Life and umbrella insurance: Life can change quickly
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- Carry enough term life insurance to cover costs such as education debt and home mortgage expenses.
- Umbrella insurance does not provide additional medical liability coverage but does cover personal liability.
As physicians, we have all borne witness to patients dying at a young age, whether from an unforeseen illness or injury.
Life can change quickly and unexpectedly. Aside from the profound emotional toll on those left behind, there can be financial implications of a premature death. For physicians who incur significant debt through their medical training or have families counting on their income, an untimely death can be financially problematic.
Term life insurance
Term life insurance is a relatively inexpensive means to cover debts and care for one’s dependents in the event of premature death. Consider carrying enough term life insurance to cover costs such as education debt, home mortgage and children’s college expenses. Physicians typically carry $1 million to $5 million of term life insurance. Consider a longer-term policy, such as a 30-year term.
As one’s savings increase and debts decrease, there is less need for life insurance. Consider stacking three $1 million dollar policies: a 10-year term, a 20-year term, and a 30-year term policy, so coverage decreases over time. Try to avoid whole life insurance policies that tend to have significant costs and fees.
Umbrella insurance
Those with money are often more likely to be sued. Umbrella insurance provides extra liability insurance to cover personal liability, beyond what is covered by one’s automobile and homeowner’s insurance. Please note, umbrella insurance does not provide additional medical liability coverage. This would be covered by one’s malpractice insurance.
Umbrella insurance helps cover liabilities such as injuries that occur on your property not covered by homeowner’s insurance, damage from car accidents not covered by car insurance, libel or slander.
Umbrella insurance requires that you max out the liability insurance on one’s homeowner and automobile policies. Consider purchasing enough umbrella insurance to cover your assets; such policies are typically inexpensive.
For more information:
Chirag P. Shah, MD, MPH, is a soccer and Nordic ski coach, who also practices medicine and teaches in Boston. He can be reached at cshah@post.harvard.edu.
Jayanth Sridhar, MD, is an award-winning podcaster, physician and educator who is chief of ophthalmology at Olive View Medical Center in Los Angeles. He can be reached at jsridhar119@gmail.com.
Collapse
Expert Submission
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts