As a dentist, you’re going to earn a significantly higher salary than the average worker in the United States. And for good reason.
Being a dental professional makes you a valuable part of whatever community you choose to settle down in—and one of the best things about becoming a dentist is that you’ll have an excellent set of valuable skills that you can use to get a job almost anywhere you want (and earn a fantastic living while you’re doing it).
With that being said, it’s also true that disaster can still strike—even for dentists.
You put all that work into going through medical school. But what if something were to happen to remove your ability to practice dentistry?
What if you came down with a chronic illness or suffered a debilitating accident that left you disabled and unable to continue working as a dental professional?
Unfortunately, these types of things do happen.
And even though it isn’t pleasant to think about, it’s really important to always be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
This is why dentist disability insurance is so crucial for dentists.
And in this blog post, you’re going to learn 5 tips for how to maximize your benefits to get the best disability insurance possible.
Increase Your Income
In your first year out of dental school, you may not earn as much as you can plan to earn over the course of the next five or even ten years.
But here’s the thing.
As your income increases, so does your coverage eligibility.
So the best thing to do is to make as much as possible as fast as possible—so that you can get better coverage and protect yourself more.
Find A Reputable Company
There are many shady disability insurance companies out there.
But you don’t want to do business with a shady company.
What you really want to do is find a reputable, well-known medical disability company with a track record of proven customer support and reliance.
When times get tough, you want to know that you can count on your insurance provider.
You don’t want them to try to stiff you when hard times hit, or when disaster strikes.
Need some help getting started? Check out this LeverageRX post to find some of the best options for 2023.
Shop Around For The Best Deal
Just like any other financial product, you have multiple options for dentist disability insurance.
And guess what? It’s in your best interest to shop around and find the best deal possible.
Check prices, check coverages, look at the premiums, and do a cost-benefit analysis to figure out which plan will give you the best deal for your money.
This is a crucial part of the process.
Make Sure That You Invest In A Non-Cancellable Policy
This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many shady policies contain cancellation clauses.
This is definitely not something that you want to mess with.
As a general rule, non-cancelable policies are ideal because not only can they not be canceled by the company, but the rates can’t increase either.
This is welcome news when you’ve planned out your financial future and end up needing your disability insurance to cover your expenses.
Imagine getting disabled only to have your insurance provider cancel your policy—keeping you from collecting the valuable benefits you’ve paid for years.
That would truly be a disaster.
Choose A Policy That’ll Cover You Until Retirement (Or Until You Turn 65)
Finally, one of the most important tips in this post is this:
Make sure that you choose a policy that will last until retirement age or the age of 65 (whichever comes first).
Here’s why.
Some plans expire after 5 or 10 years.
Those premiums might look more attractive on paper.
But what are you going to do if your disability or illness lasts for longer than that?
Once your income dries up, you’ll truly be in a world of trouble.
As a general rule, the best possible policy is to always choose the coverage that lasts until retirement—so that you’re financially covered in any situation.
Conclusion
There you have it.
Our 5 best tips for how to maximize your benefits with dentists disability insurance.
Don’t get taken for a ride with this crucial coverage.
You deserve to be cared for in the event that something goes wrong.
So protect yourself today with a policy that’ll count.
