4 Important Questions About Personal Disability Insurance for Dentists

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Have you ever considered what would happen if you were unable to work?

What if you had an accident and could no longer perform the daily operations of your dental practice?

What if you were relegated to managerial work and you had to hire a new dentist to run the day-to-day operations?

Such an event can force you into a difficult life transition, where you may even have to sell your practice.

There is one way to guard against this possibility, disability insurance, also know as income protection coverage.

1. What exactly is disability insurance?
   The purpose of disability insurance from the dentist’s point of view is to provide you with income in the case that you become too sick or injured to perform your regular work duties.
   
   This is important as it protects your family from dealing with huge financial losses.
   
   If you were unable to work would you be able to continue to pay your bills and sustain your current lifestyle?
   
   At age 40 you face at 19% chance that you will have a disability that lasts 90 days or longer before the age of 65.
    
2. Will government benefits cover all my costs?
   Unfortunately, these benefits often aren’t enough. For many of us, when work stops, so does income. Government reimbursements are likely to be far less generous than what you will receive if you have taken out disability insurance.
    
3. When should I apply for disability insurance?
   Unfortunately, this is a very open-ended question.
   
   The reality is that you need to apply for insurance before you have a disability. From a financial perspective, immediately before would be best.
   
   However, as you can never know exactly when this will happen, you need to opt for the second best option, which is as soon as possible. Whenever it becomes financially possible and feasible for you to get disability insurance, you need to do so.
    
4. How much insurance will I need?
   This is entirely dependent on your individual situation and the income you believe you will need.
   
   If you’re single and only need to support yourself, you may consider opting for basic coverage. This ensures that in the event of a loss of income, you would be ok with a financial change.
   
   However, if you have a family you have to consider that each person represented may need financial support for medical bills, housing, education etc.
   
   Remember, if you are your own employer, not only will your family suffer if you are underinsured, but your entire business as well.

Make sure you protect your assets by investing in income protection coverage; being without disability insurance is a risk that is not worth taking.