Hi Ryan and all, My wife sells disability insurance through AFLAC and YES she has heard all of the AFLAC jokes just like we've heard the piano tuna jokes.. Here is what she advises. AFLAC does not sell disability outside of employ groups consisting of at least 3. First of all, workman's comp, is for injuries that happen on the job only. It usually pays 66% of your income and it IS taxable. No illness is covered under workman's comp. Disability is for illness and injury that would happen OFF the job. It goes by the doctor's statement on your ability to work. This also only pays 66% of your income. If disability is paid for with after tax dollars, it is tax free when you collect. Here are some things to watch out for and to ask. 1. If you are able to work at all, do you still get your disability? Example; a client is on chemo and she can only work 3 days a week. Will she get her disability? 2. If you are able to do another job, but not your own, will you get your disability money? 3. Most disabilities last a during of up to 8 months or less. This being said, long term disability is cheap because it usually doesn't kick in until after 6 months of being off from work whereas, short term kicks in as little as a 7 day wait. Personally, I carry short term. I bought mine from AFLAC when they were still selling to individuals many years ago. 4. Partial disability.. This means that you can partially work. Do you get ALL of your disability money? Or only half of it? 5. What is your most important asset? No, not your house... Your ability to WORK is your most important asset. 6. There are waiting periods. Ask, how long do I have to be disabled before it starts paying me? Cozette (my wife- Co for short) asks the question, how long can you go without a pay check? One week? One month? What you choose will be your waiting period and will affect your cost as will your health and your age. 7. Yes, there are health questions that you must answer. So, buy it while you are in good health. If you wait until AFTER you have a heart attack for example, you will probably be uninsurable. (Co gives the example. No insurance company wants to insure a burning house.) 8. How long do you want your disability to last for? At least pick a coverage for 6 months. A year is a great policy and of course, more expensive. I recently was diagnosed with a torn Meniscus. I am having surgery on December 30th and will be off from work for 2 solid weeks. I have a ZERO day wait for accidents. This was an accident. I have $1,000 a month income (I know, not enough but, remember, it is a very old policy too). I will be off for two weeks and I will get $500. It's better than NOTHING. I also have an accident policy that pays me $$$ for my injuries through AFLAC. It pays for follow up visits, physical therapy and much more so, this will make up for lost income too. From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Sowers Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 11:45 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] disability insurance The "Pain Hurts" thread reminded me that I've been meaning to discuss disability insurance with the list. I've been seriously contemplating carrying it. I worry about getting injured and being out of work for a couple of months or more. With a family of 5 and lots of bills the though of not working for more than a couple of weeks freaks me out. I'm wondering if others carry it, and how much they pay? -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101210/9bedeccf/attachment.htm>
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