Protecting Your Most Valuable Asset

What is your most valuable asset? …. Time’s up. … It’s your ability to earn an income.

As such, it should be protected just like all of your valuable assets.

The Wall Street Journal ran an article this week about disability insurance that is a good review of the basics. Here’s the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704561004575013073100310794.html?mg=com-wsj#

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, I feel strongly that most people should secure private disability insurance. So, I disagree with the author’s comment that employer-provided insurance is “likely to be a better deal.” Yes, it is likely to cost less.

But it will be inferior in several other ways. (1) It will have a definition of disability that will render it less valuable than a private policy. (2) It will not be portable. So, if you change employers, the group disability insurance will get left behind. (3) If it does pay a claim, the benefit will most likely be far less than you need to maintain your lifestyle.

It may be tempting to think that, if you’re covered by an employer-sponsored group plan, you don’t need to give much thought to disability insurance. I would encourage you to consider carefully if this coverage truly meets your needs.