Archive for the ‘Disability Insurance’ Category

Ask Yourself These Two Questions before Buying Insurance

We’re all bombarded with insurance on everything that we buy, everything that we do and even on our own lives. If you went through your bank statement and added up all the premiums you pay every month for insurance you’d be surprised at how much insurance costs you. Is it all really worth it?

I think most Canadians spend far too much money on their insurance. That’s all their insurance combined. You can buy insurance on just about anything, like your big-screen TV, cars, motorbikes, boats, your house, your income, your health and even your life. But next time somebody offers you insurance and need you to ask yourself two simple questions; 1) what is the likelihood of the event occurring, and 2) what is the financial impact to you and your family.

What is the Likelihood?

If somebody is selling your insurance on a $1,000 big-screen TV and a three-year warranty would cost an additional $300 that’s a 30% premium to protect your investment in a television. So let’s apply our test. What is the likelihood of the TV will break within three years? Probably fairly high. There is a pretty good chance that a complex electronic device like a large flatscreen TV could have a defect or get damaged in the next three years.

What is the Financial Impact?

Now, what is the financial impact to you or your family? The maximum you’ll be out for the TV is $1,000. In reality the price for that TV will probably go down over the next three years so you’ll only be out $700 or $800. In this case the financial impact to the family is very limited and the cost of the insurance is very high. This is not the type of insurance to buy.

Apply the test personal insurance products

What about your income? What if you got injured or sick and could not go to work and your income stopped? Again, let’s apply the same test. What is the likelihood of becoming disabled over your working career? Actually it’s very high. There is about a 45% chance that every worker in Canada will experience at least one period of long-term disability in his/her lifetime. And if your disability lasts more than 90 days the average time off work is 2.9 years. So, our first test shows a high likelihood of the event occurring. Let’s look at the impact. If you were off work for three months, six months, a year or longer would you be able to pay your bills? Would you be able to pay your mortgage, put food on the table, pay for utilities and just maintain your lifestyle? For most Canadians with no disability income protection insurance this would be impossible. The financial impact would be huge. Families could lose their home, their retirement savings, and possibly even go bankrupt. So our second test, financial impact, shows there is a lot to lose if the event occurred. Therefore, ensuring your income with proper disability insurance makes a lot of sense and this is a type of insurance to buy.

Life insurance is also another expensive insurance product. If we apply the same test we have the following results: likelihood – there is about a 10% chance a Canadian would have a premature death before the age of 65; financial impact – the costs associated with premature death plus the permanent loss of all future financial contributions of an income earner or parent can be devastating to a family. Even though the chances of death are much lower than disability the financial impact is far greater. So when weighing up if you should have life insurance, this too is a must-have type of insurance policy.

There are some things we’re forced to have insurance on. He can’t drive a car without it being insured. You can’t get a mortgage from the bank without your property being insured. This makes sense because the government and the bank knows the financial impact and the chances of it happening are both high, and therefore they want insurance to protect the public or the loan they have given you.  But no one is forcing you to ensure your life, to protect your loved ones, or ensure your income to guarantee your lifestyle. These insurances are optional and you have the choice, either insure the risk and have somebody else pay if you get sick, hurt or die prematurely; or take the risk on yourself and pay out-of-pocket and face the financial consequences should any of these events happened to you.

Life, disability, and health insurance makes sense. You should be protected. We can help you at Life Guard Insurance find the right policy to protect your family and your lifestyle, and fit into your budget, and we would like to help. Please contact us for free no obligation quote an assessment of your insurance needs.

Whether you are on short term or long term disability, adjusting to a new lifestyle can be difficult and oftentimes emotionally taxing on individuals.  Life on disability can be a huge adjustment; not only does that mean that your ailments have left you unable to work but you are suddenly forced to live a more sedentary based lifestyle.  Whether you are on disability insurance for physical or psychological disabilities, understanding your value is one of the most important ways to adjust to your new lifestyle.

Understanding Your Value

Because your workplace has consistently been your form of identity, it can be a challenge for people who are newly on disability to adapt to a different lifestyle.  Just because you are no longer working, doesn’t mean that you don’t have an identity that is valuable to the community around you.  Try finding a passion in a hobby, physical activity, or through volunteering; not only will you be able to contribute to your community but to your personal goals as well.

