Most of us need to work to make a living, and have dreams, goals for ourselves as well as for the future of our children. We also need to have our necessary possessions such as our cars, homes, along with our plans for our retirement as well as our emergency funds. Yet it is almost ironic, we hardly realize that all of our possessions and our plans for our future depend on one thing; our earning power. Nevertheless, if anything, we hardly make an attempt to protect this earning power.

One of the essential means of protecting our earning power is to have Disability Insurance where it provides a percentage of our earnings as a supplemental income. However, most of us see disability to the greatest extent as to being stuck in a wheelchair and consequently deny all possibilities of being disabled at any time. Yet the fact is, disability is any illness preventing us from generating income for a given period of time. Since most us depend on the continuous flow of income, whether it is short term or long term, any disruption of this income will create devastation, and consequently we may start losing the possessions even for our basic needs in our lives.

It is a well-known fact that the Disability Insurance is provided as in Short and Long Term. Even though the understandings of the coverage are generally the same within the industry, there may be some major differences between the insurance companies. Therefore, it maybe useful to have a list of items highlighting the main parts of Disability Insurance, enabling us to compare and select the most suitable policy for our personal needs.

Checklist for Evaluating and Comparing Disability Insurance;

1. The definition of total disability

2. What is the amount of total-disability benefits?

3. What is the frequency of total-disability benefits?

4. What is the duration for total-disability benefits?

5. How many steps are there for total disability?

a. If there are two-steps for total disability, how many years apply to the own-occupation?

6. What is the elimination (waiting) period for total-disability benefits?

7. Do the policy benefits cover residual-disability? If yes,

a. What is the amount of benefits?

b. How long are they payable?

c. Is there a requirement for a prior period of total disability?

8. Do the policy benefits cover partial-disability? If yes,

9. What is the definition of partial disability?

10. What is the period of total disability before the benefits are payable?

11. Does the policy provide coverage for disability arising from organ donations?

12. Is there a provision for presumptive-disability?

13. Are there any modifications to the policy from standard issue?

14. What are the benefits for rehabilitation?

15. What is the premium (annually/monthly/quarterly)?

16. Are there riders available? If yes,

a. What do they cover?

b. What are the premiums for the options?

17. Is COLA (cost-of-living-adjustment) available?

18. What is the basis of COLA?

19. Is there an option for return-of-premium?

20. What is the renewability stipulation?

21. What is the waiver-of-premium stipulation?

Even though above checklist covers the main points of Disability Insurance and should be useful to compare policies, designing a Disability Insurance according to your personal needs is another subject. Since our earning power and our income are the most important assets in our lives, it is strongly recommended to consult an insurance professional for such matters as important as providing supplemental income in case of a disability.