Insurance Planning for Dental Professionals
You have dedicated years of your life to becoming a dentist, sacrificing time and freedom to achieve a successful career that will allow you to support your family and help your patients live healthier and more comfortable lives. Now is the time to ensure you are mitigating any risks that could wash away all you have worked so hard to achieve. While it’s common knowledge that we must insure our homes, cars and lives, an often-overlooked piece of the puzzle is disability insurance. Yet, without this insurance, you could be putting your livelihood at risk.
Disability insurance provides the beneficiary an income stream should he or she be unable to work due to injury or illness. There are several policy types, so it’s vital that you choose the right policy to meet your specific needs. In a specialized field such as dentistry, it’s important to have an “own occupant” policy to ensure you receive a benefit if you can no longer perform the functions of your job. This type of policy will allow you to continue supporting your family. If you own your own practice, your policy benefit can also provide an income stream to help cover overhead expenses while you work through your succession plan.
You may be wondering if disability insurance is really necessary. After all, dentistry isn’t hard labor. How much risk is there, really? You may be surprised to learn that dentists are prone to severe and debilitating back issues due to the static posturing required on the job. There have been numerous studies reporting an increased risk of neck, back, arm and wrist pain impacting those in the dental field. One study found three out of four dentists suffer from musculoskeletal disorders that affect their ability to practice.1 These issues can become so pronounced that they force dentists into early retirement. What can you do to avoid cutting short your prime earning (and saving) years? Protect your earnings with a disability policy that takes your career into consideration.
If you already have a disability policy in place, it is vital that you understand what type of policy it is, what the benefit will be and how the claims process will work should you ever need to file a claim. A Certified Financial Planner™ professional can provide an analysis of your current policies and recommend any changes that should be made.
Insurance, much like estate planning, is not a topic that many of us like to think about. No one in their prime earning years wants to consider a career that ends in injury, yet early in your career is the precise time to tackle this issue. Unfortunately, once you have developed debilitating symptoms, it is too late to implement a policy. Save your family and yourself future heartache, financial strain and stress by covering your bases right away.
Creative Planning Dental is a specialty practice of Creative Planning. Each of our dedicated teams specializes in working with dental professionals and includes an attorney, a CPA and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. These teams are also supported by Creative Planning’s dedicated insurance professionals. Regardless of your specific situation, we are available to help evaluate your insurance options and identify policies that meet your specific needs. If you’d like help with your insurance planning, or for any other financial matter, please schedule a call.
Footnotes
- H.S. Bedi, Ninad Joshirao Moon, et al., Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Dentists and Application of DMAIC Technique to Improve the Ergonomics at Dental Clinics and Meta-Analysis of Literature, J. Clin. Diagn. Res., Jun 1, 2015, at 1
