Income Protection
(Disability Insurance)

The most important insurance for most people is income protection in case of long-term illness or injury. This essential coverage protects your most important financial asset – your ability to go to work every day and earn a living. Statistics show that there is a one in four chance of becoming disabled for an extended period of time before retirement age. Although it is important to insure your life, your house, your car, and other assets, if you become unable to work due to long-term illness or injury and do not have a quality income protection program in place, you can lose everything!

A quality income protection plan includes the following:

• Covers you if, due to illness or injury, you are totally or partially unable to work in your own occupation;
• Replaces all of your after-tax income, plus pension contributions and student loans;
• Has benefits that can be set up to be income tax-free;
• Has benefits that increase each year so that you can keep up with the cost of living;
• Has benefits that continue to retirement age or life; and
• Has an optional catastrophic rider available which provides additional benefits similar to long-term care plans.

The best plans also allow you to take them with you if you change jobs, have premiums guaranteed never to increase, cannot be cancelled by the company for any reason except non-payment of premiums, and do not have common flaws preventing the individual from obtaining benefits.

A properly set up income protection plan will ensure that, at what might be the most trying time of your life, your income will continue as if you were still working.