It seems like everyone is talking about life insurance needs but neglect the consideration of disability insurance. Did you know you are more likely to get injured on the job and not be able to work and draw a pay check than you are to be injured on the job and die because of that injury.

When you are injured your bills do not stop coming, the mortgage, electricity, water, gas, food, automobile payments, health insurance, etc. still have to be made whether your able to work or not. This could be a tough break for most of the working population, who are usually living from paycheck to paycheck just to make ends meet.

For some reason we are not informed about this scenario until we are smack dab in the middle of a life changing catastrophe like an injury, and life doesn’t stop. There are no detour signs in life that are easy to see like “Stop, you are about to be injured and will need something to supplement your income while you are down…this injury will happen in 5 days…so be prepared.” If only life were that simple.

But, we can be prepared and informed. So, let’s look at what a disability policy will do for you. First, it will pay you a monthly paycheck for the down time you are experiencing while you are healing which of course is the best thing to help pay your bills that are still coming in.

With disability insurance there are varied options available for you to consider. Your benefits will be based on your occupation and gross monthly income. The payout in monthly checks is a percentage of your gross monthly income, it will not pay 100% of your income.

There are elimination periods to consider like 30,60,90,180 days or longer. The elimination period is the time from when you are first injured to the time that you get your first paycheck. The longer your elimination period the lower your monthly disability premium will be.

The two common disability plans available are short term and long term disability. The short term plans usually have a benefit period of 6 months. The long term plans have a varied benefit period of 1,2,5, or 10 years, or to age 65. You choose the length of coverage when you set up your policy.

Optional benefit riders are available as well to be added to the policy. Some examples are: Return of Premium Rider (Surrender Value Rider) which will return all your premiums back to you at age 65. Another example would be the Cost of Living Adjustment Rider which will allow for inflation adjustments in your benefits, as well as many other optional riders.

It’s important to ask yourself questions as you journey through life to keep yourself prepared for all of life’s challenges and we all face them. If you did sustain an injury that would not allow for you to work, how long could you live your current lifestyle. Basically how would you be able to survive financially, who or what have you placed in your life to be a helper when the road gets tough….Disability insurance can be a very valuable asset when you are facing a set-back.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you.

If you are considering purchasing disability insurance, you may be wondering how you should go about choosing a provider that will best meet your own needs and goals — both today and in the future.

Through this article, you will be provided with some basic information about how to choose the right insurance for you — again, today and into the future as well. Of course, this article is designed only to provide you with a basic overview about it. If you want more information about disability insurance, there are some resources provided for you later in this article. You will want to pursue these supplemental resources in your own search for the appropriate insurance policy for you, for the disability policy that will meet your needs now and later.

Visit with an Insurance Professional

Being as disability insurance is such a technical type of product, it really is important for you to meet with an insurance professional in your search for it. You really will not want to make decisions regarding insurance policies and coverage without the aid of an insurance professional at your side. These insurance professionals have the experience necessary to aid and assist you in finding the insurance policy or product that will provide you the coverage that you need.

Talk to Professional Colleagues

When seeking disability insurance, you will want to meet with your professional colleagues and find out what type of insurance they have utilized in the past. Word of mouth is very important when it comes to finding out what type of disability insurance will best meet your needs and goals.

You will also be able to find out which insurance plans may not have served people you know well — you will find out which insurance providers you will want to avoid. It is important to amass information about the good and the bad when it comes to making a thoughtful and educated decision about its coverage that will satisfy and meet your needs and objectives, that will provide you with the protection that you need.

What You Need to Know When Looking for Disability Insurance

When it comes to looking for reliable and appropriate disability insurance, there are some factors that you will want to keep well in mind during your search:

– understand how a policy defines disability … keeping in mind that some policies provide a very narrow and restrictive definition of disability that may work against your personal interests

– examine the benefit period provided under the terms and conditions of the policy … obviously, you will want the longest possible benefit period available

– keep your eyes open for a disability insurance policy that will provide replacement of the highest percentage of your regular and recurring income

– give serious consideration to a disability insurance policy that provides coverage not only for disabilities arising out of an accident or injury but for a disability that arises out of an illness (physical or mental) as well

– look for a disability insurance policy that includes costs of living increases in benefits paid

– try and locate a policy that will pay partial benefits so that you can work part time if you are generally physically able to do so … avoid an all or nothing policy

– be on the lookout for a policy that will provide transitional benefits … additional benefits in the post disability period to assist you in a smoother financial transition back to regular work and wages

– make certain that the policy cannot be canceled as long as you pay the premiums in a timely manner

– make certain that you obtain your disability insurance policy for a company in a stable financial position … there are independent rating services that can provide you with information about the financial status of an insurance company … additional, the insurance commissioner’s office in your state can provide you with this basic information

– check to see how long the waiting period is after the onset of a disability before payments will commence … you will want the shortest possible waiting period so that you can receive your benefits quickly

Disability Income insurance is something that most young professionals never think about. It’s difficult for most young people to understand the need for Disability insurance because the thought of becoming disabled almost seems unrealistic. It does happen however, and according to Social Security Quick Facts, 3 in 10 young workers will become seriously disabled before retirement.

