Question: How can you be protected from loss of income?

Answer: Long term disability.

Long term disability is a truly valuable benefit which replaces lost income and ensures that you can maintain a decent standard of living in the event of disability due to injury or illness.

Consider some of the statistics:

At age 32, a disability of three months or longer is six times more likely than death.

Between the ages of 35 and 65, seven out of ten people become disabled for at least three months or longer. -Before retirement, one out of seven employees will be disabled for at least five years.

Government programs such as Social Security are not guaranteed and may not provide adequate benefits. Long term disabilities rank as leading factors in mortgage foreclosures as well as in personal bankruptcy filings.

Statistics don't lie!.

Those individuals who are unwilling to recognize the probability of becoming seriously ill or injured by an accident are misleading themselves.

If it happens to you, your life insurance will not be any help, unless you decide to borrow cash from it, in which case you will leave your family vulnerable. You could deplete your retirement plan, and be left with minimal savings during those crucial years.

A disability policy is one of the most valuable assets in your investment portfolio.

As a business person, your income halts unless you can use your professional skills adequately. You are your most valuable asset, not your office, computer, automobile, or any material object.

Most business people understand the importance of disability, but are not certain what to look for. "How much coverage do I need?" is the first question. This is the wrong question. Instead, you should ask, "How much disability coverage can I afford?" You should try to secure the maximum amount allowed, which is 60% by law. However it is possible to supplement coverage through group association policies. Your individual policy is still your most important protection.

Some Important Features:

Definition of disability: You should make certain your policy contains a provision that finds you totally disabled when an illness or accident prevents you from performing the "substantial and material duties of your regular occupation". This is your "Own Occupation Definition", and the most liberal.

Waiting Period: This is the period of time after you have become disabled and before you begin to collect payments. You should choose 30,60, or 90 days. The higher period will give you some reduction in cost.

Duration of benefits: After the waiting period is over, payments begin and last for a certain amount of time, depending

Partial disability Residual disability Guaranteed renewably Non-cancellable and guaranteed renewability

Follow these guidelines: Find an independent broker who will go to the market and do a cost and plan comparison of different companies. There should be no charge for such evaluation. Choose an "A+" rated company.