Consultant, J.W. Larmond Life Insurance and Benefits
I own a professional series disability policy that is non-cancellable, payable to age 65, with a 90 day wait period. I also made sure to add the future income option and cost of living adjusted benefit riders to my policy as I am young and wanted to guarantee my future insurability if I have a change in health.
I purchased as much as I was allowed to purchase based on my current annual income. As mentioned above, I also made sure to protect my insurability by adding on the future income option rider to my policy, which allows me to purchase more coverage as my income increases.
Disability insurance is absolutely underestimated. Many of my clients understand the importance of life insurance, but many don’t ever think about what their situation would look like if they got sick or injured and weren’t able to go to work and earn an income. Our ability to earn an income is the most important asset that we have and disability insurance is the best way to protect that asset.
The benefit period and the definition of disability are two aspects of a disability policy that people need to be aware of. Many group plans only cover you in your “own” occupation for the first two years and then definition switches to “any” occupation. This means that after two years, if you are capable of being employed in “any” gainful occupation (not necessarily your own), then you can be cut off your disability benefit.
While I believe both are very important to a proper insurance plan, I would definitely choose a disability insurance policy. This is because disability insurance protects your income long term. Critical illness is meant to pay you lump sum benefit to help you recover from a major illness, while disability insurance is meant to protect your income long term by paying you a monthly benefit while you are unable to earn your income.
Mike Castagna is a consultant at J.W. Larmond Life Insurance and Benefits. Mike is focused on helping his clients protect their financial well-being through the use of Life Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Critical Illness Insurance. Mike works with families, professionals, and business owners in developing extensive individual insurance plans as well as group insurance plans for businesses.
In his spare time, Mike enjoys playing soccer, hockey, and basketball recreationally as well as coaching soccer and football at both the high school and travel levels. Mike believes it is important to offer his time to coaching as he has had so many great coaches in the past that motivated him throughout his life.
