Title: Better Deals on Disability Insurance | Kiplinger
Headings: Better Deals on Disability Insurance
Insurance
Better Deals on Disability Insurance
After an industry shakeout, it’s easier to find policies that are affordable and flexible.
How much do you need?
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Picking a policy
Coverage that keeps up

Content: I couldn’t justify putting money in investments without protecting the source of that money.” The Kochmans intend to boost their disability coverage regularly as their income and expenses increase. Their policies have a cost-of-living adjustment that indexes the payout to inflation in the event of a claim. But the main reason the Kochmans chose their policies is the policies’ definition of disability. The most comprehensive disability plans, such as theirs, are own-occupation policies that pay if you’re unable to carry out the “material and substantial duties of your own occupation,” even if you can physically do other work. ( If you do other work, you still get full benefits.) This is ideal for highly trained specialists, such as surgeons, who could be sick or hurt and unable to operate but capable of doing lower-paid work in teaching or administration. If you aren’t in a specialized profession and wouldn’t lose much by working elsewhere (or if you can switch roles at your current employer), you might be able to safely save money with bare-bones coverage. But if you’re worried about replacing tens of thousands of dollars in income, get the own-occupation umbrella. Some disability policies, by contrast, may have a slippery modified own-occupation standard.