When it comes to investing decisions, there’s a chance your financial advisor is helping save you from yourself.

How? By accounting for the fact that, well, you’re human.

While they aren’t exactly doing mind tricks, some advisors use behavioral finance techniques that may have helped protect clients from their own worst instincts during the early year market drop in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, a study suggests. And there are probably lessons there for do-it-yourself investors as well.

With total drugs expenses and the number of claimants on the rise, it's important to ensure your workforce is protected by optimal coverage while mitigating both premiums as well as exposure to incurred claims.  Read further to learn more about the changing landscape of group benefit cost breakdowns.  Here, at Crossgrove & Co., we show our clients and prospects how to best achieve their goals with regards to a group benefit plan while producing material savings year over year.  Contact us to get a free group benefits quote and let us save you 10% or more on an equal or more robust group benefits plan!

Thinking of cancelling your Critical Illness insurance policy?  You may want to reconsider!  Not only will 1 in 4 people develop a critical illness by age 65, but a critical illness is also one of the main reasons behind home foreclosures.  Read more to find out what this individual realized after cancelling his critical illness insurance policy...

In a time of such uncertainty, where even the rules are in question, don't take any chances when it comes to having confidence in those who manage your finances.  Contact us at Crossgrove & Company to ensure you're getting the most sound and honest financial advice available - that's something that you can always count on...

In a landscape where choice is paramount, having an advisor to help you navigate those options will help you get the most out of your plan...

Educating financial professionals to be disruption-proof

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an adjustment for most financial advisors, who have had to work from home and meet with clients virtually amid extreme market volatility, but the experience has been a bit different for those at smaller firms.

Why pay more for less?  Mortgage insurance values decrease with time as you pay off your loan to the bank, and cost more than term life insurance; a coverage that not only maintains its original face value, but also allows you to appoint a beneficiary of your choosing instead of the bank.  Take a look...

P&C insurers are not the only firms that have taken measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. Life insurers in Canada also adjusted their products and methods extensively.

“Organizations that promote the health and well-being of their employees certainly stood out in the context of the labour shortage before the COVID-19 health crisis. They will stand out even more after this crisis,” said Brigette Marcoux, organizational health senior advisor at SSQ Life Insurance Co. and a member of the Sanofi Canada advisory board.

Now that Blue Cross Ontario and Blue Cross Quebec, along with B2C insurer Medipac, have introduced COVID-19 coverage into select policies, travel advisors are watching to see if others others will follow suit.

Concerns about COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, may cause employers and employees to wonder about the impact this virus may have on their health benefits plan.

“Technology is enabling the industry to explore new and better ways to bring flexibility into plan design,” said Marie-Chantal Côté, vice-president of market development and group benefits at Sun Life Canada and an advisory board member. “And as plan members exercise their choices and become more familiar and engaged with their benefits plan, we will see greater opportunities to proactively interact with them — for example, with recommendations that support healthy behaviours.”

As COVID-19 distancing measures continue into the year, Canadian organizations are exploring ways to reduce any overhead they can. 

The Conference Board of Canada asked organizations across the countryhow they are managing employee benefits—both for active and laid-off employees.   

Here’s what we found.

A good advisor assesses a client’s risk tolerance and financial goals, and implements a comprehensive strategy to get them there over time. Good advisors have access to good research to find the best investments in the best sectors and geographic regions, and recommend selling them when they peak or as the client needs cash in retirement.

With numbers rising sharply, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, and without a vaccine in place, insurance companies are trying to adjust their approaches, products, and customer service to the new normal.

Comprehensive wealth management can result in value of 2.88%