Written in 2006, as I was learning about Financial Planning. Disability Insurance is important, especially if you are the major bread winner for your family. What happens if you get incapacitated and cannot work. Disability Insurance will help while you recover.
For someone like me, who is the single bread-winner in the family, with a wife and four kids (and being over 40 and still in debt), I think, it is essential that I carry some kind of disability insurance. Why? In case some catastrophic health event occurs, or some terrible accident that will not allow me to earn an income. I pay through the nose for this insurance due to my increasing age, but it is important to have this kind of insurance. Just how much do I pay for it? Almost $1000.00 a year, I think, but for now, I have no other choice. I could live on the “razor’s edge” and HOPE nothing happens, but that would be foolish. Yes I am a man of faith, however, I think it is fool hardy to assume that HOPE is enough to protect your family in financial matters.
- NB: What I didn’t realize that Nortel was self-insuring, thus the insurance was risky too. When Nortel declared bankruptcy the Long Term Disability folks were only creditors, and lost their payments.
When will I stop getting this kind of insurance? Not ’til I retire, or I am financially set, which would mean, no debts AND enough money in the bank to allow my wife to live a good life without me working or being around.
Don’t confuse Long Term Disability Insurance with Life Insurance. Life Insurance is important, but this insurance will make sure you are taken care of while you still live, but are disabled (God forbid). Also, don’t confuse it with Critical Illness insurance it is very different as well.
