We all hope we are bullet proof…
Doug Waters spent most of his 30-year insurance career working to convince people to sell and own Individual Disability Income Insurance. He ran the IDI product line and IDI distribution at Ameritas, and most recently was head of IDI sales at The Standard. Although he was a self-proclaimed “true believer” in Disability Income Insurance, having bought five policies on himself over the years, he never thought he would end up needing the coverage. Now, he is on total disability due to his battle with bone marrow cancer, and is experiencing first-hand the vital role IDI plays in keeping a household together during a time of crisis. His story is below.
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Doug Waters
It was nearly 5 p.m. on the first Friday of January, 2018, and I was finishing up a few final e-mails before getting a start on the weekend. My cell phone lit up with my doctor’s cell number, and my heart skipped a beat. I had been undergoing tests to figure out the cause of some strange, severe back pain, along with unusual fatigue. I knew it wasn’t a good sign that the doctor was calling me late on a Friday, and, sure enough, he proceeded to tell me that my blood tests revealed the unmistakable markers for bone marrow cancer. “It’s called multiple myeloma,” he said. “I’ve already set up an appointment for you next week with an oncologist I know.” He is my family doctor and also a personal friend, but the familiarity of his voice seemed to fade away, and I had the sensation that he was talking inside an oil drum. Finally, I managed to say, “Andy, how serious is this?” And he said, “Well, Doug, it’s serious.”
That was my introduction to multiple myeloma. I had never had any experience with cancer. There was no history of blood cancers or any blood disorders in my family. I had spent years eating healthfully, exercising regularly, avoiding risky behaviors like smoking – and now I had cancer. Since I was working from home, my wife, Amanda, got to hear the conversation unfold as well, and we just stood there, staring at each other, having had the wind knocked out of us. We both instinctively knew that our lives had changed forever.
Getting that kind of news late on a Friday means you get the entire weekend to stew over it. We did some poking around the internet, but the conflicting information, the horror stories, etc., were too much, and we decided to stop looking for a while. Neither of us slept much that weekend.
While lying awake, I tried to discipline my mind, and not play out a lot of what-if scenarios. But I couldn’t help it. A feeling of panic washed over me as I thought about leaving my wife alone, and one of the first things I did was add up all the life insurance I had in place. It was a big number, and I felt relieved about that.
Then I began playing out an even worse scenario: what if I lived, but was impaired, and could no longer work? What would become of us financially? Would all that work and effort around financial planning vaporize? I got out of bed and got out my personal IDI policies, and began adding up the monthly benefit. The total amount was not enormous, since I’ve always had Group LTD. But the payments would be tax-free, since I had been paying the premiums, and the total figure was enough to calm me down. In fact, a feeling of relief washed over me, and I felt a sense of peace for the first time in quite a few hours.
I’ve talked for many years about people buying IDI so they can have peace of mind. But this was the first time I got to live it. The peace of mind these policies gave me from that moment forward was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I didn’t know whether they would ever pay out, but that was all right; just knowing they were there in case I got to that point was enough to replace panic with peace. I’m amazed at the number of people who don’t buy IDI, saying, “What if I never use it?” Yeah, staying healthy throughout your working years would be a real bummer, wouldn’t it? I don’t hear people saying, “What if I own homeowners insurance for years, but my house never burns down?” People don’t say that, because it’s an absurd thought. Insurance is supposed to be there in case catastrophe hits, but we hope it never does. For me, having IDI in place was worth every penny I had paid over the years.
I’ve been on this cancer-fighting journey for over a year. For the first half of 2018, I continued to work full-time, albeit without the ability to travel. But in July I finally had to take a medical leave to devote myself to a ramped-up treatment plan. Even then, I firmly believed I would improve enough to get the disease into remission and return to work. By late November, I had made a lot of progress, but still was not in remission, and it was obvious I would not be able to come back to the job I loved.
My doctors and I remain optimistic about the long-term future, but the side effects of the treatment and the fact that I’m still not in remission prevent me from being able to work for the foreseeable future. I am now on total disability, having had my hand forced by this disease. I am receiving monthly benefits from my IDI policies, and not a week goes by that Amanda and I don’t talk about how grateful we are to have that significant financial piece in place, and where we’d be without it. Group LTD is a great foundation and an important contributor, but it falls short of doing the whole job in shoring up your finances. Supplemental IDI coverage completes the picture, especially when you consider that some expenses go up, such as having to pay COBRA premiums.
Here are three takeaways from my story that I hope all of you will take to heart:
It can happen to anyone. I never thought I’d get cancer. I never thought I’d actually use these IDI policies. But I was struck down, and it can happen to you, and it can happen to any of your clients. Be prepared.
Never sell short the idea of peace of mind. Knowing that a safety net is in place is of incalculable value when you’re wrestling with all the emotions surrounding a catastrophic hit to your health. Don’t let your clients get away with the ridiculous objection, “What if I never use it?”
Many people don’t buy IDI because they have Group LTD. But as I said above, while LTD is important, it falls short, especially for above-average earners. And don’t forget, the definitions in Group LTD pale in comparison to those in good IDI contracts. There are numerous scenarios where a claim may be denied for Group LTD but approved for IDI. Supplemental IDI is a critical component of any good financial planning.
Pretty ironic, isn’t it, that a guy who devoted his career to leading sales and distribution organizations at major IDI carriers is now on the receiving end of disability benefits? I sometimes wonder, where would we be had I worked in another industry? Would some broker, like you, have found me, educated me, and convinced me to buy the IDI we needed? I shudder to think of having to live now without it. Have you prepared your clients? Have you prepared yourself? It can happen to anyone.
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Below you will find information on purchasing disability coverage on yourself. As Doug found out, none of us are bullet proof. All this insurance talk is just academic until it affects real people. Reach out to the Allegis DI team for help on protecting yourself. You will never be healthier or younger than you are now. As a secondary benefit, you will find that you will start helping more of your clients with income protection as well.