DISABILITY INSURANCE

Disability insurance provides financial protection to an individual who becomes unable to work because of a health impairment - injury and/or sickness.

If purchased with after-tax money, the disability Insurance pays a tax-free benefit provided the insured person remains totally disabled as per the policy's definition, stays under doctor's supervision and in most cases is not working in another gainful occupation.

For the majority of working age Canadians, their greatest asset is their ability to work and earn money! See the following example: You are 40 years old and you own a $500,000 home. When asked what is your biggest asset, you proudly answer - "My home!" At the same time you earn annually $65,000. For the remaining 25 years until you reach age 65, with just 2% annual increase of your income, you will earn over 2 million dollars. Hence, the correct answer is: "Your ability to work and produce income!" It is four times more valuable than your home.

Disability Insurance is extremely important but is far less popular than Life Insurance. The two main reasons are:

• more stringent medical and financial underwriting requirements
• much more complicated - making it more difficult for both agents and clients to understand it.

I specialize in all living benefits types of insurance, including Disability Insurance, and urge you to contact me for more information. My preferences at this point go to the Disability Insurance offered by Manulife Financial and The Edge Benefits.