Personal Disability Insurance
The policies we consider for many attorneys in today’s market are available through The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY who offers high quality income protection through its wholly owned stock subsidiary, Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Pittsfield, MA**.
Their current offering for Attorneys offers a true “Own Occupation” definition of total disability in the contract. This is the heart of your policy. If you become totally disabled in your occupation, you will be eligible to receive your total disability benefits even if you decide to work in another occupation, so long as solely due to injury or sickness you are unable to perform the material and substantial duties of your occupation. Many other policies available today will not consider you totally disabled and therefore eligible for benefits or may even reduce your disability benefits if you’re disabled as an Attorney, and choose to work in another occupation. You deserve better.
Optional Features to consider when building your protection include:
***Enhanced Partial Disability Benefit Rider:
Sometimes an illness or injury doesn’t cause a total disability but does limit your ability to work, which results in decreased income. Or, you might suffer a total disability and return to work, but not at your pre-disability earnings. This best-in-class rider helps support your financial recovery by providing benefits, when solely due to injury or sickness you suffer a loss of income of 15% or more. Our recommended plan replaces income dollar-for-dollar, up to the policy’s total monthly benefit during the first 12 months of partial disability. After benefits have been paid for 12 months, proportionate benefits (between 15% and 75%) begin in month 13. You’ll receive 100% of your total monthly benefit for a 75% or greater loss of earned income due to partial disability. Proving a loss of “time or duties” is not required.
***Future Increase Option Rider:
This rider allows you to increase your monthly coverage every year on your policy anniversary without further medical underwriting (through age 55). You only have to prove financially that you qualify for the increased benefit. Please note that the insured may buy all or part of the increase on any option date up to age 45. On or after age 45, an insured may buy up to one third of the original option amount on any option date. Restrictions and limitations apply. While Medical information is not required when exercising a future increase option, an application to exercise such 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.
***Cost of Living Adjustment Rider:
This rider protects your policy’s monthly benefit from the ravages of inflation over time. Berkshire Life offers three different COLA rider options that adjust your policy’s monthly benefit annually to help keep pace with inflation during a disability. Each of these riders is designed to adjust your monthly benefit, whether your totally or partially disabled, and includes compound annual adjustments and a minimum benefit adjustment of 3%, calculated on a compound basis. Please note that this benefit is not necessarily protection against increases in the cost of living.
***Student Loan Protection Rider:
Law schools report that the average student loan debts for graduating lawyers range from $24K to more than $170K. However, these numbers include the effects of scholarships and exclude living expenses, which means you need to double (or more) the average costs — $48K to $340K*. This is a major concern for long-term financial planning as such debts are not forgiven for most disability claims. Make sure your policy pays an additional tax-free benefit to cover these monthly payments. This benefit rider provides coverage for a period of ten or fifteen years from the policy date. When a qualifying total disability occurs, benefits are payable during the remaining portion of the ten or fifteen-year term that has not elapsed when the disability begins.
****Retirement Protection Rider:
This is a rider that protects your retirement plan contributions in the event of a total disability. RPP Coverage is financially underwritten and issued in addition to other DI coverage, and on top of our normal issue and participation limits. The benefit amount is dependent on the retirement contributions currently being made by you or your employer on your behalf. It is also available as a separate individual disability insurance policy. Other benefits are available: ask your representative for more information on limitations and availability.
Please call or request a quote online today!
**Disability insurance Policy Forms 18ID, 18UD or 18UD-F underwritten and issued by Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Pittsfield, MA, a wholly owned stock subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY. This policy provides disability insurance only. It does not provide basic hospital, basic medical or major medical insurance as defined by the New York State Insurance Department. For policy forms 18ID, 18UD or 18UD-F , the expected benefit ratio is 50% (including NY 18ID). For policy forms 18ID-F and 18UD-F, the expected benefit ratio is 60% (NY only). The expected benefit ratio is the portion of future premiums that the company expects to return as benefits, when averaged over all people with these policy forms respectively. Product availability, provisions and features may vary from state to state.
***Optional riders are available for an additional premium. *Statistic cited from online article from “lendedu.com” updated 10/1/18
****Retirement Protection Plus is not a pension plan, qualified retirement plan or qualified individual retirement account or a substitute for one. Optional riders are available for an additional premium.