The Bread and Butter
Petersen International is a multi-generational insurance corporation that boasts a sizable product portfolio, providing a diverse range of financial services from disability insurances and international medical programs to specialty-market life and accident products as well as more obscure coverage like kidnap and ransom insurance.
In the last several years, the specialty-market buzz has been focused on the guaranteed-issue disability scene where premium accumulation has begun to challenge the marks set by individually-underwritten disability cases throughout the year. And although Petersen is heavily invested in serving that GSI market, it is the time-tested individual disability (IDI) business that remains our “bread and butter” as it has for more than forty years. And if it isn’t already, IDI should be a focus of yours.
Personal disability insurance is one of the elementary financial needs of any professional, and in a perfect world should be as commonly prescribed as healthcare and life insurance. That ideal is far from the reality.
Disability coverage is far and away the most important piece of insurance that every working American should own. So why then is there such an extreme emphasis in this country on other products while DI sales fail in comparison? Don’t get me wrong, life and medical insurances are critical to everyone’s financial protection and should be held in esteem in a sound financial plan – but more so than income protection? Not a chance.
If your employed clients are between the ages of 18 and 75, they need at least 65% of their incomes protected with comprehensive “own occupation” disability insurance, no matter their occupation, build, avocations or health history. That is the bottom line.
Most Americans suffer from the delusion that they will not become disabled during their lifetime. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different. Over a quarter of working Americans will be affected by a short or long-term disablement during their career. Yet, only 31% of those working in the private sector have any form of income protection insurance. Why do we feel impervious to accidents and to the thousands of medical conditions and diseases that can harm the human body to the point of disablement? Well, it seems that it’s simply human nature to feel relatively invincible, and it is up to you the advisor to educate and guide your client through the proper planning not only for retirement, but throughout their income accumulation years.
That is when most of the problems take shape, in the first two-thirds of our lives. We don’t save enough of our earned income. Expanding retirement vehicles have brought promise over the last quarter century, but Americans still don’t save enough for emergencies let alone retirement. One-third of us have no retirement savings, and 48% of us don’t save additional income. How can we expect to financially survive in this world while supporting our families without any savings or income protection? We can’t. We need personal disability insurance.
Personal DI is available to almost anyone who works for a living. If not through traditional insurance channels, there are sources of income protection for those who may fall outside the realm of “usual” insurability, including impaired-risk clients with hazardous occupations or moderate to severe mental and physical health concerns. Petersen International specializes in individual disability insurance underwriting. It is our bread and butter, and we have been providing these remarkable and flexible financial solutions to Americans for decades. Let us help you protect your clients.