The Love Runs Deep
If you told me a few years ago I’d fall in love with Disability Insurance I most likely would've laughed and rolled my eyes. Weirder things have happened but I’ve been struck by cupid’s arrow! But why am I so passionate about Income Protection? Thankfully I've never suffered from an injury or illness that kept me out of work; however, I have lived for a lengthy period of time without an income stream. I can attest to the stress and anxiety that can accompany the inability to pay your bills and basic life expenses. In addition, I've watched friends and families close to me struggle both emotionally and financially when either they, a parent, or spouse had breast cancer, a stroke, a heart attack, became paralyzed from spinal nerve damage, tore a rotator cuff, endured a knee replacement operation, and suffered from severe depression, to name a few. These disabilities and illnesses, all of them unanticipated, either temporarily or permanently took away the ability to earn an income. Some suffered a tremendous financial loss without an income protection plan in place and some were able to focus solely on healing as they had a disability insurance policy. Who's to say if I ever would've landed in the insurance industry had it not been for growing up in it and joining forces in my family’s business (i'll confirm right now the answer is probably not), but here I am, destined to share knowledge and guide my peers.
As we all know, insurance is all about protecting the “what-ifs.” We insure our cars, homes, and phones, but why not our life, income, and health? The disconnect is evident and I am here to say, even as an industry professional and someone who believes in insurance, I totally get why many disregard these issues. I embody the attitude of looking on the bright side of things, rather than focusing any time on "bad" things that may or may not happen. I get that thinking about dying or becoming sick or hurt can bring up fear and many tend to ignore what we're afraid of instead of facing it. Also, like most other Millennials and Gen-Xers, no matter what I have seen or heard about, I too live with an attitude of, “that will never happen to me.” I take very good care of my mind, body, soul, and spirit; I fuel myself with nutritious foods, meditate, stay in connection with myself, do work that's in alignment with my core being, laugh a ton, do things that bring me joy, I rarely get sick and to take it a step further I usually go for the homeopathic and spiritual remedy before taking medications or consulting a medical professional. At the same time I cannot disregard the fact that really random and unexpected things happen in this world! The more stories I hear from friends, strangers, clients, the news, other industry professionals, and my parents (aka my business partners who have both specialized in disability insurance for over 30 years), and the more in depth I get in on this topic, the more I have wondered, “if given the opportunity to protect your income stream in the event something happens that's out of your control, why wouldn’t you??”
In part two of this post I will share what I feel are the basic, "need to knows" sprinkled with a little myth busting about income protection.
Thank you for reading and joining me on this journey and allowing me to share with you!
With Love & Gratitude,
Melody
