So I went to the Drugstore and bought orthodontal wax. It's great - like chewing
gum only waxy - and covers the point on my piece of tooth nicely. The pain is gone
and I can talk normally! I am currently sipping Diet Ginger Ale with a straw, feeling
on top of things again.
And then, the annual Inurance bill for my rental appartment came in. A mere 15% higher
than last year. I am close to feeling relieved; it could have been anything. Don't tell the Bank!
Had a bit of a chat with Copilot about insurance and the Rich. Below:
Do very rich people - from the billionaire class - actually buy insurance for anything, or do they invest in Insurance Companies...
Short answer:
Yes — billionaires absolutely do buy insurance, but they buy it very differently from ordinary people. And yes — many of them also invest in insurance companies, because insurance is one of the most profitable, stable, cash‑rich industries on Earth.
Let’s break it down in a way that matches how the ultra‑wealthy actually behave.
🧠 How Billionaires Handle Insurance (Reality, not myth)
1. They do buy insurance — but only for catastrophic, unbounded risks
Even someone worth $1B doesn’t want to self‑insure against:
A $200M lawsuit
A $500M yacht fire
A $50M art theft
A plane crash liability claim
A wildfire destroying a $100M property
These are risks where:
The loss is unpredictable
The loss could exceed even a billionaire’s liquidity
The legal exposure is enormous
So they buy:
High‑limit liability insurance (umbrella policies up to $500M+)
Private aviation insurance
Super‑yacht insurance
Kidnap & ransom insurance
Art and jewelry insurance
Specialty property insurance
These policies are often custom‑written by:
Lloyd’s of London
Chubb
AIG Private Client
PURE Insurance
💼 2. They don’t buy insurance for small or predictable risks
A billionaire will not bother with:
Extended warranties
Travel insurance
Phone insurance
Small property insurance
Minor health deductibles
Why?
Because they can self‑insure anything under $1M without blinking.
They treat small losses as a rounding error.
🧱 3. Many billionaires invest in insurance companies — because insurance is a money machine
Insurance companies are some of the most profitable businesses ever created.
Why?
Insurance companies collect premiums now and pay claims later.
This creates something magical called float — billions of dollars they can invest before they ever have to pay it out.
Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway on this principle.
Billionaires invest in insurance because:
It produces steady cash flow
It grows even in recessions
It benefits from rising interest rates
It has predictable actuarial math
It’s a regulated monopoly in slow motion
This is why billionaires own:
Berkshire Hathaway (GEICO, National Indemnity, etc.)
AIG
Chubb
Munich Re
Swiss Re
Lloyd’s syndicates
Some even own private insurance captives — essentially their own mini‑insurance companies.
🏛️ 4. Many billionaires create their own insurance companies (captives)
This is the most “billionaire” move of all.
A captive insurance company is:
A private insurance company
Owned by the wealthy individual or their family office
Used to insure their own assets
Why they do it:
Tax advantages
Control over underwriting
Ability to insure unusual risks
Ability to keep the profits from premiums
This is extremely common among:
Real estate families
Oil & gas families
Large private business owners
Tech founders with complex risk profiles
🧩 5. The ultra‑rich use insurance as a wealth‑preservation tool
Insurance is not just about risk — it’s about protecting dynastic wealth.
They use:
Life insurance for estate planning
Insurance trusts to avoid estate taxes
Key‑person insurance for businesses
Liability shields to protect assets from lawsuits
Insurance becomes part of the architecture of their financial fortress.
They don’t avoid insurance — they optimize it.
If you want, I can go deeper into:
How billionaire insurance differs from millionaire insurance
How captives work (and why they’re legal)
Why insurance companies are such powerful investments
How ordinary people can use some of the same strategies
Just tell me which direction you want to explore.
How might ordinary people use some of these strategies?
Absolutely, Louise — ordinary people can borrow several billionaire‑grade insurance strategies, but scaled to normal life. You don’t need a family office or a $100M yacht to use the same logic. The trick is understanding which risks to transfer and which risks to self‑insure, and how to use insurance as a financial tool, not just a bill you pay.
Below is a clear, structured breakdown tailored to someone living in Québec, where insurance rules, deductibles, and tax structures differ from the U.S.