As an attorney “to-be”, you have a lot of hard earned potential – studying and working hard through undergrad, only to be faced with a terrifying LSAT and 3 years of Law School on top of that. Even though your income may not be significant yet, you’ve invested a lot of time and work into your academia and professional development. Now you need to look at ways of protecting your hard work, potential and future income – starting with Disability income insurance.

As programs are available to medical residents, Law students in their final year are able to obtain Disability coverage as well. As a recent graduate or student in your final year, protecting your future earnings is important and knowing what to look for in a Disability policy is even more important.

First of all, you should know that as an attorney you will be at the top level Occupation classification. Occupation Classes are how insurance companies separate pricing based on the overall risk of specific occupations. With most of the major insurance carriers, Attorneys are classified at the top and therefore the cost of coverage is the lowest of any profession. This ties in perfectly with the fact that you are still young right now and most likely in good health. In order to obtain Disability insurance, applicants must qualify medically and therefore being in good health is certainly to your benefit. Additionally, you are able to lock into a guaranteed level premium in order to take advantage of your young age.

As already mentioned, you’ve worked very hard to get where you are and to have the potential you have, therefore you need to be sure your Disability insurance is protecting your specific profession. In order to do so, you need to look for True Own-Occupation Disability insurance. As you continue your search for coverage, you will find that many companies present their product as Own-Occupation, but the truth is that they offer a modified version of the real thing. True Own-Occupation Disability coverage will pay you a benefit if an injury or illness prevents you from doing the work of an Attorney, even if you decide to work in some other profession. The modified version requires that you not to be working at all. The number of companies offering the True Own-Occupation definition of total disability are somewhat limited – be sure to work with an agent who is knowledgeable on Disability insurance and ask if he/she is showing a True Own-Occupation definition of total disability.

To expand the parameters of your Disability coverage, you need to be sure that your policy provides Residual or partial disability benefits. A basic Disability policy qualifies claimants based upon a definition of total disability only, which is an all or nothing approach. By adding the Residual benefit to your policy, it will include debilitating injuries and illness that only cause a partial loss of duties and/or income. Consider the obvious…Do you think you are more likely to experience a partial disability or total disability? Make sure that you have this covered – it’s a low costing benefit that most would consider essential. Additionally, not all residual riders are created equal. Look for one that provides residual benefits and recovery benefits for the policy’s full benefit period.

Along with the primary provisions you should be aware of, there are optional policy riders that companies offer in order for professionals to enhance the coverage that a policy provides. As a young Lawyer, part of the purpose of purchasing Disability insurance is to protect your future income. To enhance this protection, you should elect to include the Future Increase Option rider on your Disability policy. This is an optional rider that allows you to increase your monthly benefit as your income increases in the future, regardless of your health, as long as you are not on claim. The amount of benefit that you will be eligible for as a last-year Law student is somewhat limited (about equal to coverage for $60,000 annual salary) – by purchasing this optional rider you are guaranteeing your ability to increase your coverage to remain proportionate to your higher income.

Another optional rider to seriously consider is the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) rider which provides benefit increases to keep up with inflation while you are on claim. This is particularly important because you are so young. If you were to experience a long-term claim that begins at a young age, your benefit will lose its purchasing power over time without this rider. Between being very young and also being in the top occupation classification, this rider is fairly inexpensive and worth giving consideration.

There are many other riders to consider as well, and you should ask the person you decide to work with about them. The benefits, provisions and riders reviewed in this article however will provide you with a good starting point and very comprehensive coverage. Even if the firm you work with provides you with a group Disability policy, it is unlikely that the quality of a group policy would come anywhere near the quality of an individual policy. The cost for Attorneys is very affordable and the benefits are as good as it gets.

Property insurance is designed to protect a business owner against loss or damage to the physical structure of his or her commercial dwelling, and will also protect the contents inside of this dwelling. This type of insurance can be designed for a particular risk, and is applicable for company owners who own, rent or lease the property on which they conduct business.

Casualty insurance is designed to insure that the operation of an organisaiton is protected from loss, and is often combined with property insurance. This type of insurance would be applicable if, for example, an operation was ill effected because one floor of the business was damaged by a tornado, while another floor of the same business was free of any damage. The loss in continuity of the whole operation could be insured with casualty insurance.

Liability insurance protects a business against lawsuits that may be brought on due to negligence. This negligence may have occurred on behalf of the business itself or on behalf of any of the employees working for the business.

Commercial auto insurance is designed to insure against damage caused by business vehicles when they hit or damage other vehicles, people or maybe both. This is opposed to a regular auto insurance policy that only covers personal vehicles, and not vehicles used for business purposes.

Workers’ compensation insurance insures the employees of a business against injuries sustained as they perform their jobs. With workers’ compensation insurance enacted, a worker cannot sue the business for his or her injuries, but the business must pay the employee’s related medical bills.

Interruption of business insurance protects a business against cash flow and profit loss or damage when a business cannot operate. Some, but not all, interruption of business related issues may be covered by casualty insurance.

