Most accountants ask us, "Why do I need disability insurance? What are the chances I'll use it?"
The reality is that most disabilities are illnesses, and an illness does not care what you do for a living. Even though you have a safe job where you are unlikely to experience an accident at work, you still need to protect your income from illnesses like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or a stroke.
Let's look at the cost of disability from your perspective as an accountant. Let's say you're looking to change jobs and you have two options. Let's assume that both jobs are in a similarly nice part of town, with great office space, and similar benefits, with one exception:
Job A
Job B
Which job would you choose?
Having advised thousands of people on disability insurance for over 20 years, we've never had someone say they would opt for Job A. Job B is the job that provides disability insurance, and the $1,700 per year difference in income is the approximate cost for a disability insurance policy.1
Since most disabilities are illnesses, not accidents, it would be nice if your policy paid you more for illnesses. Guardian has a built-in feature to their ProVider Choice policies that does just this for certain illnesses.
The Serious Illness Supplemental Benefit Endorsement will pay you an additional 50% of your monthly benefit on top of your regular monthly benefit for up to 12 months over the life of your policy if you become totally disabled from cancer, a stroke, or a heart attack.
1. ProVider Choice Select policy in Maryland. 45-year-old, class 6, male, $5000 per month benefit, 90-day elimination period, to age 65 benefit period, with the only option being the basic partial rider.
8858811.1 Exp: 4/15/28
