Check Your Beneficiaries

When was the last time you checked the beneficiaries of your accounts?

Check your beneficiaries

You work hard for your money and providing for your family.  With many of your investment accounts, your benefits at work and your life insurance policies, you can name a beneficiary.  This is the person or people you’d like your assets to go to when you pass away.

Keep in mind that your investment account has to be “registered” to be able to name a beneficiary. Here’s a partial list to check:

  • RRSPs (at work, individual or spousal ones)
  • Locked-in RRSPs
  • RRIFs
  • Life insurance policies (personal and at work)
  • Pensions

Many people don’t realize their beneficiaries may be out of date or misaligned with the wishes in their will.

Make time this week to check your beneficiaries especially if you’ve recently married, remarried or just got a divorce.

 

To discover more money traps and how to correct them, get your copy of Talk Money to Me: Save Well, Spend Some, and Feel Good About Your Money in bookstores across Canada, Walmart, Costco, Shoppers, London Drugs and more now!  And, available online at Amazon and Chapters.

As the Consumer Advocate for FP Canada, I know that financial literacy is paramount to your well-being. Equally important to your long-term success is working with a qualified professional. To find a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional in your area that will help guide you on all matters of money, check out this Find Your Planner tool.

FP Canada is a national professional body working in the public interest (formerly known as the Financial Planning Standards Council). FP Canada is dedicated to fostering better financial health for Canadians by certifying professional financial planners and leading the advancement of professional financial planning in Canada.

For more on financial planning and how to get started, watch What is a financial planner? and What is a financial plan?