Health insurance is designed to provide health care benefits for both business employees and owners. Life and disability insurance is designed to protect a business when crucial employees die or become disabled. Scripted insurance can be designed for unique business concerns, which are outside of the typical concerns of an average business.

For most people they buy life insurance, car insurance and other things that may give security and protection for their love ones or families. And most often they forget about disability insurance. Statistics disability insurance suggests that you are more likely to need it. If you search on the government websites, statistics disability insurance will tell you that chances are you may need it. And based on the disability statistics, one in seven workers can expect to be disabled for five years or more before retiring.

Disability is a real and growing risk that is so widespread in the United States and other countries around the world. Sometimes real figures are needed to convince some of us to consider doing something about a situation. Well, the numbers do not lie. Take for instance; three in ten workers entering the work force today will become disabled before retiring (Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet 007). Thus the need to insure you against being disabled is very important. Who is going to shoulder your bills and debts if you are disabled and not covered?

If you look at these figures you may understand why there is a need for insuring you against being disabled. The chances of your home getting on fire are one out every eighty homes. And the chances of death occurring is one out every one hundred and six people. The chances of you getting into a serious car accident are one out of every seventy cars. And the chances of you getting disabled are one out of every eight people. These figures clearly indicate it is paramount to have one. And on further research, it suggests that a thirty year old man has one in five chance of suffering a long term disability before his planned retirement.

If you ever think that most people lose their homes because of financial mismanagement and extravagance death or fire, think again. More people will lose their homes because of disability. The two most common causes of this are back problems and heart diseases. And did you know? Roughly fifty percent of people who suffer disabilities lasting longer than six months remain disabled after five years. The numbers do show that your chance being disabled for at least three months is greater than you dying prematurely.

You can always argue with these numbers and say this could be misleading. Well if you are healthy and you are working a low risk environment, then may you never be disabled? That, we will never know until you retire. But think about it. How many people you know have suffered from a, stroke, heart attack, or cancer? Or is anyone in your family who have been in an automobile accident? These types of accident can bring in back problems later as you aged. Do you have enough savings to sustain your lifestyle if ever you get disabled? These are the stark realities you have to address.
A lot of workers are covered by their employer or through governmental agencies, but is that enough? Are adequately enough to cover you in case you are unable to work? It probably will not be enough. There is more statistics disability insurance to be written but the point is you need to be covered just in case. Statistics or no statistics on disability insurance, the bottom line is you may need this for you security and protection of your lifestyle.

Insurance, it’s a vitally important part of every single one of our lives yet at the same time it’s hardly understood by anybody. We have insurance for cars, houses, medical, expenses, even life insurance in case we die, and disability insurance in case we are no longer able to work to support ourselves.

In fact the entire country here in America right now has just spent the last 3 to 6 months massively debating health insurance all the way up to the highest levels in Congress were they’ve been trying to pass the president’s health insurance initiatives unsuccessfully. The point is, which ever side of that debate you take, it’s pretty incredible that so many of us are spending so much time talking about it!

I mean, it’s insurance; the world is talking about insurance! But I digress…

One thing I find though in all the talk of insurance on all the different levels… one thing hardly ever gets talked about and that is disability insurance and that’s a real shame because disability insurance is one of the most important insurances that you will ever need.

It covers us in case we get disabled and can no longer work. It pays all our bills, and supports our families, and makes sure our kids are able to go to college and that we can pay for. In short it’s the most important insurance I can think of and we hardly ever talk about.

So I for one would like to talk about it in this article today and I’m going to do so by talking about how much disability insurance is enough.

The first thing to do before you buy disability insurance is to completely assess your financial background. You need to list all your assets, including your house and cars and cash and investment accounts everything that has a value in can be liquidated. Next figure up how much money you need to live off of for each year. Make sure to calculate the cost of mortgage payments, utility bills, food, other insurance costs, and absolutely everything that you pay for in a given year..

The point of this exercise is to get a good idea of how much money you have right now, and how much you need to live off of in a given year so that you can calculate how much will need if your income level suddenly dropped to zero.

One important thing to consider is inflation. All the things that you spend money on might cost a total of $60,000 a year let’s say. That $60,000 is going to increase next year because of inflation. To buy the same exact things next year in my cost you $62,000. So when calculating how much you’ll need in the future be sure to calculate for inflation and if you don’t know how to do this search around the Internet and I’m sure you can find a free inflation calculator or at least learn the simple mathematics involved which I won’t get into today.

Another thing to consider is partial payment for work. Does your job include partial payments in the case of your disability? If so be sure to calculate that in to the equation.

Also an important thing to consider is increases over time in your expenditures. Your expenditures may be $60,000 a year this year but in six years your kid may need to go to college, at which time your expenditures will jump quite a bit. Be sure to take these sorts of things into consideration when you make your calculations.

You can get a fairly good idea of how much you’re going to need in disability insurance just by doing these simple exercises I’ve discussed in this article. But at the end of the day you really need to sit down with a licensed professional insurance agent and go over the numbers with them in greater detail because they will catch things that you have missed.