The Best Dentists Disability Insurance Protection

You wouldn’t buy an expensive home or car and leave its future to chance, right? You insure such financial investments so they’re protected during catastrophes and the unexpected. As a dentist, you’ve made a significant time and financial investment in your career path, and it, too, deserves to be protected with disability insurance.

Expect The Unexpected With Long-Term Disability Insurance

While many dentists spend long hours at work and don’t have a particularly dangerous job that involves jumping from airplanes or climbing mountains, dentists are still at risk for long-term disability.

In fact, the vast majority of long-term disabilities aren’t caused by acute injures. Instead, the main culprit behind disability is illness, including diabetes, cancer, heart attack, and stroke. Such diseases and illnesses can strike anyone, anytime, and there’s often little warning involved.

Since most people don’t like to entertain the possibility of getting sick, some make a critical error in not expecting the unexpected and preparing for it with adequate insurance. There’s also the fact that association disability plans are usually far from comprehensive and typically expensive for dentistry professionals.

The solution is to look for private long-term disability plans. Thanks to DentistDisability.com that task is easier than ever. Quickly compare top insurers against your needs, wants, and budget to ensure you find the best coverage at the best price.

Protect Your Assets With Disability Insurance

Like many other professionals, dentists often mistakenly think of their assets in terms of what they own and monetary savings. Long-term disability insurance doesn’t just protect those tangible assets in-hand, however. Your education and future earning potential are invaluable assets that deserve the same protection.

It’s expensive to become a dentist, with some 30 percent graduating at least 300k in debt and 80 percent at least 100k in debt. Indebted dental school graduates from 2016, for example, finished their education over $262k in debt according to the ADEA (American Dental Education Association.)

While education for dental hygienists is much cheaper, the ADEA lists their average in-state education costs at over 30k for a masters, 36k for a bachelors, and almost 23k for an associates degree. They, too, often graduate in debt.

Such debt can take years for dental professionals to pay off. The upside is that dentists, compared to other professionals, are high earners and can reach the top of their earning scale very quickly. In 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics listed the median pay for dentists at almost $160k per year; over $200k for orthodontists, dental surgeons, and other specialists; and almost $73k for dental hygienists.

The high earring potential paired with high student loan debt means that dental professionals have a lot to protect, which makes them ideal candidates for disability insurance.

Finding The Best Disability Insurance For Dentists

The professionals at DentistDisability.com can help you sort through all your insurance options to determine the best carriers with the best rates, such as Principal, The Standard, Guardian, MassMutual, Ameritas, and Ohio National. Here are some sample rates from other top carriers for male, non-smoker dentists in New York:

Disability Insurance Carriers:

Ameritas

$183.52/mo - 30yo

$299.87/mo - 40yo

$473.61/mo - 50yo

Assurity

$163.01/mo - 30yo

$268.26/mo - 40yo

$340.77/mo - 50yo

Mass Mutual

$178.04/mo - 30yo

$283.07/mo - 40yo

$484.76/mo - 50yo

As you can see, the protection you get is actually quite affordable. Keep in mind that these sample rates are based on a benefit period to age 65, $5,000 per month benefit, and a 90-day elimination period. The max monthly benefit amount is based on gross income and other existing plans.

How Do Dentists Know Which Disability Policy Is Best?

While dentists should protect themselves with a long-term disability policy as soon as possible, you also want to do your due diligence to ensure your policy is adequate and works for your family/individual needs. Here are a few pointers on some key considerations in picking your policy:

• Carrier Rates Are Based On Your Specific Job Within The Dental Field

Because a dentist earns more than their dental hygienist and lab tech counterparts, they’re likely to pay lower rates for their disability policy. The same is true of specialties within the dentistry field. Occupations like orthodontists, endodonsists, prosthodontists, exodontists, and pediatric dentists with the highest incomes in the field often qualify for lower rates.

• Don’t Buy A Policy Without Future Purchase Options To Take Earning Potential Into Account

Dentists have a short and quick ladder when it comes to maximizing their earning potential, but many dentists typically earn beyond even the high figures as they build a solid professional reputation and clientele list. Future purchase is a long-term disability policy option that allows for you to protect your future earnings should they rise beyond what’s expected. How? The dental student or dentist purchases the policy at a younger age to protect what’s financially applicable now, which locks in the rates but still leaves them with the option to increase the benefit amount as they age, earn more, and need more protection.

• Consider Own-Occupation Policies First

There are occasions and circumstances that may prevent you from practicing dentistry but still leave you capable of doing work outside your profession. Of course, this often means a drastic change in income, lifestyle, and future earning potential. It’s also why dentists shouldn’t consider just any old disability policy that only takes action if they’re disabled from working any job. Specialty own-occupation policies are uniquely designed to provide benefits should the policy holder become unable to continue in their specific (chosen) medical specialty because of disability, and it’s not mooted by still being able to do other types of work.

• Consider A Student Loan Rider

You’ve just graduated dentistry school and are indebted to large student loans. It’s unpleasant to imagine, but should something disable you from practicing in the dental field long enough to pay for these debts, it may become impossible to continue making the payments with your adjusted income. This is where a student loan rider comes in to save the day. Yes, you’ll pay a little more than the straightforward disability policy premium, but that extra money pays for a benefit amount that’s specifically dedicated to paying off your student loan debt. These riders are usually written as an allotment for a certain dollar amount per month verses the entire balance in a single lump-sum.

Select The Best Insurance Plan Today

Via education and building a practice, dentists have invested in themselves and their futures. Now is the time to make sure that investment is protected against the harsh realities of the unexpected and unthinkable. Contact DentistDisability.com to learn more about selecting the best disability carrier, policy, and rates to fit your needs.