I speak from the heart when I write this article, I hope it benefits you and your family:
Long term disability insurance was not part of our vocabulary. We never gave it a second thought, all of our employers in case,granted it and we had a vague idea that it was necessary.
We were healthy, young and strong. We did not pay attention to the thorough forms that we signed and hence, our mistake. Instead of retiring at a respectable old age with the business and a wholesome 401K, we found ourselves immersed in healing appointments, surgery, corporeal therapy and our revenue had gone down to 60%. Add to that the baby and toddler and if you can visualize stress flowing off the charts, you have just gotten a espy of our lives.
Disability insurance in case,granted by the manager is typically the minimum required by law in some states. In others, long term disability insurance is a voluntary selection and it is up to the employee to pick up the coverage they need.
If you are in a car accident or your house burns to the ground, chances are that you are going to be emotionally distressed, but in the back of your mind, you know that insurance will replace your losses and your heartbreak will be relegated to the family keepsakes that cannot be replaced. Life goes on after a fashion and soon you have a new roof over your head and you get to start over.
However, If you are injured at work and are unable to work ever again due to the fact that you no longer can achieve the duties of your job (specially a physically demanding job), you will be receiving zero revenue practically immediately.
In our case, the insurance business gave us 60% of our income. That is a whooping 40% less revenue to live on. Furthermore, the contract clearly stated that this revenue was there until public protection kicked in. In fact, through a series of mishaps, public protection did not kick in until practically 4 yrs later. That 60% had to pay for all healing expenses since "pre-existing" conditions were not covered by healing insurance.
Upon public protection coming into place, all retroactive pay from public protection went to the insurance business (another wee nugget buried in those forms we did not pay attention to) and they stopped paying.
As far as healing coverage, Medicare does not kick in until 2 yrs after receiving public protection benefits, so all healing expenses need to come out of that wee check every month.
Had we requested added data from the insurance company, we would have learned that for a small deduction we could have had 100% coverage For The Rest Of Our Lives from the disability insurance, and that they would not be entitled to any of the retroactive money paid by public security. That means that we would have had the Full wage check and the public protection check in addition (are you ready for this? the practically 0,000 retroactive pay)
As stated earlier, some employers are not required to provide permanent disability coverage, but if they do, the habitancy to check with is Not your employer's Hr representative, but calling the insurance business directly and telling them you want to growth your coverage beyond what your manager offers. Ask a meeting and set a time where you can devote your full attention to what they have to offer and you can comfortably afford.
Let me tell you that even if you know next to nothing about insurance coverage, base sense dictates that you don't want to have Less money that what you have now. This is an exquisite beginning point to visualize your future financial picture.
Don't let them tell you that you won't need the coverage if you go on public protection Disability because public protection pays less than 50% of the revenue you currently receive and it is extremely dependent on how many work toll a man has contributed. To make it even simpler, the mean public protection cost is under 0 a month and many get a lot less. To add insult to injury, there is a maximum whole any family can get. Typically, it is slightly above poverty level or far below.
Imagine yourself healthy, strong and with a full life ahead of you and all of the sudden you need to live on less than 0 a month, or less, and are riddled with pain and constant healing appointments. If you are married, chances are that your spouse will bear the financial and emotional brunt of development ends meet while providing the best capability of life you and your family can have.
The Spousal Caregiver is expected that he, or she, will make ends meet and adjust accordingly. Unfortunately, there are too many variables in our loved one's conditions that keep the playing field from being level or fair.
Chronic conditions come with a host of unexpected accident and upheavals that cause emotional stress and empty wallets. Complications and the progression of illness and disability has forced many to loose their homes and downgrade the living standards substantially.
In a exquisite world we could live on love, but it is a fact that we need money for everything; a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes for the family, cars and insurance, utilities, etc. These things are not going to disappear or be reduced to anyone's current revenue level. Therefore, it is important to assert your revenue levels as high as possible in the event of a major loss due to disability or illness.
I urge you to check your coverage and crunch the numbers. I urge you to not put it off, because this should not happen to you.
This happened to us and we were in our mid 30's. The financial hell and the decisions we have had to made are not wished upon anyone.
Thank you for listening.
Wishing you Peace
What This Spousal Caregiver Wishes She Had Known About Disability insurance
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