By Jamie K. Fleischner, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF

When are you too old to buy disability insurance?

Today I had a call from an optometrist in Washington who just turned 65. I’ll call him Dr. Look. Dr. Look runs his own optometry practice and wants to make sure he can continue to pay his bills if he is too sick or injured to work. Unfortunately he is too old to purchase a policy from a traditional disability insurance carrier.

Traditional disability insurance policies will not issue new business on people over the age of 60. Policies on the books will expire when insured turn age 65 or 67 (depending on the company and contract). Is Dr. Look out of luck?

Not necessarily. It really depends on what risk Dr. Look is trying to cover. If his concern is paying for costs if he becomes sick or injured, he may want to consider a long term care policy. Long term care insurance will pay him a daily benefit if he is unable to perform at least 2 activities of daily living—ADL’s (eating, dressing, incontinence, transferring from bed to chair, etc…).

Another option for Dr. Look is to look for a long term care policy that acts like a disability policy. This type of policy will pay a monthly benefit if he is unable to perform 2 ADLs.

If you are close to your 60s and are concerned about covering your income, you may need to take a closer look at the situation and see what risks need to be covered and find other creative options.

For more information about disability insurance or long term care insurance, contact Set for Life Insurance today!