financial advice is a personalized service whereby a qualified adviser conducts an in-depth analysis of an individual’s personal financial situation as well as their personal needs and objectives.
🫡A very inspiring story of one of my clients, whom I would nickname as Jane Doe. She has been a client of mine since early 2017. I have sold her a universal policy with a $300K life insurance coverage and a critical illness rider for $25K on a $100 contribution. (when I was still working for, you know! Until November of 2018). She had opened an RESP account in 2021 with a $100 contribution and a group Pension transfer in 2022 of almost $6K. During our meetings almost each year on our advisor-client relationship, we had always gone through Insurance needs analysis as well as investment reviews. In December of 2023, part of our analysis, she needed the increase of both life and critical illness coverage. However, with a limited budget, we can only increase her critical illness coverage to $72,000, which was her choice, while keeping her contribution of $100 a month. I have made the client aware of the outcome of the increase of coverage within her universal policy that she may need to increase the contribution and/or extend her contribution period for longer than 20 years in order for her policy to avoid lapse.
During those years, I determined that her budget was her BIGGEST CONCERN. This month of December 2025, at our scheduled meeting for Insurance needs analysis and investment reviews, she finally opened up and asked for my help with DEBT MANAGEMENT. I have gathered more information about her current situation in which I found out that her BIGGEST CONCERN is paying off her $11,000 student loan because of the high interest associated with it.
During our review, we determined that her current net cash surrender value on her 🔖universal life policy is around $10,300, 👵RRSP value is $7,800, 👩🎓👩🎓👨🎓RESP value is $24,800. We have also determined that she needed an increase to her life insurance coverage to $610,000. She is currently on 🤱maternity leave for her 3rd child on which, as a bread winner, her household income falls within the low-income minimum threshold.
So in order to meet her 🥉GOALS, 🥈NEEDS and 🥇PRIORITIES, I have advised her to have an internal replacement of her universal life into a term insurance, which meets her insurance 🥈NEEDS of $610K life coverage with $72K critical illness rider, on which also helps with her budget by having only $57 of monthly premium. This internal replacement allows her to access her cash surrender value of $10,380+ that meets her 🥇PRIORITY of paying off her loan that’ll hugely help her with her money management. I have also advised her the withdrawal of her RRSP that can be used to pay the remaining balance of her student loan and to re-invest it into her RESP account for her 🥉GOAL of having enough money to sustain her children’s college funds and other necessities. As much as she wanted to keep her universal policy, it took away her opportunity to meet and achieve her other goals and priorities.
With my 🤔knowledge and 🤫expertise, I have managed to help her fulfill her financial peace of mind. And she willingly, with full understanding of the strategies I have recommended, accepted my recommendation. I then helped her with the implementation of the strategies I have recommended to her.
The 😎great thing she has, with the way I structured/ modified her universal policy, she got her money back. The total contribution she has made into her universal policy of more than 8 years (shown below) was $10,300 and she'll receive a little more than $10,380 even though we made some increase in her coverage.
As what I always advise to my clients, 👎never settle for less. True financial planning👀 is a continued commitment from both parties. It is not a 1-time sell and forget.
A true financial advisor is not only focusing on what he/she would earn but on how much he/she could help the client even in other aspects of financial matters that won't benefit the advisor’s pocket. If you’ve seen your advisor has gone richer and you remained the same, you don’t really have a financial advisor but a salesperson who’s benefitting from you.