Get Into a Routine

Coming from a consistent career where you are accustomed to a daily routine, it can be a huge adjustment to suddenly be on disability and not have anywhere to be. However, getting into a consistent routine will help brighten your spirits and give you the motivation to get things accomplished every day.  Whether you’re routine consists of getting up early to go to physical therapy or to go swim a few laps, make sure to include some sort of physical activity in order to get your heart rate up.  Make sure to always consult your physician on what type of physical activity you can work on.

Work Towards a Goal

Working towards a goal is a great way to stay motivated, feel valuable, and boost your self-esteem.  Just because you are collecting disability insurance and are unable to work, doesn’t mean that you can’t set small personal goals for yourself. Working towards a goal is a great way to stay motivated and feel important.  After all, nobody wants to feel like they have failed themselves or their family because they are no longer able to work.

• Setting Goals: Set Small Goals that are easy to attain at first and then slowly work up to larger goals. Such as setting up a physical fitness goal or a goal to volunteer at your church or some sort of community organization.
• Celebrate: Celebrate your accomplishments as soon as you finish a goal by doing something nice for yourself.  This will help maintain a strong self-esteem and is a great way to get excited about celebrating new goals.

Annie Babbitt Annie Babbitt writes about her interest in current events, political science, and philosophy. She has worked for a US immigration lawyer for the past 5 years and loves being an advocate for those in need.

Is a Return of Premium (ROP) Rider Worth It?

Disability is expensive enough – why add return of premium?

For many people who are self-employed or who don’t have employer sponsored group disability coverage, buying a personal disability insurance policy is a must. This seems like a no-brainer, but most people are surprised at the cost of disability insurance when they purchase it privately.

Yes, disability insurance is more expensive than life insurance. Significantly more! Simply put, the chances of claiming a disability insurance policy for at least one period of long term disability in your working career are about 50%. That means one in two working Canadians will experience at least one period of disability, due to injury or illness, which keeps them off work for 90 days or more. And, if you’re off work for more than 90 days the average amount of time spent on disability claim is 2.9 years! Wow!

The #1 need is income protection

In this article we will discuss the cost/benefit analysis of having a return of premium rider on your disability insurance policy. That being said, the most important thing when buying disability insurance is to have enough income protection in place to ensure that your lifestyle and monthly bills are covered. After that we can look towards building value into a plan with pseudo-equity component which is the ROP rider.

You should never decide not to get disability insurance based on the cost of the ROP rider. This should always be considered an extra feature for those with more than enough disposable income to afford the option. Get income protection first – add value features after.

Is a Return of Premium Rider worth the cost?

There are two main insurance companies that offer a good return of premium rider on their disability insurance policies – Canada Life and Manulife. These riders are very similar. With Canada Life you can get back 50% of all your premiums once every 7 years. With Manulife you can get back 50% or 60% of your premiums once every 8 years.

The rules are simple. You must pay all your premiums over the time period. Secondly, if you have had any claims, the amount of your claim will be deducted from your return of premium amount before payout. So, if you have had a period of long-term claim it is most likely you will no longer qualify for a return of premium payment.

ROP rider on disability insurance is like having “insurance on your insurance”. In case you never get sick and never have a claim a portion of your total premiums will be returned to you, tax free. So, if you never get sick or hurt, and never make a claim, your actual cost for insurance goes down – by a lot!

If you do have a claim then the reality is you paid more for your disability insurance than another person with exactly the same coverage and no ROP rider. So, is it worth it?

ROP Rider Analysis

With just over 50% of Canadian workers NEVER having a long-term disability, then chances are slightly in your favour you will not make a claim (but still the risk is too high not to have disability insurance protection). Let’s take a look at two examples from Manulife’s 60% ROP option (the most expensive rider).

If our client is a 40 year old man, non-smoker with $6,000 of disability insurance, and assuming he is in an office job (class 3A occupation to determine disability insurance costs), his basic premium for a top of the line, professional insurance policy (Proguard from Manulife) would cost $238.41 per month.

