What you need to know about disability insurance
The life insurance policy you buy, whether it is term, variable life, universal or whole-life, pays your beneficiaries upon your death. Disability insurance is just the opposite. It is needed to support you and your family while you are living. Every podiatrist must have a fallback source of income, unless your spouse's salary can support you or you are so wealthy you can live off your savings for the rest of your life.
You are probably thinking to yourself, I am relatively healthy, don't smoke, go to the gym, work out, watch what I eat, do all the right things. I'm never going to be disabled. It happened to my neighbor who fell off his ladder while working on his roof, but not to me. Maybe I'll need it when I'm 70 years old, but by that time, I'll be retired and won't need disability insurance anyway.
Social Security Insurance
What about Social Security Insurance (SSI)? Social Security provides long-term disability benefits based on your salary and the number of years you have worked and contributed to the Social Security system. Social Security, however, replaces only a limited portion of your salary, and the qualifications to receive benefits are very strict. For example, a very close friend of mine is a 48 year old accountant with a longstanding history of hepatitis. His condition is so debilitating that he qualified for Social Security Insurance benefits and is receiving $1800.00 per month. Could you survive on $1800.00 per month?
To be eligible for Social Security disability benefits, all of these conditions must be met:
* You have been disabled for five full calendar months.
* Your disability is expected to last at least 12 months or end in death.
* You are unable to be gainfully employed at any occupation, not just your occupation at the time your disability began.
Diagnoses Qualifying for Disability
When I speak to some of my colleagues about disability insurance, many are under the impression that being disabled means being in a wheelchair or confined to a nursing home.
Take a look at some examples of disability diagnosis that claimants have filed for and for which they have gotten paid: Spondylitis, cancer, pericarditis, neurotic disorder, urinary disease, neck injury, stroke, spasmodic dysphonia, muscular skeletal disorder, arthritis, carpal tunnel, severe tenosynovitis, and depression. The list goes on.
No matter how healthy and young you are, disability can occur at any time. And think about this. If you don't have a policy and are unable to work, you will have a very difficult time getting the protection you need once you go back to work. If you are lucky to find a company willing to write you a policy, you will undoubtedly pay a very high premium and/or have attached riders precluding certain conditions. A word to the wise, "Don't wait until it is too late."