An insured annuity is a strategy that provides an attractive alternative to today's low, fixed-income investments. It provides a tax-efficient, lifetime income and preserves or increases the original capital for the estate. A specially designed, prescribed annuity provides the income and a life insurance policy preserves the capital, providing a tax-free payout when the individual dies.

Two approaches to the strategy are available. In a traditional insured annuity, capital is used to buy an annuity; part of the annuity income is used to pay for life insurance. Alternatively, the insurance can be pre-paid with some of the available capital (Universal Life insured annuity), leaving the balance to fund a lifetime income.

To use the Insured Annuity strategy, you must obtain an annuity quote from the Empire Life Advisor Site or a similar annuity quoting service. The Strategy application provides instructions on how to obtain the annuity quote and enter the key information from the annuity quote into the application.

The personal legacy builder is a strategy designed to optimize the value of that portion of the estate which people don't intend to spend. It is set up to provide a guaranteed, basic tax-free investment earmarked for future generations or favourite causes. The personal legacy builder uses excess capital or income to purchase a permanent life insurance policy.

This strategy can provide a supplemental source of tax-free cash during retirement. The cash can be structured as a lump-sum or series of income-style payments. A custom-designed, permanent life insurance policy is used, first to accumulate cash on a tax-deferred basis and second, as collateral for a bank line of credit to provide the cash desired.

This strategy reallocates registered retirement savings into a non-registered portfolio. A bank loan is used to set up a non-registered portfolio. Withdrawals of registered assets are used to pay the interest on the loan. The non-registered portfolio takes advantage of tax-preferred treatment on dividends and capital gains and offers clients greater flexibility in terms of wealth transfer and tax deferral.