What Happens to Your Money When You Die? (Most Canadians Don't Know This)

Hey, it's Richard Canfield here. We've got a great new series that we're launching on Wealth on Main Street. I'm excited for this. One of our incredible advisors, Mike Smella, is going to be walking through our book, Cash Follows the Leader. He's going to be going chapter by chapter, sharing all of his notes, his incredible observations, and the critical takeaways, the things that really stood out for him along the way. Now, he brings a breadth of experience and life experience on running different businesses, of course, and embracing this concept of becoming your own banker in his own life. Plus how he is now teaching that concept to other people. So you're going to get a lot of practical real-world breakdowns from this book. You're going to get a lot out of it. So let's jump right in.

Hi again, it's Mike. We are back for more Cash Follows the Leader. We are on chapter 5 and we are at page number 60, about 3 quarters of the way through. In the last chapter, the last segment, we were talking about Nelson Nash and his system of policies and how he ended up with many, many, many policies. And when he passed away, he was able to move those policies. The death benefit went to his kids or his heirs, and the policies that he had in force The ownership transferred to the next generation. So now we're on page 60. Now, some may find this fact morbid, but we can assure you that there are 2 things that are sure in this world, death and taxes. And the only thing that doesn't get much worse each time politicians meet is death. We can plan for both, but we can't prevent either. By arranging for death using the most effective life insurance tool on the planet, a very positive ripple effect begins to occur. Pay close attention to these folks. Okay? You can sleep easier knowing that both you and those you love are protected.

Big.

You become the co-owner of a company that is legally bound to grow a pool of accessible Financial value every single day until the life insured passes away, at which time a death benefit is paid tax-free. You control access to money as the policy owner, no matter who the life insured person is, by using the policy as collateral. These funds can be used to invest in a business, education, real estate, Or anything else you desire. Remember Nelson had, I believe it was 3 or 4 policies on business partners that he had in real estate ventures that no longer even existed. So you can control, you can have control on policies and own policies on the lives of people that you have an insurable interest on. Now, if that Insurable interest goes away down the road. It doesn't matter. You're still the owner. You still control it. You can essentially live the death benefit while alive, as can the other bodies you insure. If you implement the strategies we teach you to truly embrace family banking, you can reduce your overall lifetime tax bill because the growth of each policy is tax-exempt. In addition to that, by working with an advisor on our team, you can learn how to access tax-free capital to supplement, and in many cases, even replace a retirement income altogether. You set the stage for the 3rd or 4th generation to participate in this process. When death comes, and it will, the system becomes self-sustaining. Self-sustaining. You adjust your monthly and annual spending patterns to prioritize to prioritize paying yourself first systematically with your premium deposits. Most people are thought to learn of insurance premiums as a cost. Once you understand this. Your premiums are deposits. You're going to capitalize something. You might as well capitalize and put your money into something that you co-own, that you will benefit from. So they become deposits, thinking of them as deposits, as good things rather than as bad things. You will have a heightened awareness of opportunities and the liquidity and the ability to act on them. You join an elite class of North Americans in our community that is changing the way they think and act intergenerationally with more financial control. As a father and a grandfather, I can't tell you what it means To look into the eyes of my son, my daughter-in-law, and my grandson and know that we are on the path and that they are on a path to complete financial peace. And that my grandson, who's now 9 months old, Will never know financial stress in his life. He will only know control. He will only have abundance. He will only know love and caring. And that when it comes to the finances in his life, he will be in complete control of that because he's learning it from his parents and from his grandfather. And his grandmother, his bonus grandmother. That's huge, folks. That's how we change our communities and our nations. If all you did was to insure every person you love and those you have an insurable interest in, then reallocated the cash flow you are currently spending to well-designed participating whole life policies, you would automatically achieve uninterrupted growth in a tax-advantaged environment. Now, at some point you will lose a loved one or your loved ones will lose you. It is unavoidable. Rather than being a statistic, your family is positioned to be a success story, just like the Rockefellers. Jason is fond of quoting the late Ben Feldman, who said, the best definition of an investment is the one that pays the most when you need it the most. Think about it. Tax-free proceeds that show up in our time or our family's time of need will provide the remaining family members Time to grieve, the space to make good decisions, and the resources to go on living. June of 2013, after a year-long battle, my beloved wife Paula passed away in my arms. Our youngest son was 14 years old. I instantly became single father of 3 boys. We did have some life insurance on Paula, not enough. I didn't know about this concept and practice it as. Much as I should have. But fortunately, I had enough that the policy that we had on her, we were able to leverage it. And I was able to live for the next couple of years while I went through my life and figured it all out, what my new normal was. I've been there. It's not fun. Anyone that's been there knows it. You can't replace the person. You can't replace the grief, but having financial vehicles to leverage while we're alive and then provide tax-free—

Yeah.

