Author Archives: Billy Gwaltney

Top insurance companies are quick to roll out the red carpet for physicians-in-training. They offer large discounts and quick medical scanning.

It’s a great deal if you can afford it. But it’s not as easy putting your life on hold and going into debt for a career. It’s difficult getting the best discounts for your career and health. Budget shouldn’t get in the way of affording the life you deserve.

Listen now to budget for the disability insurance that protects your career (and preserves it for life).

Show highlights include:

Why disability insurance is more important than income, investments, and retirement plans altogether.  (2:38)

How to preserve your health and lower the risk of injury on the job. (5:25)

How to afford more coverage throughout your career (regardless of any health changes). (7:15)

How to lock in discounted training rates and avoid medical screenings for life. (8:04)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

If you enjoyed and valued this content, you might also want to check out Why Buy Early? This episode is available on this site’s podcast channel (Click HERE) or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

When you feel unsure about picking a policy, a broker agent can influence your decision. Trust is important. You should have an agent who is always looking for your best interest in a policy.

You want to have confidence an agent is on your side and always advocating at your time of claim. A policy should feel in your control (and not the other way around).

Make sure you’re on the right page with your broker agent. Trust is key to your perfect policy.

Listen now to find out if you can trust what your agent has to say (and the ultimate decision you make).

Show highlights include:

How to tell if you can trust what a broker agent tells you (and the policies they present). (0:39)

Transforming a bland, unsupportive policy into your biggest advocate for claims and incentives. (1:37)

How to pick the perfect policy for you (without getting distracted by big names and contracts). (3:05)

How to tell if you are being given a part of a disability policy or the whole thing. (4:40)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

If you enjoyed and valued this content, you might also want to check out Do I need a broker? This episode is available on this site’s podcast channel (Click HERE) or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

AMA leads as the big influence in disability policies. But their prices may not be worth what’s between the fine lines. There are a significant amount of gaps in their policies. And at the end of the day, the control should be yours (and not the other way around).

Is AMA here to protect you or collect from you?

Listen now to see if you can trust what AMA policies have to say.

Show highlights include:

How to avoid losing control over your coverage (and collect from many policies). (1:31)

How to keep discounts for life (without someone trying to raise or remove them).(3:42)

How to earn unlimited income with your policy (and keep the benefits you already have). (4:33)

How to collect for over a decade by avoiding this clause. (4:38)

Why AMA’s cheaper prices aren’t worth the policy (and how to think ahead). (8:12)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you

There are so many different options when it comes to choosing your insurance plan. From future insurability potential to benefits that will increase as your earning does, choosing between the wide array of plans can become overwhelming quickly.

When looking toward your future, it can be even more difficult to decide whether you should bet on your future earning capabilities, or go with a plan that increases as your income does.

In this episode, I’ll walk you through the benefits and pitfalls or the future insurability and benefit-increase options to prepare you for choosing an insurance plan that will truly work in your favor as you move forward in your career.

Show Highlights Include

The future insurability option writer that can get you up to $20,000 a month of coverage (1:30) 

The massive downside of exponentially increasing your coverage as your income increases (2:45) 

How to increase your insurability without paying an ongoing fee (3:35) 

The financial formula you and your broker should use to determine your increase eligibility on your insurance (4:00) 

The big stipulation that will automatically remove your benefit-increase writer from your mass mutual policy (4:25) 

Why the future insurability option can massively cap your insurance coverage (even if you don’t want to) (7:15)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

If your employer provides you with a group disability insurance plan, buying private coverage might feel redundant.

But if you do become disabled, you don’t want to lose the lifestyle you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

So collecting both seems like a great way to ensure you and your family miss nothing. In this episode, you’ll find out all about collecting disability insurance from two policies.

Listen now to discover how to maximize your payouts if you become disabled!

Show highlights include:

Why your private policy lets you collect benefits on disabilities group insurance doesn’t even cover (1:41)

How private coverage always adds to your employer’s policy (2:37)

Why your employer’s group policy might not payout (even if it specifies 60% of your salary) (4:17)

The sneaky way your employer’s policy might be a false sense of security (4:38)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

Many trainee physicians are afraid of needing disability leave. As a trainee, you don’t have guaranteed job stability and insurance coverage like full-time residents or fellows.

That makes it tough to worry about an accident or needing disability leave.

