DM Monthly Report – October 2018
‘GOODBYE Q3’ – We bid farewell, not just to the calendar days of the third quarter, but to all of the equity gains accumulated during the period. Concerted selling in the second week of October precipitated a sharp decline in major markets and emphatically broke an extended run of calm that had seen the S&P 500 go 74 straight sessions without a single one closing up or down by more than 1%. Even worse, the plunge came just as envelopes were sealed on our Q3 client reports in which our commentary hailed the market’s steadfast resilience in the face of so many potential selloff catalysts! (ugh) As investors grapple with this dose of downside, a few points worth noting:
Click here to read more: DM-Monthly-Report-Oct-18
How health coaching can help diabetes patients
With diabetes on the rise, how well employees manage the chronic disease should be a concern for employers, Diana Sherifali, an associate professor at McMaster University’s school of nursing, told Benefits Canada‘s 2018 Healthy Outcomes conference in May.
Since diabetes often comes with other chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, hypertension and high cholesterol, mitigating it is all the more necessary, she said. In addition, the stress of dealing with the condition can become extreme to the point of being a precursor to moderate depression, she added. Read more 
Life Insurance – Do You Buy, Rent, or Borrow?
Without a doubt, life insurance is valuable protection provided by your employee benefit plan, but should it be the only life insurance coverage you have? Probably not, if you want to ensure you have sufficient long term protection to cover all your family’s financial needs should you die unexpectedly.
In a recent study conducted by the Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA), it was reported that 61% of Canadians hold some form of life insurance. Surprisingly, it also revealed that only 38% of Canadians own an individual life insurance contract. This means that almost 40% rely solely on the life insurance provided by their employer. This can be problematic. The disadvantages of having your employee benefit plan as your only life insurance protection include the following:
It is probably not enough to pay off your mortgage and/or provide income for your spouse and family.
The amount of life insurance protection provided by group insurance in most cases is equal to only one or two times annual income. If this is not enough to do the job, the addition of individual life insurance should be considered. Read more
Private Health Spending Plans for the Owner/Operator Business
Individuals who have incorporated their business such as consultants, contractors and professionals often find that providing affordable health and dental care coverage for themselves and their families can be an expensive proposition.
Take Bob for example. Bob had just left his architectural firm to set up on his own. In looking at the options available for him to replace his previous firm’s Extended Health and Dental coverage for he and his family, he discovered that the monthly premium would be between $400 and $500 per month. This was for a plan that didn’t provide coverage for all practitioners and procedures, had an annual limit on the benefits, and a co-insurance factor of 20% (only 80% of eligible costs were covered). There wasn’t even any orthodontia coverage although he could purchase that in limited amounts at an additional cost! He also had to move quickly to replace his lost coverage as he had a pre-existing condition that most likely would not be covered if he waited too long to implement the new plan. Read more
