/// By Aviva Sapers and Kristen Maalouf
Think for a moment about your ability to earn an income and how important it is to protect that income if you became too sick or injured to work. You are currently healthy and working, right? Would you agree that it is your ability to earn an income that determines your standard of living and supports your lifestyle?
Obviously, it’s important that your earnings are sufficient to cover your living expenses. It’s your surplus which is the amount you can save, that goes into building wealth for the future so that you can achieve the goals you have set for yourself and your family. But…
What happens if your income stops, if you become too sick or injured to work? Your expenses continue, don’t they? They could even increase because of medical expenses you will now incur due to being sick or injured. What used to be a surplus could disappear and you could be running a deficit.
Instead of building wealth, you will be draining it off to pay your current daily expenses. Imagine what happens to your plans and goals for the future. What are your and your personal and family goals? It all takes money, doesn’t it?
Most people have disability insurance thru work which provides 60% of pay, but is it on total compensation or just base pay? Is there a monthly cap such as 60% of pay up to 8,000 per month? If you are earning over $160k, this won’t cover your full pay. If your coverage doesn’t at least cover your basic living expenses you can purchase a policy to supplement what you get at work.
Most people think their most valuable asset is their home or automobile or other personal property. Pre-retirement however, it is the economic potential of what you will earn before retirement. Doesn’t it make sense to protect your economic potential? We would be happy to help you better understand what you have and if it is sufficient to protect you and your family.