Who Plays on Your Insurance Team?

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All good suggestions. Here's more.
DON'T rely on the government and DON'T rely on your employer, be in control of your destiny and own your own benefits...or at least some. The younger you do it the cheaper it will be. Remember your employer is not married to you, so don't be married to your employer....if you break up there goes your benefits.
Self Insuring for Life and Disability is not viable. Remember Human Life Value. The value of your earnings and benefits over a working career. 30 year old making $50k/year until age 65 represents $1,750,000, with raises and benefits such as health insurance that number is more like $2,500,000 or more. How can you really be prepared for that kind of risk...you properly insure yourself by NOT self insuring for it.
Life Insurance: Have a mix, life is not so absolute that one type will do your finances justice. In fact having only one type might back you into a corner later in life. For permanent coverage a great way to go is to have a guaranteed paid up policy after 10, 20 year or at age 65. Imagine you can have a paid up policy while your home is paid off too. Yes, term is good too, often suggested to have most coverage as term with 2 to 5x annual income in permanent coverage. Term to Perm Mix varies for everyone.
Disability Insurance: THIS MUST BE FIRST PRIORITY. A disability is an economic death and without coverage your life will be like hell financially. 35 year old male has a 5 to 1 greater chance of a disability before age 65, than a death before 65 and a female is even worse at 9.5 to 1. Only 33% of employers even offer group disability coverage...and even then the holes may be bigger than you think and with many offsets. Most cases the 60% is NOT 60% but less like 25 to 35%.
Don't confuse cancer or critical illness or accident policies as disability insurance. Get a comprehensive disability policy first with residual or partial benefits.
There is lots more to know, that is why you want an insurance broker who knows and one who is able to offer you various carriers and policies...we are not all the same when it comes to insurance needs and wants.
John Edward, MBA, GBDS
www.edwardgroup.net

John Edward of NM 4:43PM June 22, 2009

One quick comment and then a suggestion. The post suggests that if you are no longer working, consider your Disability protection as your long-term care coverage. Some might assume a reference to a conversion from one policy to another.
When one retires from work, disability coverage ends. But, long-term care insurance is entirely different and waiting until one ends to start the other could be a huge and very costly mistake.
That's simply because of the need to health qualify for long-term care insurance. A fact from the 2009 American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance's study of policy applicants. First, the positive news: 52% of applicants between ages 50 to 59 qualify for good health discounts. It's 42% for those between 60 and 69.
But the real risk is being declined entirely. Between ages 50 to 59, 14% of applicants were declined. between ages 60 and 69, it's 23% and 45% between 70 and 79.
Finally, each insurer sets their own prices (and they can vary by a couple of hundred dollars (each year) for virtually identical coverage. And, each has their own health underwriting standards. Thus, it's smart to work with a professional who has access to multiple insurers. If you don't know such a long-term care insurance professional, your financial planner or adviser certainly does.
Jesse Slome
Executive Director
American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance
http://www.aaltci.org/

Jesse Slome of CA 12:37PM June 22, 2009