🌱 1. Self‑insure the small, predictable stuff (like billionaires do)
This is the easiest and most powerful strategy for ordinary people.
What this means in practice
Stop buying:
Extended warranties
Phone insurance
Appliance protection plans
Travel cancellation insurance for cheap trips
“Protection plans” at checkout
Low deductibles on home/auto insurance
These products are priced to be profitable for the insurer — not for you.
Why this works
You’re essentially saying:
“I’ll cover the $200–$1,000 losses myself, and I’ll insure only the big stuff.”
This is exactly what wealthy people do.
Québec twist
Raising your home or auto deductible from $500 → $1,000 or $2,000 can reduce premiums significantly because Québec insurers reward higher deductibles more than many provinces.
🧱 2. Insure only the catastrophic risks
This is the billionaire mindset:
Transfer the risks that could destroy your finances.
For ordinary people, that means:
Liability insurance (very cheap, extremely important)
Home insurance (fire, water damage, liability)
Auto insurance (civil liability is mandatory in Québec)
Disability insurance (most overlooked, most important)
Term life insurance if someone depends on your income
These are the “financial ruin” risks.
Why this matters
A house fire is a $400,000 loss.
A lawsuit can be $1M+.
A disability can wipe out decades of income.
These are the risks you never self‑insure.
🧩 3. Use insurance as a wealth‑preservation tool
This is where ordinary people can copy the ultra‑rich in a scaled‑down way.
Examples
Umbrella liability insurance
Costs: $150–$300/year
Coverage: $1M–$5M
Protects your home, savings, and future income from lawsuits
Term life insurance
Used by wealthy families to protect heirs
For ordinary people: protects dependents and avoids forced home sales
Disability insurance
Billionaires insure their earning power
Ordinary people should too — it’s more important than life insurance for most
🏛️ 4. Create your own “mini‑captive” through a self‑insurance fund
You can’t legally create a captive insurance company unless you’re a business owner, but you can mimic the logic.
How to do it
Create a dedicated savings account labeled:
Self‑Insurance Fund
Use it to cover:
Deductibles
Small losses
Repairs
Emergencies
This lets you:
Raise deductibles
Reduce premiums
Stop buying junk warranties
Build a cushion that grows over time
This is the ordinary‑person version of a billionaire’s captive.
💼 5. If you own a small business, you can use real captive‑style strategies
This is where things get interesting.
Québec small business owners can:
Insure unusual risks through a micro‑captive (if structured properly)
Deduct premiums as a business expense
Build reserves inside the captive
Use it for risk management and tax planning
This is advanced, but it’s the closest ordinary people get to billionaire insurance architecture.
📈 6. Invest in insurance companies (indirectly copying billionaires)
This is not a recommendation — just an explanation of the logic.
Billionaires love insurance companies because:
They generate stable cash flow
They profit even in recessions
They benefit from rising interest rates
They have predictable actuarial math
Ordinary people can access the same category of investments through:
Broad market index funds that include insurers
Financial sector ETFs
Dividend‑focused ETFs
This gives you exposure to the same business model without picking individual stocks.
(Not financial advice — just explaining the mechanism.)
🧠 7. Use insurance to reduce taxes (yes, even in Québec)
Québec has specific rules, but some strategies still apply:
For individuals
Permanent life insurance can be used for tax‑efficient estate transfers
RRSPs and TFSAs can be combined with insurance for estate planning
Insurance can protect assets from certain types of claims
For business owners
Corporate‑owned life insurance
Buy‑sell agreements
Key‑person insurance
Tax‑efficient wealth transfer to heirs
These are the same tools wealthy families use — scaled down.
🔍 8. The billionaire mindset in one sentence
Self‑insure the small stuff, insure the catastrophic stuff, and use insurance as a strategic tool — not a reflex purchase.
If you want, I can map this to your specific situation
For example:
Which risks you should self‑insure
Which catastrophic risks matter most in Québec
How to structure a personal “self‑insurance fund”
How to reduce premiums without reducing protection
How to use insurance for estate planning in Québec
Just tell me the direction you want to explore next.
How can insurance be used for estate planning?