Financial energy when we're gone certainly helps take the sting out of things. It helps us in that grieving process a heck of a lot better. I can tell you that from firsthand experience. Now, suppose you did more speculation than our recommended method. What would happen in the event of your death? Well, in Canada, All of your capital property is deemed to have been disposed of or sold at a fair market value at the moment of your death. These assets could include investment accounts, the shares of any businesses you own, your cottage at the lake, rental properties, and even your tax-qualified plans. That's right. Everything you own is assessed at fair market value at the moment of your death. Your date of death becomes the basis for tax calculation. Would you believe it? The Canadian Revenue Agency, the CRA, has no sense of humor when it comes to all this, and they won't accept any substitutes for money, such as the shares of in your corporation, stamp collections, or rental property, or your classic convertible, basically convertible to pay the tax bill. This means your heirs will now have to pay the final tax bill in Canadian currency. For many Canadians, this means liquidation. In the US, it's a little bit different and it can be, we have some more flexibilities. However, it can still be just as challenging if all of your accumulation has been in systems that are controlled by others. You still have to play within their system. When you have a family banking system, Within a properly structured life insurance contract, that life insurance contract again is part of a system, but it's built for you to control it. The death benefits are all tax-free. If there's an outstanding loan against your policy, it gets paid off first, and then the net proceeds go to your loved ones. If you have, if they have a system of policies, then that those net death benefits go to fill their policies or maybe pay back policy loans that they have. It stays within the system. It stays within your own aquarium. Pretty doggone good. Everything you spent a lifetime building gets torn down at a discount price as your executor is forced to sell things off to pay your final tax bill. What if your investment accounts have dropped in value substantially from the moment of your death to when that terminal tax return is filed? It doesn't matter. The tax bill will be derived from the fair market value of all of your capital property. If your stock portfolio was purchased for $500,000, the fair market value was $1 million at the moment of your death and dropped to $400,000 at the time of your terminal tax return was filed. Your loved ones will be subject to pay tax on the $500,000 capital gain Versus the $100,000 capital loss. Speculation will never give you the peace of mind of being your own banker will. But knowing that all you have will be given to those you love tax-free, and they won't have to sell at a discount, everything you have worked for so hard is there, and that is true peace of mind. Does this give you a different perspective? It should. So in summary, what did your parents always say? More isn't always better. Well, with the Infinite Banking Concept, it can be. The more warehouses of capital you can create, the more control and flexibility you build into your financial life. And when you gain more control of the money that flows through your life, building on it like a Lego tower, your base policy and the flexible paid-up addition premium will be how you fund your life for homes, cars, education, and investments. True investments, not speculative. Embrace this new process with intentionality, and you will find the peaceful, stress-free financial way of life you seek. And we will be right there alongside to help. Your next option is very simple. Have a conversation with one of us, uh, with one of us or one of our, uh, one of our expert coaches today. At ascendantfinancial.com, reach out. There's a lot of great information. Once you schedule a conversation, you will want to be ready for the call. The best way to prepare is to follow our seven-step guide to becoming your own banker. That is included right on the on the first page of at ascendantfinancial.com, or you can download the the guide for free by going to seven the number seven steps S D E P S. This will show you the exact learning path necessary to become successful in this process. The more you continue your path of education with the infinite banking, the more you will see that you did not see before. Thousands can attest to it. I thank you for taking time to go through this study guide, book study guide. We'll probably do another book study guide on one of our other books here shortly. Again, my name is Mike Smella, Ascendant Financial. God bless you all. Stay great and take care.

That was pretty awesome. I think we should check out what the next chapter has to hold, and you can find that out right here.