Disability, life insurance, what to do?

[DrBeaker]

Hey guys,

Looking for advice on this stuff. I'm graduating end of June, and have been getting hounded by people via email about their disability insurance is great, our life insurance is the best. There is a lot going on now, and adding this to my plate is making me feel a bit overwhelmed. I have a policy via my residency GME office that they have paid for while I was a resident. I can continue this policy without a medical exam. I can add an additional amount of disability coverage on top of that if I want as well, again no medical exam. It is portable, and occupation specific. It seems like it's pretty good. But I don't know exactly what I should be looking for. Any red flags? What is a good price for this stuff, say for 8,000/month in disability coverage?

As far as life insurance, I have no clue. Any and all advice appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[OB1🤙]

Go to whitecoatinvestor.com . All your answers await there.

 

[sethco]

Agree with above, whitecoatinvestor is money. Explains everything very simply, but you should start with his older posts when he covered all of the basics (i.e. Disability/Life Insurance, 401Ks, Back door roth IRAs, HSAs, etc)

You mentioned having DI through your residencies group plan. Are you staying there after your done or going into PP? You should realize that this plan is not portable and you lose it once you leave the job. Get your own personal DI now while your younger and the rates are lower. Make sure it has coverage of mental disorders/substance abuse longer than 2 years (IMHO, critical for the Anesthesiologist). Make sure it is specialty-specific. COLA is also good to have. For 6000/month currently, I think I am paying ~200/month.

 

[BLADEMDA]

Hey guys,

Looking for advice on this stuff. I'm graduating end of June, and have been getting hounded by people via email about their disability insurance is great, our life insurance is the best. There is a lot going on now, and adding this to my plate is making me feel a bit overwhelmed. I have a policy via my residency GME office that they have paid for while I was a resident. I can continue this policy without a medical exam. I can add an additional amount of disability coverage on top of that if I want as well, again no medical exam. It is portable, and occupation specific. It seems like it's pretty good. But I don't know exactly what I should be looking for. Any red flags? What is a good price for this stuff, say for 8,000/month in disability coverage?

As far as life insurance, I have no clue. Any and all advice appreciated.

Try for $15k per month of disability coverage or find a company which will allow increases from $6-$8k per month up to at least $15k. This way you can increase the policy without another physical exam or lab tests down the road.

Second,

If you are planning on a family in the next 5 years buy a $1-$2 million level term 30 year policy. I think $2 million is better than $1 million if you can afford it and term 30 is better than term 25 or term 20.

Finally, we have discussed these issues extensively in the past here.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/disability-insurance.400436/#post-5139576


http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/financial-planners.976662/#post-13536168

 

[thinkorswim]

Agree with above, White Coat Investor was tremendously helpful when navigating the insurance landscape. With respect to life insurance, I would consider a laddering strategy, which would save you money in the end. The concept is simple, as you progress through your career and accumulate wealth, the need for a large life insurance policy decreases.

Here are links to the relevant posts:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/how-to-buy-life-insurance/

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/term-life-insurance-strategies-for-physicians/

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

Hey guys,

Looking for advice on this stuff. I'm graduating end of June, and have been getting hounded by people via email about their disability insurance is great, our life insurance is the best. There is a lot going on now, and adding this to my plate is making me feel a bit overwhelmed. I have a policy via my residency GME office that they have paid for while I was a resident. I can continue this policy without a medical exam. I can add an additional amount of disability coverage on top of that if I want as well, again no medical exam. It is portable, and occupation specific. It seems like it's pretty good. But I don't know exactly what I should be looking for. Any red flags? What is a good price for this stuff, say for 8,000/month in disability coverage?

As far as life insurance, I have no clue. Any and all advice appreciated.

Find a carrier that has the right definition for you. What I mean by that is think about a potential disability and if that were to happen to you would you want 100% of your benefit if you could not do your medical specialty but went into another specialty or occupation? If so you are limited to seven carriers. If you are ok with the benefit being reduced upon entering your other occupation then you have about 12 companies to choose from. As for life insurance, buy the amount you need first and then the duration you can afford 2nd. In other words don't sacrifice the benefit needed for your family today just to buy protection for 30 years down the road. You can always change up the contracts in a few years when your personal financial situation improves to get the duration built back in.