If this same man was to take the ROP rider as an option, his premium would increase to $369.54 per month. The rider costs an additional $131.13 per month. No, let’s assume he never has a disability claim during his working career. In this case he would get back $20,530 after every 8 years. His premiums would therefore be reduced by 60%. His actual net premium payable is $155.69 per month. This is a significant decrease over the base premium of $238.41.

Now, let’s assume he did have one period of long term disability, wiping out one of his $20,530 premium returns over the course of him owning this policy. He will still receive back a total of $43,626. His total premium expenditure would be $106,428 (assuming a 2 year disability period where premiums were waived). His net premiums payable are $201.29 per month over a 24 year period. Still a discount!

ROP on Disability Insurance Worthwhile – If you can afford it

For those who have the financial resources to afford this rider, if can be a strong return on investment and protection for your long-term premiums in case you never get sick. I do suggest you invest your money firstly into RRSPs and a TFSA, as these long-term investments allow for tax-sheltered growth of funds and retirement income. Once you are maximizing these investments, you can build in a ROP rider onto your disability insurance policy to create some real value out of disability insurance – which has traditionally been a pure cost insurance policy.

Contact Life Guard Insurance today for a free, no obligation quote and analysis of your disability insurance needs and see whether or not a return of premium rider would be a wise invest for you.

Analysis: Disability Insurance for IT Consultants in Canada

Choosing the right disability insurance for IT Consultants

Disability insurance for IT Consultants also means those who work in the computer industry as consultants, programmers, designers and analysts. There are so many self-employed computer programmers and analysts in Canada, or smaller companies providing computer consulting work on contract for other companies. Many of these people in the computer industry are without personal disability insurance, even though they are making an excellent income for their work. Finding the best disability insurance for IT Consultants is what this article is all about.

To qualify for the “best” rates quoted below, this IT work must be done at a place of business – not working out of the home. Computer consultants who work mainly from their homes and are self employed will have a lower occupation class than the one quoted below. Another factor would be having a degree in computer science or computer engineering. With only a technical diploma or being self-taught will also result in a lower occupational class.

Let’s take a look at disability insurance for IT/Computer Consultants from Canada’s major disability insurance providers.

Analysis Assumptions

• Both the Male and Female IT Consultants are Age 40, non-smokers in average to good health.
• The income being insured is $100,000 annual insurable earnings.
• Waiting period is 90 days.
• Benefit period is to age 65.
• Highest possible occupational class is being used, based on upgrades available.
• The maximum coverage amount available will be applied for.

Product Features Universal to All 3 Disability Insurance Policies

• Will pay benefits for all definitions of disability: Total Disability; Partial Disability or Residual Disability.
• Benefits are payable to age 65 for “Regular Occupation” definition – meaning if you could not do the job of a IT Consultant benefits would continue.
• Premiums are level to age 65, guaranteed never to increase.
• There is 3 to 6 months return to work assistance on these plans for a continuation of benefits after a period of long-term disability.

IT Consultants’ Disability Insurance Premium Analysis

Here is the case analysis looking at the top 3 disability insurance companies in Canada: Canada Life, Manulife Financial and RBC Insurance.

Canada Life – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $5,075

Occupational Class 5 – The best Class from Canada Life

Manulife Financial – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $5,070

Occupational Class 4A (IT Consultants with 3 years experience, making $100,000 or more can get Class 4S for a 7% discount.)

RBC Insurance – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $5,100

Occupational Class 4A – Top Class from RBC Insurance

Summary and Conclusions for Disability Insurance for IT Consultants

From first glance it looks like Men are both well served by Manulife Financial and Canada Life for professional disability insurance, while Canada Life is the lowest cost for women in the computer industry. There is one thing that Manulife offers IT Consultants over the other two companies, and that is the ability to get their special class – 4S. This would allow another 7% discount off premiums, locked in for life. A person working in the computer consulting field would need 3 years experience and be making over $100,000 for the last 2 years to get this special rate. I have not quoted it above, but if you are one of the top IT Consultants or Analysts in your field and highly paid, then Manulife Financial will probably be your best option.

We hope you have found this analysis to be helpful in saving you money on your disability insurance policy. If you need help applying for an placing your income protection insurance plans, then please contact us today for a disability insurance quote.

