How Much Disability Insurance Do You Need with Tim Kukieza, #99
Do you own disability insurance? If you’ve been thinking about it and need more information, this episode is for you! Join me as I sit down with disability insurance expert Tim Kukieza of Ash Brokerage. We discuss the key questions everyone should be asking about disability coverage and what you need to know to financially protect yourself and your loved ones from a disability event.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
Getting to know Tim Kukieza [1:13]
What is disability insurance? [1:46]
How much coverage do you need? [4:27]
Breaking down different disability insurance policy types [6:43]
The benefits and logistics of owning an individual plan [13:35]
Social security disability benefits versus an income protection plan [22:07]
Protect your income
Have you ever considered purchasing disability insurance? If you decided not to, it might be because you think the odds of ever needing it are too low to be worth the investment. Tim believes that has a lot to do with the phraseology of disability insurance. People see the word disability and assume that this coverage won’t apply to them. However, Tim wants people to see these policies as income protection insurance based on sickness or an accident. People fall ill and get injured every single day. Especially with the advent of COVID, disability insurance is more necessary than ever. While it can’t protect you from your place of employment shutting down, it can protect your income if you get sick and need to quarantine.
You are also much more likely to suffer an accident or illness than a death event during your working years. Yet, people tend to prioritize life insurance over disability insurance. After all, death is guaranteed, right? The reality is that no one plans to get sick or hurt, but one in four 25-year-olds will experience at least a 90-day disability event before the age of 65. In fact, 90% of all income protection situations are related to illness. Purchasing disability insurance is a great way to ensure your finances don’t take a hit when you do.
Individual versus group policies
When deciding how much coverage you need through a disability insurance policy, the first thing you need to be aware of is that your actual income is not your take-home pay. For instance, if you make $1000 per month, you’re probably only receiving about $700 of spendable income. Income protection through disability insurance typically pays out 60% of your regular income to keep you afloat during a disability event. That may not seem like a lot, but if you normally take home $700 from your paycheck, then $600 is not far off. That’s more like 85% of your take-home pay versus 60% of your gross. These benefits are also tax-free if you’re using after-tax dollars to pay for them.
Something else to consider is the difference between getting the individual policy described above and a group policy through your employer. The benefit of a group policy is that employers can pay up to 100% of the premium for their employees. That means these benefits could be free to you! The downside is that they will be taxed, so 60% of your gross income drops to somewhere around 45%. Listen to this episode for more information on disability insurance!
Resources Mentioned
Email Tim Kukieza
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