 

[fakin' the funk]

+1 on WCI, especially on this topic.

Remember -- you buy insurance FOR something, not just to have it.

Me -- no kids, no mortgage, 6 figures of med school loans, wife who would do fine financially if I vaporized

So for life, I got a 10-year, $250,000 term life policy through Ohio National. Premium < $200/yr. Found them on term4life.com, found a local broker, etc etc.

If/when kids are in the picture I'll prob do a 15 or 2o year policy for low 7 figures.

The best part is that you get a CMP, lipid panel, CBC for free!

 

[Folken]

So I'm kinda in the same boat as the OP. I've briefly glanced through whitecoatinvestor regarding disability and have a basic understanding of how it works. The question I have now is how do I buy disability? I know I have to go through an agent, but do I just google search "Disability insurance agent" in my area? Are there recommended agents/companies that sell policies (besides looking for an agent with experience selling disability insurance to physicians/anesthesiologists)?

Thanks

 

[RedAnesthesia]

So I'm kinda in the same boat as the OP. I've briefly glanced through whitecoatinvestor regarding disability and have a basic understanding of how it works. The question I have now is how do I buy disability? I know I have to go through an agent, but do I just google search "Disability insurance agent" in my area? Are there recommended agents/companies that sell policies (besides looking for an agent with experience selling disability insurance to physicians/anesthesiologists)?

Thanks

I personally talked with several of my fellow residents and previous upperclassmen to ask who they went with for disability. You will obvious want to obtain somebody who will have your best interests at heart. However, no matter who you select is still going to make some good money off selling the policy. Whatever you do, do do whole life insurance.

Red

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

+1 on WCI, especially on this topic.

Remember -- you buy insurance FOR something, not just to have it.

Me -- no kids, no mortgage, 6 figures of med school loans, wife who would do fine financially if I vaporized

So for life, I got a 10-year, $250,000 term life policy through Ohio National. Premium < $200/yr. Found them on term4life.com, found a local broker, etc etc.

If/when kids are in the picture I'll prob do a 15 or 2o year policy for low 7 figures.

The best part is that you get a CMP, lipid panel, CBC for free!

We like Ohio National a lot and use them for clients a good deal, just make sure you have the Plus term product from them as it has a few perks for the insured the basic contract does not and as an example a new client just this morning bought one and the Plus product was 90 cents more than the basic product.

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

So I'm kinda in the same boat as the OP. I've briefly glanced through whitecoatinvestor regarding disability and have a basic understanding of how it works. The question I have now is how do I buy disability? I know I have to go through an agent, but do I just google search "Disability insurance agent" in my area? Are there recommended agents/companies that sell policies (besides looking for an agent with experience selling disability insurance to physicians/anesthesiologists)?

Thanks

There are agents in every town that can probably help you, certainly WCI has some great ones as well, and there are a few of us here on this site as well with that expertise to utilize as well. Just find one that really understands the market and has the ability/willingness to show you All of the carriers that fit YOUR needs, not just THEIR needs! As for buying disability insurance as a resident/fellow it is a really simple process, complete an application (about 10-12 minutes), complete the phone interview with the carrier where they ask health/avocation questions (about 15-20 minutes), and if needed have your blood profile drawn (about 15-20 minutes). All in you can be done with 3 steps and about 45 minutes.

 

[Man o War]

Make sure your policy has a future benefit increase rider. This will allow you to increase your monthly benefit amount as your salary increases without going through medical underwriting again. Really, really important, as one chronic medical condition can knock you out of qualification for a favorable rating.

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

Man o War is right, try to get those features on your policies, some carriers have a cost for them and some do not. There is a difference since if you have a contract with a cost for Future Purchase Options then you control the when and how much for intents and purposes (up to the max they will issue). If they don't charge for this feature then the carrier typically has a 3 year financial review to so that you maintain at least 75% of the coverage you are eligible for at that time. Another way to allow your benefits to trend up is through Annual Increase Options which basically increase your benefit every year by 4-5% until 5 years have passed then you can renew that feature.