Author Archives: Billy Gwaltney

You might be thinking, “Should I buy specialty disability coverage while I’m still in residency or fellowship training?”

Simply put – YES.

First, you need to get it while you’re healthy—Medical underwriting approval is typically required due to the comprehensiveness of specialty disability coverage. This approval is not guaranteed in the future.Second, it’s usually less expensive —The discounts we’ve obtained for residents and fellows are substantial and remain after you graduate. Many of these discounts are not available after graduation. Third, you can qualify for a Future Insurability Option—This allows you to increase your coverage by 2 to 4 times later in life without any further medical underwriting.If structured properly, these future amounts also qualify for the discounts. Your most important asset is your ability to get up every day and earn a good income. Correctly insuring this asset is just smart business!

I can help you tailor a plan for a tight budget. Give us a call or text us at (704) 918-1174.

We’re often asked, “How much disability insurance am I eligible for?”

Typically the maximum benefit someone can be covered for is 65 to 70% of adjusted gross income However, how much you actually receive can be much less. Why? Because most group disability benefits through an employer are taxable income, while individual policy benefits are not taxable income.

For example, Dr. Pepper becomes disabled and receives $10000/month from her group long-term disability policy. But because this is taxable income, she’s only able to use $6500 of this amount for living expenses. However, Dr. Pepper also has a supplemental specialty disability policy that pays her a benefit of$10000/month. Because this benefit is not taxable, she’s able to have the entire $10000 for living expenses. Her total combined benefit is $16,500/month.

The more individual coverage someone has, the higher their net spendable income can be while on claim. To make sure your percentages are correct call or text us at 704-707-5788

You might be wondering if a group long term disability provided by your employer is enough to cover you if you become disabled.

Most employer provided policies cover a percentage of income up to a maximum cap, to normal retirement age. While this sounds good, an important factor is that group policies usually cover all employees regardless of their health. This creates significant gaps.

First, to reduce costs, group policy benefits are typically reduced by any social security or workers compensation payments, or other sources of income. Also group policies almost always have significantly weaker definitions and terms. This means if you’re disabled, you might not actually receive the benefits you’re expecting and need. Also your employers can change or even eliminate the group policy without consulting you.

Individual disability insurance can fill in these gaps by having better definitions and guaranteed coverage. Bottom line, people who rely on employer provided coverage are not in control.

If you’d like to be in control financially if disabled, please give us a call or text us at 704-707-5788

You might be surprised to learn that your most important asset is not your retirement account or real estate…it’s your ability to get out of bed every day, go to work and earn a good income.

You and your family’s way of life depend on this asset. So if something happens to derail its performance, it is vital to be sure this asset is properly insured.

According to the Council for Disability Awareness, over 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year olds will become disabled before they retire. This is why adequate disability insurance protection is one of the cornerstones of a wisely built financial plan. Without it your whole financial house can quickly crumble.

Some employers provide group long-term disability coverage, although these policies can have significant limitations. If structured properly, individual coverage can provide much more comprehensive terms and definitions, in addition to non taxable benefits, level premiums and guaranteed coverage.

Having this in place can protect your financial house and dreams when the winds of change blow your way.
If you’d like to explore the best individual coverage options for you, please give us a call or text us at 704-707-5788.

Have you ever wondered how long you could survive without a paycheck?

According to the Counsel for Disability Awareness, more than 1 in 4 20 year olds will be disabled for at least 90 days during their career, which will have a serious effect on their paycheck 1 in 8workers will be disabled for five years or more during their working careers.

A typical female, age 35, with a professional occupation, average height (5’4”) and weight (125lbs), non-smoker, and who leads a healthy lifestyle – has a 24% chance of becoming disabled for 3 months or longer during her working career. There’s a 38% chance that her disability would last 5 years or longer.

For a similar typical professional male, age 35, average height (5’10”) and weight (170lbs), non-smoker, and who leads a healthy lifestyle – he would have a 21% chance of becoming disabled for 3 months or longer during his working career.

The question then becomes…if there’s almost a 1 in 4 chance you could be disabled this year, how long could you survive with no paycheck?

