Blog

What is the most important tool in your Succession Planning Toolkit?

Okay, this might be an over exaggeration that life insurance is the most important tool. But we occasionally come across situations where it is overlooked as a planning tool altogether and we don’t want you to inadvertently make that mistake. There are a number of reasons we feel strongly that life insurance should be thoughtfully […]

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Why small businesses are making it their business to investigate life insurance

You are a sole proprietor or a single shareholder in your company. While from a physical standpoint you may consider your business to be small, when it comes to success your results may be exponentially greater. There are over 1,100,000 small businesses in Canada – clearly this sector is booming The benefit of being small […]

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The Value of Good Advice

By John McKay, Executive Vice-President and Actuary, PPI Change is inevitable, and it can significantly impact your family and your financial well-being. Whether it’s the natural progression of starting a family, buying a home, looking to retire, or an unexpected illness or job loss, when change happens the value of the financial advice you’ve been […]

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10 Reasons Why Founders Will Not Let Go

The first month of 2013 has been interesting, to say the least. There is a new grandchild in the Deboski family, which always is exciting. But unlike our other grandchildren, this new little guy comes to us by way of an international adoption from Africa.  What a great way to usher in a new year! […]

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Giving Through Donor Advised Funds

Would-be philanthropists often find themselves confronted with a common paradox: the larger the value of their gift, the less likely they are to feel certain about the charitable beneficiaries. In our experience, this paradox is especially prevalent with future gifts that are part of an estate plan, such as a bequest or life insurance. Clients […]

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Synergy For Success

The success of any company is determined by the quality of its people and the quality of its advisors.  At Deboski and Company we work very hard to build lasting and long-term relationships with clients, built on excellence of service and trust.  We are passionate about creating sustainable business by providing financial product solutions that […]

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Ownership Thinking

A common frustration amongst business owners is that employees often don’t grasp what it means to be “an owner”.  You probably have lived with and even accepted this frustration for many years now. But if you are exploring employee ownership as part of your growth or succession plan, you will need to understand what is […]

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How “self insuring” leaves tax dollars on the table

A lot of our work involves talking with business owners about how much money will need to be available upon their demise. Now this obviously is a different discussion when we are meeting with owners of start ups than it is with owners who are a few short years from exiting their business, but the […]

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All Roads Lead to…. A Business Transition

There were two high profile reports released this week that point to the same conclusion. Namely, there will be a flood of business transitions occurring within the next few years. With the release of the 2011 Canadian census the National Post reported, Country Aging Rapidly as Boomers Hit Retirement Age. Secondly, a new report by […]

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The stark reality of a share buyout when a death occurs

June’s feature article by Wayne Vanwyck identifies the emerging business transition crisis due largely to the aging demographic of business owners. But there is another crisis that may be looming on the horizon and that is an unexpected death or disability of a shareholder. This is a topic that for some reason frequently gets overlooked […]

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Moving Closer to A Successful Transition

Based on the responses we are receiving, the Edmonton and Calgary seminars we hosted last week were a huge success. One of the attendees in Edmonton said, “you guys did a bang up job. Very well organized, good guest speakers and and all in all a very well run event. I am glad I attended.” […]

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Key Man, Buy-Sell What’s the Difference?

The terms Key Man and Buy-Sell insurance are often used interchangeably. However, there is an important difference. Key Man insurance is for the purpose of helping a company withstand and successfully navigate the loss of a key shareholder, executive or employee. Many entrepreneurs are critical to their company, not only from an operational day-to-day basis […]

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Keep Your Key Employees Locked-In

In the Alberta marketplace it is becoming more important than ever to maintain the key people in your company. Losing key employees to other firms’ “better offers” or having them go off to start other ventures can be extremely costly to your company financially and culturally. Thankfully, there are options and strong solutions to retain […]

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What does business transition mean to a farmer in the heart of Africa?

