Making Up for Lost Time — Until Health Steps In

People sometimes say that financial advice or insurance coverage is “useless” — until the day they need it.

An example that hits home

Imagine that before age 50, various life events put you behind on your retirement plan. At 50, you decide to make up for lost time so you can retire at 65. You have $200,000 in your RRSP, $100,000 invested in your holding company, and your business generates $500,000 in revenue per year. You put a disciplined investment plan in place: $2,000 a month. You are finally on track to reach your goal.

Then a cancer diagnosis changes everything. The treatments demand considerable energy. Your spouse has to take leave to be at your side. You are no longer able to carry your business on your shoulders. You have to dip into your investments to cover the household’s needs — and the catch-up plan you had so carefully built evaporates.

What this changes in practice

When we talk about planning, we naturally focus on investing and returns: building wealth, growing it, making up for lost time. That is essential — especially after 50, when every year counts double. But those returns only have value if you can keep contributing according to your plan, without having to draw down before the projected dates.

A well-built catch-up plan rests on one simple assumption: that the income feeding it keeps coming in. When health fails and the business stops, that assumption collapses — and it is often the savings themselves, the very savings meant to close the gap, that must be withdrawn first.

A good time to review your protection

Whether it is your life, disability or critical illness insurance, these protections are not an expense: they are what guarantees that your catch-up plan stays intact, no matter what life has in store.

We would be happy to discuss it with you and review your current coverage in light of your retirement goals. Book a meeting with our team — a confidential conversation, with no obligation.