Here’s the clear, grounded answer, Louise — insurance is one of the most powerful estate‑planning tools available to ordinary people, and Québec’s legal/tax structure makes some of these strategies even more effective.
I’ll give you the practical, real‑world version, not the sales‑pitch version.
🌿 1. Life insurance creates instant estate liquidity
When someone dies, their estate often faces:
Taxes
Final expenses
Probate delays
Debts
Property that can’t be sold quickly
Life insurance solves this by creating tax‑free cash at exactly the moment it’s needed.
Why this matters in Québec
Québec has:
No estate tax
But income tax on RRSP/RRIF at death
Capital gains on certain assets
Probate delays (liquidators can wait months for access to funds)
Life insurance gives heirs immediate money so they don’t have to:
Sell the house
Liquidate investments at a bad time
Borrow money
Fight with banks
This is the most common estate‑planning use.
🧱 2. Insurance bypasses the estate entirely (avoids probate)
In Québec, if you name a beneficiary on a life insurance policy:
The money goes directly to the beneficiary
It does not pass through the estate
It cannot be seized by estate creditors
It avoids probate delays
It is tax‑free
This is a very “billionaire‑style” move, scaled down.
It creates a private, protected transfer of wealth.
🛡️ 3. Insurance protects heirs from taxes on registered accounts
When someone dies with:
RRSP
RRIF
LIRA
LIF
The entire value is treated as income in the year of death (unless transferred to a spouse).
This can create a huge tax bill.
How insurance helps
A simple term or permanent policy can be used to:
Cover the tax bill
Prevent forced liquidation of investments
Preserve the full value of the estate
This is extremely common in Québec because RRSPs are heavily used.
🧩 4. Insurance can equalize inheritances
This is a trick wealthy families use constantly.
Example:
One child inherits the house
Another child inherits the business
A third child gets nothing equivalent
Insurance can be used to give the “non‑asset” children an equal share.
This avoids resentment, legal disputes, and forced sales.
🏛️ 5. Insurance can protect a disabled or vulnerable heir
Québec has strong protections for:
Disabled adults
Children with special needs
Heirs who cannot manage money
A life insurance policy can be directed into:
A Henson trust (discretionary trust)
A testamentary trust
A protective trust
This ensures:
The heir is supported
The money is managed responsibly
Government benefits are not lost
This is one of the most humane uses of insurance.
🌲 6. Permanent insurance can be a tax‑efficient wealth transfer
This is the closest ordinary people get to a “billionaire strategy.”
Permanent life insurance (whole life, universal life) grows:
Tax‑sheltered
With guaranteed values
With no tax on payout
For people who:
Have maxed RRSP/TFSA
Want to leave money to children or grandchildren
Want a predictable, tax‑efficient transfer
…it can be a powerful tool.
This is not about investing — it’s about tax‑efficient inheritance.
🧠 7. Insurance can fund a succession plan for a small business
If someone owns a business, insurance can:
Fund a buy‑sell agreement
Protect the business from collapse
Provide liquidity to buy out partners
Cover taxes on shares at death
This is the “business owner” version of estate planning.
🪨 8. Insurance protects the estate from lawsuits or creditors
In Québec, life insurance with a named beneficiary:
Cannot be seized by creditors
Cannot be taken in bankruptcy
Cannot be claimed by estate creditors
This is a quiet but powerful form of asset protection.
🌼 9. Insurance can be used to leave a charitable legacy
A small policy can create:
A scholarship
A donation to a hospital
A gift to a cultural institution
This is how ordinary people create a legacy that feels “larger than life.”
🌟 The essence of the strategy
Insurance is not about replacing income — it’s about creating liquidity, protecting heirs, and transferring wealth efficiently.
It’s one of the few tools where ordinary people can use the same architecture as the ultra‑rich, just scaled to their life.
If you want, I can map this to your situation in Québec
For example:
Whether a self‑insurance fund + term insurance is enough
How to structure beneficiary designations to avoid probate
How to protect heirs from RRSP/RRIF taxes
Whether permanent insurance makes sense for legacy planning
How to simplify everything so your estate is easy to administer
Just tell me the direction you want to explore next.
