Pain - Disability Insurance

My girls and I would be on the streets if not for my disability insurance. Ok - that's not fair to my extended family and friends. Let me say that we would be without a lot, without our own address, our own rooms, our own closets, our own privacy. I'm thinking about insurance today because I allowed my Prudential Group Life Insurance through IBM (about 2/3 of the total I have) to lapse due to lack of payment. This was in no way intentional. It is indicative of why I can't work or be trusted any more to handle business affairs. Seems like it should be a simple thing doesn't it? Pay the bills....No excuses - eh? How friggin hard is that?????



Get your quote right to your client. Put the time in every day required to get the job done. Be the best or hit the road. ...The best can make it to work every day. The best pay their bills on time. The best deliver results, not just "effort". Mistakes might be made, but they are made from high activity, not due to a lack of effort. A lack of effort, or energy, cannot be tolerated. Or pay the price...I now go through the "determination of eligibility for insurance" process to try and get my girls' backstop back in place. Something so simple to do, so easily missed....in a fog...

This process will not be too painful, it's the end result I fear. There's a short form which must be completed first. Once Prudential receives that information, a second longer form might be required to determine my eligibility. I told them to go ahead and send me both. I'm way past the short forms...My health hasn't changed in the last 60 days...But I fear the Prudential Underwriters will find me no longer eligible..because I missed it.....



But on the positive side...I am receiving a generous amount of disability income. Who would ever think they would need long-term disability income insurance? It turns out I did. I've been in sales my entire life...whether hawking raffle tickets for little league, or selling a multi-million dollar computer system. Some sales jobs are all commission-based. To those of you that make a living there I sooo respect and honor you. In my case, I made about 1/2 my income from a base salary, and should make the second half in commissions. In 1996 a smart financial consultant from American Express showed me that if i got sick or hurt and couldn't work, I wouldn't be making those commissions that I relied on to meet the budget. So for $50 a month I added $1350 of disability insurance...a small investment that while not much of a commission payment, is now generating a house payment for me. On top of my personal investment in LTD insurance, IBM has a good long-term disability policy. They offered 50% of my base income with no cost to me. I luckily did the buy-up to 66 and 2/3 of my income for a small cost...DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR OPTIONS AND COVERAGES ARE FOR LONG-TERM DISABILITY INSURANCE? IF NOT, FIND OUT!!

So I receive my American Express Long-Term Disability Income Insurance, My IBM Company sponsored Long-term Disability Income Insurance, and finally I also receive Social Security Disability Income Insurance.



Check out your insurance coverages. If you find yourself applying for disability and need help getting organized please let me know. The package I prepared and submitted to IBM's met-life, my Ameriprise, and to Social Security is very well organized. I can share to give you a head-start...at a time when you are in a Tornado, yet trying to fill out paperwork that will determine your future address and privacy levels for years and years to come. Never has paperwork ever put such a fear in me - ok maybe this one Fortan progamming test ...after skiing one full weekend in Taos when I should have been studying... :-)

Disability Insurance - I'm a super-user.


Thanks for listening.