This article is part of the series, Disability Insurance for Self-Employed Professionals in Canada.

* Disability insurance premiums are subject to change by the insurance company. The numbers here are accurate as of the date of publication of this article. These premiums should be used as a guideline, as your unique policy will vary considerably from the standardized quotes above based on age, smoking status, health, income and any riders you chose to attach to your policy.

The article was written by Mitch Reynolds and video produced by Life Guard Insurance. If you found this article interesting or it made you think, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting this article about disability insurance for IT Consultants would be very much appreciated.

Wednesday’s Curated Disability Insurance Articles

Disability Insurance Articles for Wednesday, 7 Nov 2012

Good morning for Wednesday, 7 November 2012. Today we have 6 curated articles about disability insurance and protecting your income in the event of an illness or injury preventing you from working. Today’s topics include:

• Stats Canada survey of Employment Insurance coverage for 2011, including those who quit work voluntarily due to a disability.
• Disability insurance for business executives who regularly travel outside of Canada.
• How to find the right disability insurance plan for your needs.
• What are the disability benefits of the Canada Pension Plan and how do you qualify?
• Income protection insurance for the unknown.
• Secure your financial future with income protection insurance.

STATISTICS CANADA : Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2011

Job separations that are deemed invalid for regular benefits include, among others, quitting the job voluntarily (including to go to school), illness or disability, pregnancy, other family-related issues, dissatisfaction with the job, and retirement …
www.4-traders.com

Disability Insurance For Executives Traveling Outside of Canada

Many Canadian executives are spending more time traveling outside of Canada for business.
http://lsminsurance.ca

Disability Insurance: How to Find the Right Plan

Over 3.6 million Canadians have a disability (That’s one in eight or roughly 13% of the population) and it only increases with age. Add to that, disability costs the Canadian economy about $60 billion annually.
http://lsminsurance.ca/

CANADA PENSION PLAN DISABILITY BENEFITS: WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW DO YOU QUALIFY

The Canada Pension Plan (“CPP”) disability benefit program provides modest monthly payments to people who are under 65, who have contributed to the CPP for a minimum number of years and who have a “severe and …
http://www.oatleyvigmond.com/blog/

Income Protection Insurance Copes With Any Unknown Incidents

Most of us have one, two, or even three different sources of income just to meet our monthly obligations. Anyone who has financial obligations has to work hard to earn and save at the same time for unknown circumstances.
http://ezinearticles.com

Stay Secure With Income Protection Insurance

Life is indeed full of surprises. The sad thing is, not all of these surprises are good. Sometimes, we have to stop working as a consequence of accidents, sicknesses, and traumas.
http://ezinearticles.com

These articles were curated by Mitch Reynolds. If you found this post useful, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting Wednesday’s curated content about disability insurance articles would be very much appreciated

Wednesday’s Curated Disability Insurance Articles

Disability Insurance Articles for Wednesday, 31 Oct 2012

Good morning and Happy Halloween for the 31 October 2012. Today’s curated articles about disability insurance are very important. Without proper coverage, and being able to recover from your disability, how can you ever hope to outrun the zombies, ghouls, axe murders and ghosts that are out to get you? In today’s scary disability insurance topics we have:

• Manulife Financial, Canada’s largest life insurance company, buys the largest provider of creditor insurance in Canada.
• Changes to EI forces claimants to move out of local communities to take temporary jobs.
• One in 3 Canadians living with arthritis survey stopped working because of the disease.
• Disability plan for Canadian public servants slips further into deficit as claims mount and lacking proper funding by federal government.
• The costs of absenteeism to an organization can affect its bottom line and marketplace competitiveness.

