Disability Insurance for When Life Changes
Disability insurance is a topic that really addresses the fact that life can take sudden turns which leaves us physically, mentally and/or financially vulnerable. It’s the kind of insurance that’s really easy to overlook when you believe you have enough health insurance to cover your medical bills. But health insurance won’t pay your bills if you are unable to work any longer as a result of an illness or injury. Most people cannot go very long without a steady income, and unless they have disability insurance would be facing financial ruin.
Making a Change
Life can change quickly as a result of a work injury. But you can manage that change when you have disability insurance. Many people are able to get disability insurance through group policies, but the problem is many of those policies don’t provide enough income. They may pay only a small percentage of your income in the event of disability. But you can supplement the group policy with an individual policy to insure you get maximum coverage.
Doing Things Differently
Disability insurance works differently than other kinds of insurance. Disability insurance payments are determined by your monthly earnings at the time of the disability. The normal maximum percentage is 60% of gross wages. When you evaluate disability insurance there are some specific features you need to thoroughly understand.
For one thing you need a clear understanding of how the policy defines a disability. It seems like it may be obvious to you and your doctor, but people have to go to court all the time to get their payments started. You want to purchase your policy from a company that uses clear and precise language and only sells high-quality policies. By this is meant the policy should provide value for the money.
You should also determine how quickly payments will start once you are disabled. Some policies have a 30 or 60 day, or longer, waiting period. That means you need to have enough savings to cover those months before the disability insurance payments start. Also, you need to have a clear understanding of how long the payments will last. Time limitations can range widely. Some policies will only pay for up to a certain number of months while others will pay for the rest of your life.
Handling Change with Grace
Disability insurance is just as important as life insurance, health insurance and long term care insurance. When you can’t work any longer, keeping an income stream flowing provides a lot of security for your family. The cost of your policy is going to be dependent on the kind of work you do. The higher the risk of serious injury the more your policy will cost. Of course, there are lots of other factors that determine your policy cost including age. But you can reduce the cost of the disability insurance policy by taking the longest waiting period you can afford.
Life can throw a lot of curves and some of them can change our life forever. If you don’t have disability insurance then you’re taking a serious risk. One injury or major illness can take away your earning power. With disability insurance, you have the comfort of knowing you can continue to pay your bills.
Let Hodges & Company find the best disability policy to meet your needs and budget.
We can be contacted at 713.993.9710 or 1.866.993.9710.