Helping professionals get peace of mind when facing an uncertain future is what we do. Please give us a call or text us at 704-707-5788.

You might be thinking, “Is it important to work with a disability insurance specialist even if I already have a financial advisor?” The answer to this is absolutely, yes.

A really good disability insurance specialist takes the complex, quirky, and some might even say weird, concept of own occupation disability insurance, and makes it easy. There are multiple components, definitions and terms that make up quality disability coverage. If any of these are missing, you could easily regret it at claim time. Of course by then it’s too late to close any gaps. So it’s important to rely on an expert who knows these terms and provisions.

Some people make the mistake of purchasing their policy from a general financial planner. The good planners admit they cannot keep up with investment fluctuations, market conditions, tax law and budgeting, while also keeping up with the disability insurance landscape.

Since many people change financial planners multiple times during their lifetime, working with a dedicated disability specialist can be a wise consideration. If you’re interested in having a disability specialist help you get this part of your financial life exactly right, please give us a call or text us at (704) 707-5788.

An important question to consider is, “What happens to my disability insurance if I medically recover from a disability but my income does not ‘recover’?”

According to the Council for Disability Awareness, the average length of disability for professionals is 82 months. Once someone is no longer medically disabled, most group and even individual disability policies stop paying benefits right away or shortly thereafter.

The problem with this is a person’s income often does not return to its pre-disability level. In some cases it may never return. This is why it’s vital to have what’s called a “long-term recovery benefit” in your disability insurance. A recovery benefit pays benefits to people who return to work but because of their previous disability their income does return to where it was before they were disabled.

To work with a specialist dedicated to making sure you’re covered before, during, and also after a disability, please give us a call or text us at 704-707-5788.

An important question to answer with certainty is, “How do I know if my policy, in fact, has the true specialty definition of disability. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding this issue.

The true specialty definition of disability contains two components. First, you’re considered to be disabled if due to illness or injury you’re unable to perform the material and substantial duties of your occupation at time of claim. If you’re a physician or dentist, your occupation can mean a specific, professionally recognized specialty or subspecialty.

AND second, you can earn any amount of income from a different job while on claim, and continue to receive full policy benefits.

Most disability policies do not contain both clauses. For example, if a policy is purchased through an employer or association with little or no medical underwriting, it likely restricts the definition significantly.

Having this definition is important economically as well as emotionally. Having the freedom to feel useful and contribute to the world around us can be an important part of recovery. If you would like me to help you obtain the true specialty disability coverage at the lowest cost, please give us a call or text us at 704-707-5788.

A question we’re commonly asked is,“What is the ‘specialty occupation’ definition of disability?

This states that you’re totally disabled, if due to illness or injury, you’re unable to perform the material and substantial duties of your occupation at time of claim. If you’re a physician or dentist, your occupation can mean a specific, professionally recognized specialty or subspecialty.

This definition allows you to earn any amount of income from a different job while on claim and continue to receive full policy benefits. For example, a surgeon becomes disabled because of a back problem and cannot stand to perform surgeries. She then elects to become the medical director of a local insurance company. She would be entitled to collect the full disability benefit under her specialty disability policy in addition to receiving the income from the medical director position.

Most disability policies do not contain the specialty definition.  If you want to be sure you obtain this true specialty occupation definition, feel free to give us a call or text us at (704) 707-5788.

You might be wondering, “Why do I have to go through medical underwriting to obtain specialty disability insurance?”

Medical underwriting approval is what allows insurance companies to provide the premiere specialty disability coverage at an affordable and often discounted premium.

Specialty disability coverage is the best coverage available. Structured properly, it’s relatively black and white…if you cannot perform your specific occupation due to illness or injury, you receive benefits.

Most group long-term disability policies are required to cover all employees regardless of health. So the less healthy people are combined into the same pool as the healthier people.

Because of this, insurance companies offset the additional risk of loss by increasing the requirements that must be met in order to collect benefits. Sometimes someone’s medical history can hinder the ability to obtain the ideal policy.

This is another reason why It’s important to work with a dedicated disability insurance specialist who is experienced at getting clients approved for the coverage they need.

We can help. Give us a call or text us at 704-707-5788.