Manulife to buy creditor insurance provider Benesure Canada

TORONTO Oct 24 (Reuters) – Manulife Financial Corp said on Wednesday it will acquire Benesure Canada Inc, a private firm that administers and distributes life and disability creditor insurance to the mortgage broker marketplace. The deal, which makes …

www.reuters.com

Ottawa’s employment insurance changes hasty and unwise

An unemployed welder in Moncton may need time to find a suitable job in Western Canada. The whole premise behind our EI program is that workers, who paid into the insurance plan, will receive income support at a time when they lose jobs and search for …

www.thestar.com

Arthritis takes a toll on working population

“Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in Canada and its impact on the Canadian economy has been estimated at more than $33 billion annually,”1 says Janet Yale, president and CEO of The Arthritis Society. “Our goal is to ensure that Canadians living with arthritis to investigate, identify and better understand the impact of this debilitating disease. Alarmingly, nearly 60 per cent of those individuals who stopped working because of their arthritis were between the ages of 18 and 54.

www.sacbee.com

Public servants’ disability plan slipping deeper into deficit

OTTAWA — The disability plan for Canada’s public servants has slipped further into deficit amid mounting claims and only months after the Conservative government took a contribution holiday and stopped paying millions of dollars into the plan. The board of management that oversees the public service disability insurance plan warned in its 2011 annual report that an “unexpectedly negative” turn in the plan’s finances resulted in a $69-million deficit that warrants “watchful attention” in coming months.

www.ottawacitizen.com

Manage and measure disability programs

Prolonged disability leaves are costly–they decrease workplace productivity, increase costs to replace absent employees and affect an organization’s marketplace competitiveness. Well-managed disability programs can reduce the number of disability claims and the duration of employee absences.

www.benefitscanada.com

These articles were curated by Mitch Reynolds. If you found this post useful, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting Wednesday’s curated content about disability insurance articles would be very much appreciated

Analysis: Disability Insurance for Geologists in Canada

Choosing the right disability insurance for Geologists

Even though there are not nearly as many geologists in Canada as engineers, this is a very important and specialized field. Geologists are in high demand and can command a very good salary, especially with all the work in the Canadian mining and oil and gas sectors. Many geologists are employees, working with a full employee benefits package. But, because they are such highly valued employees for these large companies, they often get sizable incentive pay arrangements  like bonuses and stock options. Even with disability insurance through a group plan, this extra pay will not be insured, and should you become disabled your actual income will drop dramatically. Then there are the geologists who work as consultants or on a contract basis, and they are especially vulnerable without any income protection.

For disability insurance purposes there are two types of geologists – those that have 100% office and consulting duties, and those that have non-hazardous field duties. Depending on the disability insurance company, working in a mine, and travelling underground might be OK, then again it might not. If you’re the type of geologist with field duties and possibly mining duties then you are probably going to start off as the second best occupational class (3A or Class 4). If you have only office duties then you’ll start at the top occupational class.

It seems that RBC Insurance is very favourable to geologists with mining duties, where as Manulife specifically says “not underground”. Canada Life is basically silent on the matter, referring only to “field duties”. All the companies will allow a geologist with field duties to upgrade to the top occupational class with as little as 3 years experience  but it would take 5 years with Manulife.

For the purposes of this article, we will assume all geologists are either office/consulting only or have enough experience to be upgraded one class.

Analysis Assumptions

• Both the Male and Female Geologists are Age 40, non-smokers in average to good health.
• The income being insured is $150,000 annual insurable earnings.
• Waiting period is 90 days.
• Benefit period is to age 65.
• Highest possible occupational class is being used, based on upgrades available.
• The maximum coverage amount available will be applied for.

Product Features Universal to All 3 Disability Insurance Policies

• Will pay benefits for all definitions of disability: Total Disability; Partial Disability or Residual Disability.
• Benefits are payable to age 65 for “Regular Occupation” definition – meaning if you could not do the job of a Geologist benefits would continue.
• Premiums are level to age 65, guaranteed never to increase.
• There is 3 to 6 months return to work assistance on these plans for a continuation of benefits after a period of long-term disability.

Geologists’ Disability Insurance Premium Analysis

Here is the case analysis looking at the top 3 disability insurance companies in Canada: Canada Life, Manulife Financial and RBC Insurance.

Canada Life – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,750

Occupational Class 5 -

Manulife Financial – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,740

Occupational Class 4A (Geologists with field duties start at Class 3A, can only upgrade to Class 4A  with 5 years experience.)

