Retiring: when to keep coverage, and when to drop it

Retirement is one of the few times the honest advice is often "you can cancel that."

• Life insurance: if the mortgage is gone and the kids are independent, your need may be near zero — dropping an expensive policy can be the right call (a category commission-based sites won't tell you about). Keep permanent coverage only if it serves an estate, tax, or dependant purpose.
• Disability insurance generally ends at retirement — you're no longer insuring an income.
• Travel medical becomes more important, not less — retirees travel more and provincial plans still cover almost nothing abroad. Snowbirds must watch residency-day rules.
• Coordinate with your retirement plan: the money freed up from dropped premiums can fund other goals — cross-check with The Retirement Beast.