In our work we use the expression “business transition” on a daily basis. Our regular discussions with business owners focus on their views of an eventual transfer or sale of ownership to the next generation of owners and leaders. Most people understand this in the Western world. However, what might transition mean to a farmer […]

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Valued Employees = Valuable Business

When you sell your business, you want to get the most value you can for it. This is the time you capitalize, literally, on all the hard work, the risks, and the sleepless nights you’ve endured as an entrepreneur. Being an Employer of Choice (EOC) could make your company the acquisition of choice when someone […]

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Giving through Doner-Advised funds

Would-be philanthropists often find themselves confronted with a common paradox: the larger the value of their gift, the less…

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Buy/Sell Agreements

A corporate owned life insurance policy in a shareholders buy/sell agreement is used to fund the share purchase of the deceased shareholder. There are many types of shareholder buy/sell agreements for different share structures. In a corporation with more than one shareholder a lawyer draws up a shareholder’s buy/sell agreement, this is the optimal time […]

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How your Life Insurance can Help your Favourite Charity

The gifting of life insurance to registered charities has always been a popular method for individuals to fulfill their philanthropic…

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Realize Double Digit Returns from your Retained Earnings through Critical Illness Insurance

If a business owner is no longer able to work due to a critical illness, the business could suffer loss of revenue, loss of customer relationships and loss of skills and knowledge. Critical illness insurance provides a cash injection into the company to help secure the business against losses, hire a replacement or just provide […]

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What does “Successful Transition” mean to you?

When you sell or transition your business, what’s next? If you sit in your favourite chair, look out the window and daydream about the future, what’s the vision that comes to mind? What does successful transition mean for you? Have you defined it and put your definition on paper? As a business owner, you are […]

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Unlock Wealth and Avoid Tax

Unlock Wealth and Avoid Tax What is your aptitude for facing a CRA audit? Even amongst entrepreneurs, the willingness to “push the envelope” with tax strategies ranges from one end of the spectrum to the other. And yet, as a business owner, you want to know you are not paying any more tax than you […]

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Plan for Tax Free Dividends

If you knew you could pay dividends out of your company that were tax free, wouldn’t you arrange your balance sheet in such a way to take advantage of that? Sure you would. The Income Tax Act makes provision for “capital dividends” which in essence are dividends that can be paid directly to shareholders free […]

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A Shareholder’s Agreement gone bad… May 2012

A recent case in Alberta highlights the importance for owners to have a specialist review their Shareholder’s Agreement specific to a buy-out surrounding a loss of health or death. The Denille Industries Case; Denille Industries Ltd. v. Island Enterprises Inc. (May 2012 Alberta Court of Appeal) dealt with three shareholders regarding their Unanimous Shareholders Agreement […]

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Exit Before the Boiling Point

For humane reasons we haven’t actually tried the following science experiment, but it is supposed to work. Partially fill a pot with cold water. Set it on a stove burner with the setting at low. Insert live frog. Slowly increase the heat in the pot. Note that as the water heats up, the frog’s cold-blooded […]

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The Business Transition Crisis

In 2003, a respected and successful business owner that I know announced to his family and friends that he was going to sell his business in five years and retire. With some fanfare, he circled the date on a calendar, kissed his wife and smiled broadly. Six months short of his deadline, he initiated a […]

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Seminar Responses

I know what it is like to receive an email “Repsonse Request Form”. Often I am just too busy to do anything with it at the time so it lingers in my in-box for many days. At the same time I know how valuable feedback is to the service provider. So it is in that […]

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When is the best time to exit a business… Age 33 or age 86?

Some work days cause us to be more reflective than others. I had one of those days recently. As I collected my thoughts at the end of that day the conversations and the personalities played through my mind. 86 years old and still showing up for work! My first meeting of the morning was with […]

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Deboski&Co.

Blog

What is the most important tool in your Succession Planning Toolkit?

December 6

Okay, this might be an over exaggeration that life insurance is the most important tool. But we occasionally come across situations where it is overlooked as a planning tool altogether and we don’t want you to inadvertently make that mistake. There are a number of reasons we feel strongly that life insurance should be thoughtfully […]

Why small businesses are making it their business to investigate life insurance

December 6

You are a sole proprietor or a single shareholder in your company. While from a physical standpoint you may consider your business to be small, when it comes to success your results may be exponentially greater. There are over 1,100,000 small businesses in Canada – clearly this sector is booming The benefit of being small […]

The Value of Good Advice

December 6

By John McKay, Executive Vice-President and Actuary, PPI Change is inevitable, and it can significantly impact your family and your financial well-being. Whether it’s the natural progression of starting a family, buying a home, looking to retire, or an unexpected illness or job loss, when change happens the value of the financial advice you’ve been […]

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