RBC Insurance – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,775

Occupational Class 4A – Top Class

Summary and Conclusions for Disability Insurance for Geologists

For geologists, this is one case where Canada Life and RBC Insurance stand out as the best. If you have mining duties and travel underground, then RBC Insurance is clearly the best as they have a base Class 3A with mining duties, upgrade-able to 4A. If there are no mining duties then Canada Life offers the lowest premium for both men and women.

Even though Manulife is slightly cheaper for their men’s premium, it is harder to qualify for this. You either have to be 100% office/consulting or you have to have 5 years experience as a geologist with field duties. The other two companies only require 3 to 4 years experience for their upgrade. Only those who meet the guidelines of office/consulting duties only should consider Manulife for disability insurance as a geologist.

If you’re a geologist in Canada, we can help you find the best disability insurance to top up your group insurance plan, or for your entire income. Please contact us today.

This article is part of the series, Disability Insurance for Self-Employed Professionals in Canada.

* Disability insurance premiums are subject to change by the insurance company. The numbers here are accurate as of the date of publication of this article. These premiums should be used as a guideline, as your unique policy will vary considerably from the standardized quotes above based on age, smoking status, health, income and any riders you chose to attach to your policy.

The article was written by Mitch Reynolds and video produced by Life Guard Insurance. If you found this article interesting or it made you think, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting this article about disability insurance for Geologists would be very much appreciated.

Analysis: Disability Insurance for Engineers in Canada

Choosing the right disability insurance for Engineers

Although many Engineers in Canada work as employees for major companies, and have group disability insurance benefits, there are still thousands who consult for their services or have opened their own business. This article is dedicated to personal disability insurance for engineers who are self-employed, and without employer sponsored benefits. That being said, an experienced engineer might be highly paid inside a major company, and a large portion of their salary could come from bonuses and stock options. This income is not insured for disability, and these high earning engineers should think about a disability insurance top-up plan, to protect all their income.

As a self-employed engineer you are able to make a very good income if your business or consulting practice is well established. Most of these sorts of professional engineers are not fresh out of university. They have built up their experience working as an employee in a larger company before going out on their own. This is why we are quoting Manulife Financial’s 4S occupational class on their Progaurd disability insurance policy. It only takes 3 years experience as an engineer, and annual income of $100,000 plus over the past 2 years to qualify for the special 4S class. The other two companies, Canada Life and RBC insurance have Professional Engineers in their top occupational class (5 and 4A).

NOTE: This analysis is for professional engineers who have office, consulting and non-hazardous field and plant duties. Any engineer who is performing hazardous field duties will not be able to get the very best disability insurance premiums for engineers.

Let’s take a look at how the different policies stack up against one another.

Analysis Assumptions

• Both the Male and Female Engineers are Age 40, non-smokers in average to good health.
• The income being insured is $150,000 annual insurable earnings.
• Waiting period is 90 days.
• Benefit period is to age 65.
• Highest possible occupational class is being used, based on upgrades available.
• The maximum coverage amount available will be applied for.

Product Features Universal to All 3 Disability Insurance Policies

• Will pay benefits for all definitions of disability: Total Disability; Partial Disability or Residual Disability.
• Benefits are payable to age 65 for “Regular Occupation” definition – meaning if you could not do the job of a Engineer benefits would continue.
• Premiums are level to age 65, guaranteed never to increase.
• There is 3 to 6 months return to work assistance on these plans for a continuation of benefits after a period of long-term disability.

Engineers’ Disability Insurance Premium Analysis

Here is the case analysis looking at the top 3 disability insurance companies in Canada: Canada Life, Manulife Financial and RBC Insurance.

Canada Life – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,750

Occupational Class 5 – Top Class

Manulife Financial – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,740

Occupational Class 4S (Professional Engineers can upgrade from Class 4A to 4S with only 3 years experience.)

RBC Insurance – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,775

Occupational Class 4A – Top Class

Summary and Conclusions for Disability Insurance for Engineers

As we can see, Male Engineers have the best premium with Manulife Financial. It is substantially lower than the competition, saving between $13 – $18 per month over the competition. If the engineer kept this disability insurance policy to age 65, the premium savings would add up to almost $5,500 at the top end.

