Dragon boating has always been a big part of my life (I even met my wife through it!). What started as a way to meet others on the bank’s corporate team – The Canada Trust Powerliners (yes, they named their team after their line of credit), quickly turned into a passion as I got to race against and meet paddlers from all over the world at the Vancouver International Dragon Boat Festival.
For years I paddled and later both steered and coached. And for ten years, I had the privilege of being the steersperson and coach for the Alberta Children’s Wish Dragon boat team (now Make a Wish). We’d race, but also fundraise for a Wish Child, and we’d dress up in whatever our Wish Child loved. I’ve been everything from Prince Charming to a pink princess. What our Wish Child wanted, they got!
We raised over $500,000 for children with life-threatening illnesses during those years, fulfilling the wishes of so many incredible children.
During my dragon boating years, I also saw the financial impact a serious illness had on the family. It wasn’t just the unexpected additional costs. Parents had to reduce or stop working entirely to be with their children. Or just as hard were the parents who had to keep working.
It was a real eye-opener.
Critical Care Insurance For Kids Helps With College and More
It’s why I felt so strongly about sharing with my physician clients, Chanda and Gursh, what my wife and I did for our children.
They’d just become new parents and wanted to cover all the protective financial bases for her. But they were a little freaked out by a critical illness policy.
Chanda said, “It gives me the heebie-jeebies! I don’t want to think of her ever being that ill.”
I totally understood why she felt that way.
But a critical illness policy also does much more than help if your child becomes ill.
I said, “When our boys were born, we got them life insurance to keep all their future options open and to help build for their education costs and RESPs.
But we knew we could also get creative with critical illness protection.
“We know it’s unlikely they’ll suffer a serious illness, but we didn’t get it just for protecting our incomes should it actually happen. The policies we have are paid up for life in fifteen years, and when they turn eighteen we can transfer the paid-for policies to them and it now protects their income for life. But even better, when they turn twenty-five and haven’t had a claim, three quarters of everything we paid for those policies are mailed out to them, and the policy still stays in force for life.”
“My boys will each receive a lump-sum cheque right when they’re likely looking to start to pay off any student loans, need a new car, or possibly even building a down payment for their first home.”
THAT got their attention!
“My boys will each receive a lump-sum cheque right when they’re likely looking to start to pay off any student loans, need a new car, or possibly even building a down payment for their first home.”
Adrian George
“We were able to be creative in matching our protection needs with the planning we have for them to give our boys a great head start and future security.”
Chanda and Gursh loved that something so simple also aligned with their values and hopes for their daughter.
And a critical illness policy no longer freaked them out.
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