A lot has happened in your life and career since you signed up for your first Long Term Disability (LTD) policy. As a rule, a typical policy is designed to help protect 60 percent of personal income, if you’re unable to work because of an illness or injury*. If you haven’t updated your policy in years or supplemented your coverage to match your rising income, everything you’ve worked for could be at risk.
If you could take a peek into your future, would that glimpse alter your present decisions? If you could see that disaster was on its way, you would likely plan ahead to avoid the inconvenience and trouble. Of course, we can’t see into the future; but it’s human nature to try to anticipate whether our choices are positive or detrimental. That’s why we read online reviews, seek professional opinions, and gather reliable information. We want the road of life ahead to be as smooth as possible.
The health of your practice depends on many factors, not the least of which is a happy and secure staff. When your practice has employees with high morale, they are productive, miss less work, and stay on the job longer; and all these things affect your practice’s profitability. One of the major contributors to low morale is anxiety over personal finances. How can you as a practice owner help your employees feel more secure and valued? One way is through the use of a voluntary benefits program offered by TMA Insurance Trust.
If you are like most physicians, despite the fact that you work very hard, you still have not achieved financial independence. Instead, you depend on your ability to continue to earn an income. Still, some physicians are living with a hidden risk that could destroy their financial security. The danger: the risk of a disabling injury or long-term illness.
You may have a long-term disability policy provided by the hospital or medical group where you’re employed or you may have bought a plan yourself and filed it away. So why would you need to revisit and update your coverage? For most physicians, the answer lies in one simple question, “If you become disabled and cannot continue your career, will your disability coverage provide enough income to maintain your lifestyle for a significant amount of time?”
There’s an old episode of “The X-Files” in which insurance salesman Clyde Bruckman, played by Peter Boyle of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” sits with a young couple at their kitchen table trying to sell them an insurance policy.
When unwanted illness or injury keeps you from practicing medicine for months or years at a time, a long-term disability insurance policy is designed to provide a benefit while you are unable to work.
For physicians, long-term disability insurance, also known as income protection, is one of the most important investments that can be made. No one wants to think about an unexpected illness or injury, but it is wise to arm yourself with the facts. Young workers today face a three in ten chance of being disabled before they retire, and medical problems are the reason stated in over sixty percent of the bankruptcy cases. In fact, the most startling statistic regarding disability comes from The National Safety Council, which states 498 Americans become disabled every ten minutes.
