Helping your loved ones feel prepared for the future
Canadians often invest significant time and effort into leaving a financial legacy for their loved ones. Yet many overlook an equally important step: preparing their families for how that legacy will be transferred and managed after they're gone.
Without a plan, loved ones can be left navigating important decisions, complex paperwork and unanswered questions during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. While these conversations may feel uncomfortable, starting them early can make a meaningful difference.
As Canada experiences one of the largest intergenerational wealth transfers in history, planning for the future is becoming increasingly important. But estate planning is about more than the transfer of assets. It's about helping families prepare for life's inevitable transitions, ensuring wishes are understood and documented to give loved ones greater confidence and security in their financial futures.
Advice can help Canadians plan with confidence
Advisors help Clients connect financial decisions to their broader goals, whether that means protecting their family, preparing for retirement, planning the transfer of assets or supporting future generations.
A strong advisory relationship looks across a Client’s whole financial life to identify both opportunities and risks, including gaps in life and health insurance coverage, estate plans and important legal documents. This holistic view can help Clients understand how unexpected life events could affect their family, financial obligations and longer-term plans. It can also help uncover gaps early, before they create challenges for loved ones during an already difficult time.
Looking at a Client's financial, estate and protection needs together can help them prepare for unexpected life events and take coordinated steps to protect what matters most.
Through Sunlife’s enhanced partnership with ClearEstate, an estate solutions provider, advisors can connect Clients with services that support their estate implementation and settlement needs through a digital platform. These include will and power of attorney creation with storage for critical documents, professional executor services, and estate settlement options.
This referral opportunity complements an advisor’s services by giving Clients access to services that fall outside of an advisor’s scope of practice.
Estate planning is about more than passing on assets
Estate planning can take many forms and is important at every life stage, whether Clients are a young couple or nearing retirement. Yet only 48% of Canadians have a will. Some people may feel they are too young or do not have enough assets to prioritize these documents, but reviewing their needs early can help identify gaps before decisions become urgent. A comprehensive estate plan may also involve documenting wishes, organizing critical documents and preparing family members for future responsibilities.
These conversations can also prompt a broader review of protection needs, including life and critical illness insurance, to help Clients understand whether their coverage still reflects their current responsibilities, financial obligations and goals. As circumstances change, revisiting both protection and estate needs can help ensure plans remain aligned.
By looking across a Client’s estate, financial and protection needs, an advisor can help identify both risks and opportunities and support Clients in taking coordinated steps to protect their family and prepare for the future.
Start the conversation today
A Sunlife advisor can help Clients consider estate-related needs as part of their broader financial plan. Through an advisor’s referral, Clients can now access ClearEstate’s implementation and settlement services, complete important documents such as a will and the creation of power of attorney from home and securely store critical information for loved ones’ easier access when it is needed.
