Individual Insurance

At Fairfield Watson we believe that healthy, happy employees are more productive and profitable. In order to be truly healthy and happy, individuals must have financial peace of mind. Through our dedicated Individual Benefits Consulting services, we provide employees a financial education service that will provide them with knowledge on how they can protect themselves and their families from catastrophic events. This knowledge can be the difference between leaving your loved ones (or business partners) well positioned financially, or scrambling to deal with financial uncertainty.
The individual benefit consultant also works with our business owner clients to ensure that they are well educated on the different risks that could affect their business and how best we can protect their financial livelihood.

Process

The needs of individuals as it applies to financial planning, and in particular, risk management, varies significantly based upon household income, net worth and family dynamic. At Fairfield Watson we provide individual & executive consulting services that will take these different variables into consideration to ensure the plan we create for individuals provides peace of mind for their families, while assisting in preserving their financial goals in the event of a disability or premature death. Typically we find that while the employee benefit program can offer protection to the masses, this group is generally underinsured in a variety of ways including their income protection as well as their estate planning.

Business owners have two important financial commitments to consider… their family’s well-being as well as that of their company’s.  Business owners understand that while “they” may be the business, the business does not need to end at retirement or in the event of an unexpected death or disability of a key employee or associate.

Business strategies:

Buy/Sell Funding: An important component of a good shareholder agreement is the buy/sell provision which allows for the orderly transfer of shares upon retirement, death or bankruptcy. The most tax efficient way of handling this transfer of shares upon death is through a life and/or disability insurance buy/sell policy. Upon the death or disability of an owner, the company will receive tax-free proceeds from the insurance policies with the intention to purchase the deceased’s shares from their estate or from the disabled spouse/partner.

Key Man Coverage: Key Man insurance can help preserve the value of your business and its continuation in the event of the death of a key stakeholder in the company. Replacing the expertise and knowledge of an essential individual can take time and money and can jeopardize the continuity of the business.

Reimbursement Planning is designed to help protect the business from lost sales, increased expenses or high replacement costs when a key employee becomes totally disabled or dies. If the main driver of revenue within the firm is the owner, or a key employee, we provide income disruption coverage through various disability plans. In addition, protecting the company from a pre-mature death of a key revenue contributor is also a way of hedging company risk. This can provide tax-free proceeds to the company in order to offset any financial disruption from a death of a key employee/owner.

Recognizing that every situation is unique, we will review your shareholder agreements and create solutions that fit your company’s needs and complexities.

Individual Planning Services will provide you with the tools you need to ensure that you are as best protected as you need to be. Your Individual Benefits Consultant will go through any inforce insurance you have and build into your plan today. We will review your household income statement as well as your household balance sheet. All of these variables play a factor into the amount and types of coverage we will utilize to ensure your family’s finances are as best protected as possible.

Health Insurance can you give you the protection you need from unexpected medical expenses. This can make it easier to access the service you require, not to mention lessen your out of pocket expenses.

Fairfield Watson works with Great-West Life by offering a variety of health insurance plans for individuals who want to enhance their insurance coverage. These health insurance plans are specially designed for individuals who have lost or do not qualify for group coverage, including:

  • Self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs
  • Retirees and semi-retirees
  • Contractor workers
  • Students losing dependent coverage
  • Surviving spouses and divorcees
  • Workers on severance or Long Term Disability

Products Offered:

PlanDirect – These health insurance plans are offered to individuals between the ages of 18-74. You must have had coverage in the past 60 days to qualify and there is no underwriting requirements for drug coverage. Ideal for individuals that are retiring or have lost their group benefits. To obtain information and pricing on PlanDirect, Great-West Life’s guaranteed conversion health insurance product, click here:

Sonata – These health insurance plans are offered to individuals between the ages of 18-74 and with no prior coverage. These health insurance plans do require underwriting for drug coverage. Ideal for individuals whom are self-employed, working on contract, or do not currently have health insurance. To learn more about Great-West Life’s medically underwritten individual insurance plans, click here:

Elite Diagnostics Imagine Services (EDIS) is a program that connects seriously ill Canadians and their treating physicians with world renowned specialists to confirm the right diagnosis and the right treatment options, by:

  • Arrangment of MRI or CT scan within 72 hours
  • InterConsultation™ – Conduct an in-depth analysis of your medical records and/or provide a second opinion regarding diagnosis and treatment options
  • FindBestDoc™ – Conduct a customized search and recommend leading Canadian physicians
  • FindBestCare® – Locate a specialist and treatment facility within or outside of Canada
  • Best Doctors 360°™ – Answers questions and helps you navigate the healthcare system

Best Doctors Global Medical Care™ (GMC), provides health care coverage that enables you to access care anywhere in the world. Offering a unique plan that enables you to receive medical care from leading physicians worldwide. GMC is designed to complement provincial, critical illness and/or employee health plans and ensures your health care needs and costs are covered – any place, any time.

Benefits to Individuals and their Families:

  • $5,000,000 per member in lifetime coverage
  • Access to diagnostics (MRI, CT scans, other)
  • Prescription drug coverage, including 100% coverage during hospitalization
  • Immediate access to the best treatment facilities across the world
  •  Personalized support by Best Doctors Registered Nurses
  • Access to Best Doctors’ unique services including InterConsultation®, Concierge™ and Elite Navigator™

Benefits to Employers:

  • Tailor made insurance plan to fit your needs and your budget
  • Improve employee attraction, satisfaction and retention
  • Reduces the risks of misdiagnosis, incorrect treatment plans, unwarranted surgery, poorly managed chronic conditions, and unnecessary drugs, doctor’s visits and hospital stays
  • Ingrates easily with other company benefits programs

For more information on EDIS and/or GMC, please contact us at info@fairfieldwatson.com

A wellness program is designed to increase employees’ awareness of their financial habits and the importance of sound financial planning with the goal of providing them with peace of mind and a road map to improved financial well-being. We complete an overview that covers topics such as budgeting; managing and tracking household finances; identifying items which need to be reviewed and/or modified to ensure controllable finances.

We also review debt management and discuss options and strategies available to employees where the amount of interest paid on debt is significantly reduced. Our investment team will suggest various registered investment vehicles available to employees based on their personal circumstances.

The goal is to ensure employees are more active and productive at work by empowering them to efficiently manage their personal finances.