Research shows that just 13 per cent of Canadian parents with children under age 18 have updated wills, insurance and other documents.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
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Travel by Canadians to other countries last summer reached almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of pre-pandemic 2019 levels in July and August, according to Statistics Canada. This summer, it’s likely those numbers will push higher.
In turn, some experts suggest advisors should use the opportunity when clients talk about their travel plans to remind them about the importance of updating financial and legal paperwork.
Erin Bury, co-founder and chief executive officer of do-it-yourself online will platform Willful in Toronto, says surveys of customers over the years put travel among the top five reasons people create a will. Yet, recent research her firm commissioned from Angus Reid revealed that only 22 percent of Canadian parents would update legal documents, including wills, before taking a trip without their kids.
The research also found that just 13 per cent of Canadian parents with children under the age of 18 have updated wills, insurance and other documents.
“Anecdotally, whenever I talk to parents, they’re the ones who say … ‘This is really high on my list,’” Ms. Bury says.
Parents seem to recognize, “Okay, I should get life insurance when I have a child. I should be creating my will and adding a guardian and adding my child as a beneficiary. But it seems like something you can put off for tomorrow.”
That’s why she believes travel is such a big trigger because it’s a deadline to get these things done, she says.
To advisors who worry they’ll be raining on a client’s parade if they bring up a topic like estate planning just before a trip, Ms. Bury says, “It’s not that you have to call your clients and say, ‘Hey, I heard you’re going to Greece on Tuesday. Make sure you update your will. You can loop it into this larger conversation with helpful tips and tricks, and just put it on their radar.”
What to consider in pre-trip planning
That’s very much the way Catherine Metzger-Silver, financial advisor with Edward Jones in Kentville, N.S., approaches it. She encourages clients to let her know when and where they’re travelling, whether they’re parents and whether they’re travelling with their children. She tells them this lets her get excited about the trip, too, and allows her to provide them with important information.
Ms. Metzger-Silver says pre-trip planning should include signing up with Registration of Canadians Abroad, a resource that allows the Canadian government to contact travellers if there’s an emergency at their destination or a personal emergency at home.
She advises clients to make two copies of identification such as passports, birth certificates, driver’s licences and health cards. Then, leave one copy with a trusted contact person and take the other copy on the trip and store it in the hotel safe as a backup.
In addition, she recommends clients check their credit card limits to make sure they’re high enough so they could get out of any location quickly, but not high enough to cause real financial damage in case the credit cards are stolen. Good quality travel insurance is also critical to avoid having to dip into retirement resources to cover medical expenses abroad.
On the estate planning side, Ms. Metzger-Silver suggests clients review their life insurance to make sure it’s the right amount with the right beneficiaries and ensure wills and powers of attorney are up to date. She notes it’s very important to confirm beneficiaries on accounts such as registered retirement savings plans and tax-free savings accounts match beneficiaries named in the will. The trusted contact person should be told where to find all that documentation.
“Nobody likes to talk about death … but the joy comes from knowing that everything is secured in place,” Ms. Metzger-Silver says. “So, [clients can say,] ‘I’ve done everything I can … to make sure that when I’m on my trip, I’m good.’ It’s a weight lifted [off their shoulders].”
Knowing clients’ plans can protect against fraud
Tony Maiorino, vice president, director and head of RBC Family Office Services at RBC Wealth Management in Toronto, agrees that a pre-trip review of wills and powers of attorney makes sense – although, ideally, they should always reflect current views and wishes. A review of travel insurance, especially when provided through a benefits plan, is also a good idea. In his experience, many benefits plan members don’t know what’s included and whether there’s a deductible or limit on expenses or treatments.
While there are fewer day traders around these days, Mr. Maiorino recommends that those clients who are in short-term trades move into positions that are insulated against short-term market fluctuations. After all, even if someone wants to keep a close watch on their accounts while on vacation, they need to understand they’ll be at the mercy of internet access that may not be what they’re used to at home.
Mr. Maiorino adds there’s another reason advisors should reach out to clients to find out if they’re planning vacations away from home. If someone sees social media posts revealing a client is abroad, that person may attempt to perpetrate fraud. But if an advisor knows a client is in Cuba and receives a call from someone purporting to be that client from a Toronto telephone number, it will raise red flags immediately.
“That’s going to give me a line of sight to be able to protect them while they’re gone,” Mr. Maiorino says.
On the flip side, if clients are in a country and legitimately require funds, the advisor knows where they are, he adds. Even then, advisors still need to go through the verifying questions and process to ensure it isn’t fraud.
Before Mr. Maiorino takes a trip himself, he makes it a practice to remind his children where they can find travel insurance documents and the safety deposit box key so that they can access his will, as well as how to reach his lawyer. He adds that digital assets matter too, so letting a trusted contact person know where you keep your online passwords can be helpful.
Ms. Bury’s mother, who travelled frequently for work, got her into the habit of putting everything in order before travel. This past May, when Ms. Bury went to Greece with her father, husband and daughter, she found herself writing the same type of e-mail she used to get from her mom. This time, she was the one letting her mother know where to find the important documents and how to reach her advisor.
In June, Ms. Bury’s planning before her first international trip without her daughter included tweaking her will – so she takes her own advice.
“It gives me peace of mind knowing that if anything were to happen, my documents are organized and, more importantly, someone who needs to action them knows where they are,” she says.
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