What Orthodontists Need to Know About Life Insurance

As an orthodontist, you already have a lot on your plate. If you’re an orthodontist who owns your own practice, you have even more. Purchasing life insurance can seem like an intimidating process and may be something you’ve been putting off for some time. Besides, insurance for orthodontists is situation-specific and can feel more complex than “typical” insurance.

The good news is with recent changes in technology, applying for life insurance can be done today in minutes. Adding a life insurance policy can be essential in providing valuable protection in the event of death.

Understanding life insurance is a crucial part of selecting the right policy. While you don’t have to be an expert on life insurance, it’s important to know a few basics before you begin shopping for (or upgrading) your current coverage.

How Does Life Insurance Work?

Each policy is different and comes with its own set of requirements for everything from premiums to payouts and more, but life insurance comes down to providing financial protection for those you leave behind after death. This could look like providing your family with money to make up for the income that they’ll lose from your orthodontic practice after you pass away to leaving behind enough money to cover your funeral expenses. The Texas Department of Insurance offers an excellent consumer guide that goes into more detail about life insurance specifics.

Beneficiaries

Orthodontists and others who have life insurance policies make one or more person their beneficiaries. Whoever you select as your beneficiary will receive the money from your life insurance policy when you pass away (as long as all conditions are met according to your policy). The beneficiary receives the whole amount or the amount is split between beneficiaries when there are two or more. While there may be some limits in place, beneficiaries can usually do what they want with this money.

Why Do Orthodontists Need Life Insurance?

Orthodontists need to make sure that they are appropriately covered in the event of death. Many orthodontists are also business owners. If you own your own practice or you are in business with several other orthodontists in the same practice, you probably understand all the moving parts that go into running a business.

While it’s different from getting office supplies or finding the perfect billing manager, finding the best life insurance policy for yourself and your staff is a crucial part of running your orthodontic practice. As a practice owner, you may want to offer group life insurance for your staff. This is a fairly inexpensive benefit that would be well received.

Risks Orthodontists Face

When you go to work every day, you might not think about having a dangerous job or the risks that you face. You became an orthodontist for a reason and the truth is, you probably didn’t think much about the risks that you might encounter. But, did you know that dentistry is the third-worst job for overall health worldwide and orthodontics can fall into that category?

Your proximity to patients can put you at a greater risk for infections and diseases as well as injuries. And, that doesn’t even take into account the stress-related health issues that can come from working as an orthodontist while also running your own practice. While a job-related death might not be something you’ve thought about, it is something you need to consider when you’re looking at life insurance coverage.

While life insurance only covers death, there are options that can provide coverage if you have an injury or illness leaving you unable to work for a period of time including short-term disability income.

Ensuring Adequate Coverage

Throughout your career and even throughout your life, your life insurance needs could change. Your policy’s ability to protect your family and keep them comfortable after your death can vary based on your salary, cost of living, and the lifestyle that you lead — which can be vastly different than it was when you first purchased your policy. Even if you already have life insurance coverage, it’s important to ensure that you are adequately covered. Making sure that your policy provides the right type of protection as well as looking at the specifics can be the difference in protecting your loved ones and leaving them without the money they need after your death.

When to Consider Life Insurance

The right time to take out a life insurance policy is yesterday. The sooner you get coverage, the sooner you are able to provide protection to your loved ones. While nobody wants to think about death, the truth is that nobody really knows when it’s going to happen. Getting a life insurance policy that adequately covers you can help provide reassurance to your loved ones. As an orthodontist, it’s important to make sure that you’re covered in the event of your death. In fact, it is so important that many orthodontists begin thinking about their coverage options when they’re still in orthodontic school!

Starting a Life Insurance Policy

Depending on the type of practice you own or work in, there are several options that you can use to get life insurance. You can choose a policy that just covers yourself, a policy that is intended for business owners, or one that acts as a corporate group insurance option for multi-orthodontist practices.

When it’s time to purchase your policy, you may be concerned about having an understanding of your options. At Loyall Group, we can walk you through the process and help you find the right coverage for you. Get your free quote today.