2nd Most Popular Rider

Guardian’s disability insurance policy offers many optional riders.¹ The second most common rider is the Future Increase Option Rider²; over 63% of applicants ⁴ chose it for their policy. 

So What Does It Do? 

Most people who buy disability insurance have not yet reached their peak earnings potential. At some point in the future, their income will be higher than it is today.

The Future Increase Option Rider guarantees your ability to purchase more disability insurance in the future, regardless of any adverse changes in your health history, when your income increases. So not only can you protect your $100K salary today, but you can also add this rider to guarantee that when you are making $250,000, if enacted, you will have full disability coverage, even if you are diagnosed with something like diabetes between now and then.

Why Do I Want This?

Many people buy disability insurance in their early thirties. We sell a lot of disability insurance for physicians and other white-collar professionals. Most medical professionals see enough people go through disabilities that they don’t have a false sense of security that others do. Over half of Guardian's DI business ⁴ is sold to physicians and dentists; they understand the need better than most other occupations.

Common Medical Issues that Result in Exclusions, Ratings, or Declines

• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol
• Chiropractic Care
• Depression/Anxiety/ADHD
• Migraines

All of the issues listed above are very common, and millions of people go to work every day with any one of them. The problem is these medical issues can lead to a potential disability claim, so the companies may decline coverage for people with diabetes, rate coverage for people with high blood pressure or cholesterol, and exclude coverage for the spine for people seeing a chiropractor.

However, if you bought a policy in your early 30s and have the future increase option rider, you can get more coverage even with any one of these common issues.

The Summary and Reason I Wrote This Article 

The future increase option rider is something a little too close to my own personal situation. I have been very fortunate in life owning this business. I bought my first disability insurance policy when I was a year out of college, and just starting out in the insurance business. I bought $2,000 a month with a future increase option rider of only $3,000. 

I remember thinking to myself that if I had a total of $5,000 a month in coverage (which is the amount somebody making $100,000 a year would get), I would be fine. Well, to make a long story short, $5,000 wouldn’t cover my monthly mortgage today. When I was 25 years old, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes just a few years after playing lacrosse at Dickinson College. I was an avid rock climber, played collegiate sports, and was in excellent shape. It came out of nowhere, and once my income passed $100,000, I had to live knowing that if I ever became disabled, I was up a certain creek without a paddle. 

We buy disability insurance to protect our lifestyles, our families, and our ability to earn an income. The future increase option rider is relatively inexpensive as a percentage of your policy's overall cost. Don’t make the same mistake I made and shortchange yourself. You should always consider the maximum future increase option you can afford to protect your future earnings, not just the income you have today.

¹ If you choose to have an optional rider on your policy, your premium will increase.
² Restrictions and limitations apply. While medical information is not required when exercising a future increase option, applications to exercise an increase option will be financially underwritten, taking into consideration both the applicant’s then-current income, as well as all disability insurance which is then in force, or for which the insured has applied or is eligible to receive. 
³ Policies issued to anesthesiologists/anesthetists, emergency room physicians, dentists (general), and pain management physicians, as well as all policies issued in California, will have a mandatory Mental and/or Substance-Related Disorder (MSRD) limitation. For increased options exercised from such policies, the MSRD limitation will also be included. However, if a policy was issued without the MSRD limitation, a new policy issued as a result of an increased option exercise need not include the MSRD limitation. Discounts are applied when an MSRD limitation applies. (If materials exclude California, then remove “as well as all policies issued in California.
⁴ Based on national internal data.

This material contains the current opinions of the author, but not necessarily those of Guardian or its subsidiaries, and such opinions are subject to change without notice.