Female Engineers can easily choose between Manulife and Canada Life for their disability insurance policy, as there is not too much difference between their pricing. Even when analyzing disability insurance that is highly enhanced with lots of additional riders attached, the premiums between Manulife and Canada Life stat within cents of each other. There is little difference from a cost perspective between Canada Life and Manulife.

If you’re an Engineer in Canada, looking for disability insurance, we can help. Contact us today for a quote on professional disability insurance for engineers who are self-employed.

This article is part of the series, Disability Insurance for Self-Employed Professionals in Canada.

* Disability insurance premiums are subject to change by the insurance company. The numbers here are accurate as of the date of publication of this article. These premiums should be used as a guideline, as your unique policy will vary considerably from the standardized quotes above based on age, smoking status, health, income and any riders you chose to attach to your policy.

The article was written by Mitch Reynolds and video produced by Life Guard Insurance. If you found this article interesting or it made you think, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting this article about disability insurance for Engineers would be very much appreciated.

Wednesday’s Curated Disability Insurance Articles

Disability Insurance Articles for Wednesday, 24 Oct 2012

Good morning. It’s Wednesday and that means Disability Insurance articles curated by Life Guard Insurance. Today we have 6 very good articles for you to read. Some are written in America, but the message about the need for proper disability insurance to protect your income is universal. Topics today include:

• What are the odds of disability, and what is the cost?
• Disability insurance companies have profits squeezed by low interest rates.
• Small and medium sized business owners need disability insurance.
• Most disabilities are caused by illness, not injury as most people think.
• Disability insurance for doctors and physicians (American article).
• Why Canadians should protect their earnings with disability insurance.

Weighing the Odds of Disability, for Insurance Purposes

Mr. Salisbury said that while the number of disability claims had remained constant for decades, the costs remained high because of the small pools of people with disability insurance and the fact that insurance companies might be obliged to make …
www.nytimes.com

Low rates continue to squeeze disability insurer

StanCorp, the parent of Standard Insurance Company, says the discount rate it uses to set reserves for new long-term disability (LTD) insurance claims — and to set prices for new LTD plans — fell to 4 percent during the quarter, down 20 percent from …
www.lifehealthpro.com

You Need Disability Insurance | The Business Owner

You’re the breadwinner. You’re the only one that knows how everything runs. What if you become sick or injured and cannot work? You have life insurance? That’s great. Statistics show you’re more likely to become disabled before you’re 70 …
http://www.thebusinessowner.com/

Disability insurance: Protecting your future | Buyers Guide

There is a common misconception that most disabilities are caused by accidents. In reality, the majority of disabilities are caused by illness. You might think.
http://www.yourbg.com/

Physician Disability Insurance | Physician

Doctors disability insurance … Designed to protect you and your family by providing a source of monthly income if illness or injury prevents you from working.
http://physician.faceseos.com/

Why You Should Protect Your Earnings With Disability Insurance

We both have life insurance and short term/long term disability at work but not critical illness or disability insurance. Although WSIB is there to protect you in case of a work accident I also urge Canadians to think about their …
http://www.boomerandecho.com/

These articles were curated by Mitch Reynolds. If you found this post useful, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting Wednesday’s curated content about disability insurance articles would be very much appreciated

Analysis: Disability Insurance for Doctors in Canada

Choosing the right disability insurance for Doctors

When it comes to disability insurance for doctors and physicians, all the insurance companies are offering the best deals. Everyone wants to have a doctor as their client. All three of the major disability insurance companies are offering their top occupational class to doctors, for the lowest possible rates. Manulife Financial even automatically qualifies specialists (doctors who are not in family or emergency medicine) for their special discounted class, 4S.

For the majority of doctors in Canada, they need personal disability insurance. Most doctors are in private practice, setting up their own medical clinics or doctor’s offices to see patients. Many also work some hours at the local hospital, but are still working under contract for the local health region in their province. It is one of the best businesses to be in. Doctors in Canada have a guaranteed payer for their billing – the provincial government’s health insurance plan. Even though doctor’s can not set rates for the services they perform (rates are billed by code, according to the provincial health insurance plan’s designated payment rate) they have an endless stream of patients to see, day in and day out. The more a doctor works, they more they can earn.

