What does a life insurance illustration leave out?
An illustration is a projection under stated assumptions. It is not a forecast and it is not the contract. It generally assumes the current scale continues unchanged for the whole period, that every premium is paid on schedule, that no advance is taken, and that the contract is held for life.
What kind of answer this is
- Claim type: Contract fact
- Jurisdiction: Contract dependent
What an illustration contains is set by the insurer and its software. The contract wording governs in every case where the two differ.
How it works
What it does contain, and what should be read first, is the guaranteed column. Everything beside that column is conditional on assumptions printed elsewhere in the same document, usually in smaller type than the values themselves.
The cost or the catch
It usually shows no cost breakdown, no premium tax line, no compensation figure and no alternative scale. The contract governs in every case where the two differ, which is why the policy wording is the document that settles a question.
Where this answer may not apply
- Illustration content and the assumptions disclosed vary by insurer and by software.
- An in force illustration on an existing contract is built on different assumptions again.
- A truncated version prepared for a presentation often stops before the row at which premiums end.
What to verify in your own contract
- The assumptions page, read before the values pages.
- Guaranteed values at years one, three, five and ten.
- A version run at a reduced dividend scale as well as at the current one.
- The footnotes and the signature pages, which is where the qualifications sit.
Continue to the full explanation
Read the complete costs and risks analysis.
Accountability and disclosure
- Written by
- José Salloum
- Professional capacity
- Financial security advisor, Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial
- Reviewed by
- Insurance and contract education tier, reviewed under a licensed insurance professional's own authority
- Jurisdiction
- Contract dependent
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30
- Version
- 1.0
- Compensation disclosure
- Canadian Wealth Creation Centre Inc., operating as IBC Financial, may receive insurer paid compensation if a policy is purchased. It takes the form of first year compensation followed by renewal compensation, and the amount varies by insurer, product, age, premium, contract design, riders and the arrangement with the managing general agency. No single figure would describe every contract honestly, and none is published here.
- Report a correction
- Info@ibcfinancial.com. Write without a policy number, medical information or account details.
Last reviewed 2026-08-30. By Jose Salloum, Financial Security Advisor.