Disability Insurance: If You Wait Until You Need It, You’re Too Late!

Disability Insurance:

If You Wait Until You Need It, You’re Too Late!

By Phil, of Physician Disability Insurance Agency

Installing a home security system immediately after your home is burglarized.  Buying a new ladder the day after your old rickety ladder collapses (with you standing on it).  Signing a pre-nup after a divorce is finalized.  What common thread do these elementary parables share?  They exemplify the futility of taking preventative measures after the loss you’re trying to prevent has occurred.

Unfortunately, disabilities, injuries, and accidents occur, and more frequently than most think.  For example, in the last ten minutes alone, 490 Americans became disabled.  When you become disabled or injured and can’t work, life doesn’t come to a screeching halt—instead, your credit card balances, cell phone bills, and rent or mortgage are still due.  What does stop, however, is your six-figure physician income.

The good news is that residents and young physicians can protect their future physician income now by investing in disability insurance, and at much lower rates because they are younger.  By acting when you are young, you lock in the lowest possible rate, and you’re guaranteed to have that rate for as long as you have your policy—the insurance company cannot unilaterally increase rates.  There’s no incentive to wait, because you can even obtain rate discounts during residency.  Procrastinating on the decision to protect your future income will only end up costing you more money.

You can also insure your ability to work in your medical specialty—not just your ability to work in general.  An own occupation policy ensures that your income continues even if you suffer a disability or accident that prevents you from working in your specialty.  Indeed, such a policy provides you with the freedom to work and earn income in a new occupation (e.g., teaching or consulting) while still paying you the same disability benefits as if you were not working at all.  Most group policies simply don’t provide that level of protection—let alone flexibility—and therefore they are not adequate for physicians.

Unless you are independently wealthy, odds are disability insurance probably makes sense for you.  If you have children and a family that relies on your income, the reasons to protect that income are obvious.  Even if you don’t have a family, if you have student loans, a disability insurance policy will provide you with the means to pay off that debt even if you become disabled.  

Think you don’t need disability insurance because you’re healthy?  Then you’re missing the point.  Disability insurance is designed for healthy individuals (who receive the lowest rates) because disabilities, accidents, and injuries are inherently unpredictable.  For example, car accidents are not any more or less likely to occur, based on your level of health.  If you want to guarantee income protection, you need to invest in disability insurance now.  Waiting until after you’re disabled or injured will be no more effective than the anecdotes above.

Want to learn more?  The Resource Page at Physician’s Disability Insurance Agent provides you with a free eBook on disability insurance, a disability insurance calculator, and other helpful information.  Our agents are available to answer your questions and provide you with customized quote comparisons if you’d like one.  Or, you can request a quote online in seconds.

Physician’s Disability Insurance Agency

At Physician’s Disability Insurance Agency, we specialize in one thing – helping residents and physicians protect the remarkable investment of time, effort, and resources they pour into their careers.  We’ll help you secure an own occupation disability insurance policy that guarantees your future income, even if you become disabled or suffer an accident that prevents you from practicing within your specialty.  In other words, you’re protected and have peace of mind knowing that your hard work will pay off, no matter what.

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