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Receive free disability insurance quotes from the leading disability
insurance companies by filling in the form below:
* Inflation Protection
Suppose you are receiving a $6,000 monthly benefit. At 6% inflation,
that benefit will be paying only $1,872 worth of bills at the end of 20
years. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of your disability
income plan should be the protection it affords against inflation.
Individual disability income policies generally offer a cost of living
rider that will adjust benefits for inflation during a long-term claim.
Most of these riders tie adjustments to increases in the Consumer Price
Index, thought all of them "cap" the maximum increase at some
percentage, such as 4% per year.
Some policies put a ceiling on the maximum benefit that can be paid under
the cost of living rider. A common ceiling would be to stipulate that
once the original benefit has doubled, no more increases in the benefit
amount would be made, regardless of the continuing effects of inflation.
The best policies, of course, have no such ceiling; benefits will be increased
as long as the Consumer Price Index warrants it.
** Future Insurability
As your income increases over the years, due both to career growth and
inflation, the amount of coverage you originally purchased may become
inadequate. The solution, of course, is to purchase more coverage. But
what if your health has deteriorated or other changes in your circumstances
make it more difficult or even impossible to obtain additional coverage?
A future increase option is the answer. As long as your increased income
qualifies for more coverage under the company's issue limits, the future
increase option guarantees your right to purchase additional coverage
up to a stated age without evidence of insurability. Under the best policies,
you can even exercise a future increase option while disabled. The increase
in coverage will take effect immediately, subject to the elimination period.
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