Is It Time for Life Insurance?

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Many younger Americans lack life insurance. A 2014 report from insurance industry analyst LIMRA found that only a third of Gen Y Americans have any life insurance coverage. In the same survey of 6,000 respondents, six in 10 Gen X and Gen Y Americans said their households would be hard pressed to make ends meet if their primary breadwinner passed away.1

Why don’t more young adults buy life insurance? Shopping for coverage may seem confusing, boring, or unnecessary. Yet when you have kids, get married, buy a house or live a lifestyle funded by significant salaries, the need arises. Insurers are trying to make it easier these days, not only by making more choices accessible online but by shortening the window of time it takes to approve a policy.1

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Whose Lives Should a Physician Insure?

The Physician’s Life Insurance Primer – Should you own life insurance on others?

The primary reason most people own life insurance is to ensure that their loved ones will have the means to replace lost income and pay for their financial obligations in the event of their premature death. In fact, life insurance is a critical financial tool in any circumstance in which the premature death of an individual could result in a financial hardship on another. So, while owning it on your own life may be the best possible use of life insurance, you may want to consider all circumstances in which it could provide essential financial protection for you, your family or your business. Read more to learn more about who physicians should consider insuring.

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Life Insurance as Part of Your Tax Diversification Strategy

The Physician’s Life Insurance Primer Series: How life insurance fits in a savings and tax diversification strategy

For many people, life insurance forms the security foundation of their financial plan. While most financial planners recommend that life insurance be purchased for its protection, and not as a primary savings vehicle, few would argue that cash value life insurance doesn’t have some fairly unique and attractive savings features.  When these are considered in the context of a person’s overall savings and investment strategy, they may offer some advantages for physicians, especially for providing additional tax diversification of income sources.

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What Makes Whole Life Insurance Different?

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The Physician’s Life Insurance Primer Series: What is Whole Life Insurance and how does it work?

Although whole life insurance, in its present form, has been around for over a century, it remains somewhat of an enigma for people who want to buy permanent protection, especially as new forms of life insurance have sprung up around it over the last several decades. In this article, we’ll discuss how this type of policy works and some of the features that may be useful within a complete financial plan.

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How to Tell if You’re Getting Good Disability Income Planning Advice

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Because they recognize the need to protect their most valuable asset – their earning power – physicians are a ready and willing market for disability insurance sales people. Most physicians, by the time they enter residency, are bombarded with solicitations which continue throughout their working lives.
For most young physicians, the initial advice they receive for addressing their disability income needs is typically provided by insurance sales people, incentivized by their company to sell its products. This leaves to question just how good is the advice and whether it’s offered in the best interest of the physician or the sales person.

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You’re Covered for Any Injury, Disease, or Disorder Except for…

Medical Exclusion Riders – What are They and How to Avoid Them

Often when we present policy offers that contain medical exclusions to physicians, they are frustrated and consider looking elsewhere for coverage. However, it is likely, if a reason for an exclusion is found by one carrier, others will find it in your medical history as well. Medical exclusions don’t have to be showstoppers, though. Learn how disability insurance can still work for you, even with exclusions.

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What’s in Your Disability Insurance Policy?

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What’s in your disability insurance policy? That question might remind you of a certain credit card commercial in which the announcer asks, “What’s in your wallet?” We won’t subject you to a Viking assault in this blog, as one version of the commercial did onscreen, but we will share our opinion that ignorance of what’s in your disability policy could be as painful as an arrow in your back when it comes time to make a claim.

Disability insurance plans can be complex, and each plan is different. Employer-based disability plans are often free or very inexpensive, but the benefits are likely to be inadequate to cover all contingencies. Are you sure your disability insurance policy contains what’s best for your long-term financial plan? Maybe it’s time to look into it.

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Types of Life Insurance for Physicians

Introducing The Physician’s Life Insurance Primer, a series explaining life insurance. This post introduces the basic types of life insurance and fundamental pros and cons of each.

Broadly speaking, there are two categories of life insurance, term insurance and permanent insurance, commonly known as whole life insurance.

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Avoid Making the 5 Physician Disability Insurance Blunders

The Most Common Mistakes Physicians Make When Buying a Policy

The biggest mistake a physician can make at any point in their career is to leave their most valuable asset, their earning potential, inadequately protected. In fact, until their financial security has been achieved, the physician’s disability income protection plan should be his or her highest priority. Yet, through a lack of knowledge, time, or proper guidance too many physicians continue to make costly mistakes in developing their disability income protection plan. We’ve identified five of the biggest mistakes physicians make in their disability insurance planning, any of which could prove financially devastating.

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