Using Segregated Funds to protect the value of your estate
Your estate is the sum of your lifetime of hard work, smart investing and sensible financial planning. It is your greatest legacy to your loved ones. Estate planning allows you to protect the wealth you’ve accumulated over a lifetime while helping you to better manage your family’s financial future.
Segregated funds offer the combination of growth potential and principal protection. Incorporating segregated funds as part of your estate planning can benefit you in two ways:
- Capital preservation
The death benefit feature preserves your capital for your named beneficiaries. It guarantees that your beneficiaries will receive a specific percentage of the value of your investment upon the death of the person whose life is insured under the contract (known as the annuitant1), even if the market value of your investment goes down. It’s a feature you won’t find in any mutual fund or traditional stock or bond portfolio, and it’s your reassurance that the inheritance you want to leave for your loved ones will be there for them. - Bypassing probate
Enables your segregated fund assets to bypass probate (the process by which a court formally approves a will as the valid and last testament of the deceased person), thereby minimizing the costs of probate. Avoiding the costs of probate Probate is often a lengthy, costly and public – process. So
not only will your beneficiaries’ end up with less money, but your financial and personal information will also become available to the public.Since the money held within a segregated fund bypasses probate, proceeds are paid directly and quickly to your named beneficiaries, saving your beneficiaries the time and costs involved in the probate process. And unlike assets distributed in a will, segregated fund contracts are not public documents, so the disposition of the assets stays private.