As a doctor, you need to make sure your income is insured, since if you can’t go into work, see patients and bill your provincial health insurance plan, your income instantly goes away. And doctor’s usually have a lot to protect. They have an entire medical office and staff to pay for. They usually have a family, large mortgage and lots of other bills to pay for. With high incomes also comes high expenses, and these could quickly deplete a doctor’s savings if he/she was disabled and not earning revenue.

Doctors who have a practice with fixed overheads and staffing costs should also look at owning Business Overhead Expense (BOE) insurance, to provide the business with income should the doctor become disabled for any length of time. This money could be used to pay for a locum doctor to staff the office and keep the business open while the primary doctor recovers.

Analysis Assumptions

• Both the Male and Female Doctors are Age 40, non-smokers in average to good health.
• The income being insured is $150,000 annual insurable earnings.
• Waiting period is 90 days.
• Benefit period is to age 65.
• Highest possible occupational class is being used, based on upgrades available.
• The maximum coverage amount available will be applied for.

Product Features Universal to All 3 Disability Insurance Policies

• Will pay benefits for all definitions of disability: Total Disability; Partial Disability or Residual Disability.
• Benefits are payable to age 65 for “Regular Occupation” definition – meaning if you could not do the job of a Doctor benefits would continue.
• Premiums are level to age 65, guaranteed never to increase.
• There is 3 to 6 months return to work assistance on these plans for a continuation of benefits after a period of long-term disability.

Doctors’ Disability Insurance Premium Analysis

Here is the case analysis looking at the top 3 disability insurance companies in Canada: Canada Life, Manulife Financial and RBC Insurance.

Canada Life – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,750

Occupational Class 5 – Top Class

Manulife Financial – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,740

Occupational Class 4S (Class 4A for family & emergency medicine doctors, but can be upgraded to 4S with 5 years experience.)

RBC Insurance – Maximum Monthly Benefit of $6,775

Occupational Class 4A – Top Class

Summary and Conclusions for Disability Insurance for Doctors

When it comes to buying disability insurance for doctors, the top three disability insurance companies have very similar rates. For male doctors there is a significant savings when using Manulife Financial, so long as you qualify for the special class, 4S. Otherwise premiums increase to $193 per month, almost exactly the same as Canada Life. For female doctors, Canada life has the lowest premium on the books.

One thing most doctors want on their disability insurance policy is the “own occupation” rider. This would allow them to continue receiving benefits so long as they can not perform the job of a doctor/physician. They could re-enter the workforce in another occupation, like university professor teaching medicine, and earn money there without losing benefits. This rider will increase the monthly premiums. A quick analysis shows that Manulife is by far the cheapest for this rider. Savings of $10 to $25 per month using Manulife vs. the other two could add up to a lot of money over the course of your life. This might be a deciding factor.

Also, Manulife’s Business Overhead Expense (BOE) disability insurance policy is less expensive than Canada Life or RBC Insurance’s BOE policies. So, combining the 4S class, reduced rates for “own occupation” rider and the cheaper BOE insurance leads me to recommend Manulife Financial for doctors seeking disability insurance.

NOTE: All disability insurance for doctors comes with a FREE health care professional rider. This protects doctors from loss of income if they contract a disease like AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B and C. Even if the doctor is able to continue working, he/she must declare to patients that they have this disease before performing any treatments. Patients might refuse treatment and the doctor will lose income after disclosing his/her illness. Some doctors might even be prohibited by law from performing certain treatments or procedures if they have a serious, communicable disease. The loss of income in these cases would also be insured and disability benefits paid.

If you’re a doctor looking for the best disability insurance in Canada, please contact us. We would be happy to help you find the best disability insurance policy(s) to meet your needs.

This article is part of the series, Disability Insurance for Self-Employed Professionals in Canada.

* Disability insurance premiums are subject to change by the insurance company. The numbers here are accurate as of the date of publication of this article. These premiums should be used as a guideline, as your unique policy will vary considerably from the standardized quotes above based on age, smoking status, health, income and any riders you chose to attach to your policy.

The article was written by Mitch Reynolds and video produced by Life Guard Insurance. If you found this article interesting or it made you think, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting this article about disability insurance for Doctors would be very much appreciated.