Business Owners
Your corporation and your personal plan are one plan
Incorporated business owners have options employees simply do not, and risks employees do not carry either. We look at the corporation and the household together, because a decision in one shows up in the other.
Where we help
Four questions most owner-managed businesses face
What happens if a key person is gone?
What happens to a partner’s shares?
What should retained earnings be doing?
What is the tax bill at the end?
Corporate-owned life insurance
Owned by the company, planned with the family in mind
- The corporation owns the policy, is the beneficiary, and pays the premiums from corporate dollars rather than after-tax personal income.
- Cash value inside a permanent policy accumulates tax-sheltered, subject to the limits set by Canadian tax legislation.
- On death, a portion of the proceeds may be credited to the capital dividend account, potentially allowing a tax-free distribution to shareholders.
- Policies can be structured to fund a buy-sell agreement, protect a lender relationship, or offset the tax liability on the shares themselves.
- Ownership structure and beneficiary designation drive the tax outcome, so these decisions should involve your accountant and, where relevant, your lawyer.
Corporate insurance planning is genuinely technical and highly fact-specific. Our role is to model the options clearly and work alongside your existing tax and legal advisors, not to replace them.
Our process
How a business review runs
Understand the structure
Shareholders, holding companies, existing agreements, current coverage, and how you and your family are compensated from the business today.
Identify exposure
Where the business or the family would be forced into a bad decision: a death, a departure, a disability, or an unfunded tax liability.
Coordinate and implement
We present options, loop in your accountant and lawyer where the structure requires it, then handle the applications and documentation.
Questions we hear often
Corporate planning basics
- Should the corporation or I personally own the policy?
- It depends on who needs the money, your marginal rates personally versus corporately, and whether proceeds need to reach shareholders. Corporate ownership is often efficient for funding corporate obligations, while personal ownership can be simpler for personal needs. We model both.
- Do I need a buy-sell agreement if I trust my partner?
- The agreement is not about trust between you. It is about what happens with your partner’s spouse, estate, or creditors, none of whom signed up to run a business with you. It should be drafted by a lawyer and funded so it can actually be carried out.
- We already have coverage from years ago. Is a review worth it?
- Usually. Business values change, shareholders change, debts get repaid and new ones taken on, and tax rules evolve. Coverage sized for the company you had five years ago is frequently the wrong size for the company you have now.
- Do you work with our accountant?
- Yes, and we prefer to. Corporate structures involve tax questions that belong with your accountant and drafting that belongs with your lawyer. Plans built without them tend to come apart when they are needed most.
Book a business owner review
Bring your corporate structure and any existing coverage. We’ll tell you plainly where the gaps are, including where there aren’t any.