Scantlebury Wealth Management

Imagine starting a new job, full of hope for the future, only to have your world turned upside down two weeks later. That is exactly what happened to Kayla in 2023. After finding a lump on her neck and experiencing difficulty swallowing, she was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma - a rare and aggressive form of thyroid cancer. The problem for Kayla was a simple one: she had recently taken time off to care for her two small children; and, she hadn't built up enough hours in her new job, in her new role. The result? She was completely ineligible for EI sickness benefits. Which brings me to a key point: the financial strain of a critical illness doesn’t just come from the loss of a paycheck. Sometimes, the hidden cost is just receiving the treatment. In Kayla’s case, this meant travelling 3 hours from a rural home to an urban centre. In Kayla’s case, this meant leaving young children behind for 6 weeks during treatment, isolating children from their ill parent at a time when...

  You have probably heard about a Canadian who wished that the federal or their provincial government did more to help those who are in crisis. What if you were given the ability to plan for these moments?  Critical illness insurance is designed to provide financial support if you are diagnosed with a severe medical condition. One of the appealing aspects of this insurance is that it offers a lump sum benefit, which pays out even if you fully recover or do not experience a loss of income or diminished capacity to work. This payout can be particularly useful for covering out-of-pocket medical expenses, replacing lost income, or simply providing peace of mind during a challenging time. In Canada, critical illness insurance policies typically cover a defined list of conditions. When you meet the policy's criteria for any of the following critical illnesses, you may be eligible for the lump sum benefit. This includes Aortic surgery, Aplastic anemia, Bacterial meningitis, Benign br...

In Canada, it is often assumed that healthcare coverage extends uniformly across our 10 provinces and three territories. However, a recent incident underscores the crucial need for travel medical insurance even when traveling within the country's borders. As reported by Pat Foran of CTV News, Doug McGinley experienced an alarming situation during a cross country trip this year. Despite typically purchasing travel medical insurance for international trips, Doug - a resident of Oakville, Ontario - didn’t acquire coverage for this trip. After all, he was just travelling within Canada. What could go wrong? However, while driving through Saskatchewan, his journey took an unexpected turn: he began experiencing chest pains. After crossing into Alberta, he was admitted to a hospital in Medicine Hat, where medical professionals determined that he had suffered a mild heart attack. The situation escalated, requiring air ambulance transport to Calgary for emergency treatment. During this harro...

Step 1: Press “Pause” and Rebuild Take a moment to breathe. You will feel many emotions including shock or anger. They will wear off; but it will take time - a few days, or a few months. It is important to let these emotions wash over you and let them dissipate so that you can make smart decisions about your next few moves. You can try to do simple things like eat well, exercise and have good sleep habits. Taking these steps, taking the time, will ensure that you don’t burn any bridges with your previous employers, supervisors or other stakeholders.  You can also talk to your family and friends. They can be great sounding boards if you need to vent a little or if you need some guidance. Moral support can count as much as financial support. Step 2: Stay positive and make getting another job your new job Firstly, please remember to take care of yourself. The shock of being laid off is real. While, it is important to take comfort from the knowledge that other people, most people, have...

If you speak to most Trustees-in-Bankruptcy in Canada, you will find that it is pretty hard to go bankrupt from medical expenses alone. Freida Richer, a Vice President and Principal at Grant Thornton Limited, noted this in an interview with Global News; and, if you think about it, that makes sense.   We, in Canada, are very proud of our social safety net. We believe in the idea that government programmes should cover basic physician and hospital expenses; while other social programmes should provide financial assistance to Canadians who are unable to work because of disability or illness. Accordingly, Canadians don’t receive bills from our hospitals for procedures like a hip transplant or cancer operations.  As a society, our employers and ourselves often go the extra step by creating Extended Health Benefits through Group Benefit Programmes or by purchasing private products individually. According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), some 24 mil...

During my career, I have been asked a simple question repeatedly: why should a twenty year old buy life insurance?  In many ways, this is the easiest and hardest financial planning question to answer. For the answer to the question lies in statistics, expectations, hopes and the way in which we wish to live our lives. Statistically, it is quite clear that most people in the Western World will not die tomorrow. The Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Children and Their Families noted that while those between the age of 0 and 19 made up 29 percent of the population in 1999, they only made up 2% of all deaths.  In fact, if you look at statistics from Canada, the US and the UK, you see a remarkably similar trend. From birth to the pre-teen years, the likelihood of death drops off dramatically. Or put differently, based on the StatsCanada data from 2014-2018, from birth to age 1, 4.5 Canadian babies out of 1,000 will die. However...

As Canadians, we rarely think about the cost of health care. Most of us rarely have to pay for the services of a doctor or a nurse. While, we are all too aware of the political debates over the provision and use of health care resources and know of the arguments that happen between doctors, nurses, hospital officials and various federal and provincial politicians, we don’t get a bill for it. All we know is a simple fact: we are asked to pay taxes for our imperfect health care system. If you are lucky enough to have a Group Insurance Plan, through your employer, I could probably ask the same question. Generally speaking most employees ask a few questions as they need it or when the premium increases. Other than that your employer deals with the yearly renewals and most of the administration of the plan. All of this means that most Canadians rarely understand the cost of Canadian Health Care. While, it is true that we pay our taxes and some have supplemental coverage rarely is there an a...

So whenever I am asked, “does a single person need insurance”, two children come to mine. Both Children were under the age of ten and both were declared to be uninsurable. For our purposes, I will focus on one child because he had a genetic kidney disease. I will call him “Bob”. In Bob’s case, his parent’s had thought about buying him a life insurance policy early on. His parent’s knew about the disease because members of their family had it. However, they ran into an issue of affordability. So they took a chance. However, when Bob developed at a slower pace than his peers, his parents did the right thing and took him to the doctor. Tests were booked and performed and the test confirmed that Bob had inherited the condition. As a result, he became uninsurable. That short anecdote is important because it illustrates a simple problem: one’s true health can be worse than expected. While, a doctor usually asks if a person has any symptoms, life insurance companies often look a bit deepe...

One question I am asked by clients on a regular basis is: “Since I have group benefits through my employer, why would I need to supplement it with life insurance?” This question is especially popular amongst those who are younger and one can understand why. If one doesn’t own a home or have children, one might not see the value in a life insurance policy. In fact, it is often seen as an unnecessary expense. However, I disagree and these are some of the reasons that I share with my clients. Firstly, you might need a life insurance policy in the future. You might get married. You might adopt a baby or – because of death or circumstance – you might take a friend’s child under your roof. I know this because, as a financial professional, I have seen all of those circumstances. I can honestly say that no one can see what the future has in store for them and being prepared is the best way to deal with it. Too often, financial professionals see the consequences of someone who has not prepared...

At the beginning of a new year, many of us make resolutions. We resolve that we will lose weight, exercise more, read more, clean or declutter our homes. The idea of making a resolution is simple: we want to make sure that we don’t repeat the mistakes of our previous year. Thus, these resolutions are a symbol of what we want to be or become. So, if resolutions are symbols, their power is in their belief and use. Many people start with a resolution to be better at managing their money. Some people will start to catch up on their taxes or put their receipts away. Others will start to look at their investments or call their financial advisor/ planner in January. However, by about now, March, many of them have given up. They may not have made the large RRSP deposit they wanted to make, or have not recovered from Christmas - as they had hoped. Accordingly, they have given up. Well, I am here to say that there is hope. We can start today to improve our finances. Today can be January or March...