Disability insurance promises you peace of mind. But it’s tough to find the right policy: Some providers don’t offer much coverage, they’re expensive, and they cap your future coverage.

This episode shows you the key elements to look at to find a policy that secures your family’s lifestyle.

Listen to discover how to maximize your insurance for stability—even as your career advances.

Show Highlights Include:

What financial underwriting occurs when purchasing disability insurances a trainee (1:33) 

How getting the wrong policy as a trainee could cap how much coverage you get as a full time resident (1:33)

Why insurance companies don’t care if residents take disability… but worry about giving trainees too much coverage (3:00)

The most important factors to find an insurance policy that lets you keep your lifestyle (4:30) 

Why getting a disability policy as a  “locks in” a discount for the rest of your career—regardless of your health(5:45) 

How to maximize your insurability throughout your career as a resident (6:00)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

Employers of residents or fellow physicians often provide Long Term Disability coverage. But does that coverage mean you can’t get your own LTD insurance?

The good news: An employer plan does not stop you from getting additional, private insurance.

But not all insurance plans are created equal. If you want the most comprehensive long-term disability coverage, you have to be aware of a few catches.

If you ignore these, you might find yourself with too little coverage in an emergency.

Listen now to discover how your employer’s insurance plan impacts your personal LTD decisions!

Show Highlights Include:

Does your employer’s policy keep you from maxing out your own private LTD insurance policy? (0:54)

How much private insurance can you purchase? It depends on your medical specialty (1:44)

Why having your own and your employer’s policies can keep you from getting the full benefit out of each (2:20)

How combining your employer’s group policy and your own private insurance can raise or lower your taxes (2:45)

How your insurance plan is calculated differently as a trainee vs. an attending physician (and how much coverage you can purchase as a trainee) (3:06)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

When you advance from a resident or fellow physician to an attending physician, your income grows. And with more income, you can increase your disability insurance.

But how much disability insurance should you have? Are your benefits going to be taxed? And why doesn’t your policy cover 100% of your salary?

You might not be asking yourself these questions today. But answering them means you get to keep your lifestyle if you become disabled.

Don’t let confusion stop you from getting the disability insurance you need.

Listen to discover how to maximize your disability coverage!

Show Highlights Include:

Why an early medical screening gets you the optimal private disability policy. (1:07)

How big insurance companies calculate your maximum disability coverage (and how that lets you get the best possible policy). (2:08)

Why private disability insurance only covers about 55% of your salary. (3:14)

How to ensure any disability payouts are tax-free, spendable cash that maximize your quality of life. (4:48)

How your state’s tax rate affects your insurance coverage. (5:41)

Pay increase? Here’s how that new salary affects your disability policy. (6:49)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

Many young physicians wonder if the Cost Of Living Adjustment is an important insurance rider. They want to know how a COLA works and how it’s calculated.

By earning interest, a COLA ensures that disability payments keep pace with inflation.

But not all COLAs are the same, and you may not even need one.

Listen now to discover everything you need to know about COLAs!

Show Highlights Include:

How a COLA insulates your disability payments from changes in the economy (1:21)

You aren’t required to have a COLA — but without one, inflation will eat away at your benefit payments (1:55)

The major benefit of a compound-growth COLA over a flat 3% option (2:36)

How to get a COLA that compounds at up to 6% interest — and why that’s not always the best choice (3:13)

Does the COLA calculation matter? (4:43)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.

When considering your insurance options, you may have come across the Mental Nervous benefit.

This confusing benefit has a very specific purpose: to cover your psychiatric care.

But what is psychiatric care, exactly? What disabilities does this benefit cover? And how long does it pay?

There is a lot of confusion around the Mental Nervous benefit. And in today’s episode, you’ll get a clear understanding of when this psychiatric benefit applies to you.

Listen now to discover the ins and outs of the Mental Nervous benefit.

Show Highlights Include:

The three disabilities that trigger your Mental Nervous benefit (1:29)

How long does psychiatric care last under your Mental Nervous benefit? (1:42)

Why the Mental Nervous benefit’s payout doesn’t cover nervous system problems like Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s (2:33)

How to talk with your insurance provider about psychiatric care under the Mental Nervous benefit (3:38)

To ask questions on insurance coverage or to get a quote, please don’t hesitate to call us anytime at 704-270-2376, and I’d be glad to discuss your specific situation with you.