Often the most overlooked type of insurance, disability income can provide the money to live on in the event an illness or an accident should render you unable to work. Most families today depend on two incomes to make ends meet. Take away an income and suddenly there is not enough income flowing into the household to make ends meet. This can result in late payments, bad credit, and even home foreclosure.

Can it happen to me?
The odds of experiencing a disability which will last longer than 90 days before you reach retirement run about 1 in 3 give or take depending on age. At age 50 the odds are 36%. Women are three times as likely as men to lose their income as a result of a disability!

What if I already have a long term disability plan at work?
Most disability plans through work provide some measure of protection against income loss due to a long term disability. A typical group LTD (long term disability plan) pays 60% of gross pay while the employee is out sick. Many people depend on bonuses and/or overtime to round out their annual income. The group plans only count base pay for the disability calculation often making 60% of gross base pay an inadequate payment to replace income. Single individuals (especially single parents) who do not have a second income to fall back on, need to review their budget needs to make absolutely sure that the 60% provided by their group plan will be enough.

What about workman's compensation or social security disability?
Workman’s Comp is a program designed to pay a disability payment to an employee who suffers an accident or injury at work. Although this is quality protection for someone who is hurt at work, it does not cover accidents or illnesses which are not work related.

Social Security disability is a monthly payment provided by Social Security to those individual who qualify based on their work record and health status. This benefit often takes a long time to process and the criteria can be difficult. Social Security has been known to decline over 70% of the claims filed. Typically the person needs to be totally disabled and unable to return to work.

How does a disability policy work?
The first step is to determine how much additional income would be needed on a monthly basis to make ends meet in the event of a disability. The income payment from an individual disability will generally be income tax free. The next step would be to determine how soon the payment would begin after you go out sick, called the elimination period, typically 30, 60, 90 days, or longer. You can also choose the benefit period. This would be the period of time the benefits are paid to you after you go out sick, typically 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or age 65.

You can also choose from a number of optional riders:

Partial Disability

Surrender Value Rider

Guaranteed Insurability Rider

Integrated Benefit Rider

Retroactive Injury Benefit
Cost of Living Rider

Residual Disability Rider

Monthly Benefits, Elimination Periods, Benefit Periods and optional riders will all effect the premium for the policy. Other factors include your health status, occupation, avocations, age, smoking, travel etc.

How do I find out more?

It is important to schedule a half hour meeting in order first to determine what your needs are (or aren’t) for a disability policy, either to help replace your earned income or to supplement benefit plans which are already in effect. Once we determine your needs we can then determine which policy options are right for both you and your budget.