By city

Infinite Banking in Trois-Rivières

Founded in 1634, Trois-Rivières is one of the oldest cities in North America. A city that has lasted almost four centuries has something to say about long commitments, which is exactly what this strategy asks for.

Four centuries at the confluence

Trois-Rivieres was founded in 1634, where the Saint-Maurice River divides into three channels before joining the Saint Lawrence, which is how it got its name. It is one of the oldest cities in North America. The Forges du Saint-Maurice nearby were Canada's first ironworks. The old town and the rue des Ursulines have come through the centuries intact, and the Notre-Dame-du-Cap shrine draws visitors from well beyond the region.

That is not a travel note. A city still standing after nearly four hundred years has been through more economic cycles than anyone reading this page, and the lesson it teaches is about duration rather than speed. That is also the one condition this strategy cannot do without.

A city that changed industries without disappearing

Trois-Rivieres was a paper town for a long time, and that sector shrank considerably. What followed is the more interesting part: the Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres, the CEGEP, the hospital centre, regional public administration and a fabric of small businesses took on weight the city did not have when it lived on one industry.

That produces two financial situations living side by side, and giving them one answer would be wrong. If you hold a defined benefit pension, whether from a mill, the university or the health network, half the usual argument does not apply to you: that plan already provides a lifetime income that does not depend on markets. What remains is access to capital during your working life, because a pension is not collateral.

And one complication particular to an old industrial city: some readers hold a plan from an employer that no longer exists in its original form, or whose plan was restructured during a closure or a sale. That is not readable in any brochure. It needs your own statements and, where necessary, a check with the administrator. The question is not whether a plan exists but what it will actually pay, and what it will pay to a surviving spouse.

The cost of living works in your favour

Housing in Trois-Rivieres remains among the more affordable of Quebec's mid-sized cities, and bears no comparison with Montreal. That is a real advantage rather than a detail: the whole structure rests on premiums maintained without interruption for decades, and a household whose mortgage does not consume everything reaches the stable surplus the arithmetic needs far sooner.

The counterpart is that the usefulness question gets harder. When retirement is covered and housing is not squeezing, you should be able to name what the capital would be for. If you cannot, the honest answer is no, and a good practitioner will say so rather than find you a reason.

The two Quebec rules that bear on access

A designation naming a married or civil-union spouse is presumed irrevocable in Quebec unless declared otherwise. Elsewhere in Canada it is revocable by default. An irrevocable designation cannot be changed without the beneficiary's consent and can restrict the ability to request a loan or assign the policy as collateral. For a reader drawn to this strategy precisely because of the access, that is the first thing to verify, before signing.

Exemption from seizure is the second. It depends on the class of beneficiary, on when the designation was made and on the circumstances. It is never absolute and it disappears if the policy is assigned as security for a loan.

Where it does not fit

A reader with a strong indexed pension, no dependants, no corporation and no identifiable capital need is a poor candidate. So is a household early in a mortgage, without an emergency reserve, or carrying high-interest consumer debt. Cash surrender value is typically below cumulative premiums for many years and commonly for more than a decade, so an early exit is a loss.

Nothing on this page is advice. No assessment has been made of anyone reading it, and the author is not a neutral party: he is licensed to sell the contracts this strategy uses and is paid a commission when one is placed. Ask for the illustration in French, which is your right under the Charter of the French Language, read the guaranteed column first, check the licence in the AMF register, and take the answers to an accountant and a notary of your own choosing.