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When you’re working in the medical field, lots of people rely on you, from your patients to your staff. It’s easy as a physician to get caught up in the daily responsibilities and forget your own needs!
Your family and future rely on your income, too. If something dangerous and unexpected happens to you, you want to make sure there’s a buffer to help safeguard your assets.
None of us can plan for every contingency, but there are some things you can do to take precautions. With these three preventative measures, you can make sure your income is protected in the event of a disability or disaster.
1. Health Insurance
Depending on where you are practicing, this might already be a covered issue. If it’s not, though, it’s a necessity.No matter how healthy you are, your job alone puts you at higher risk of illness than most careers. Seeing many patients each day means you’re exposed to all of the germs they may not even realize they have.
Health insurance coverage, even with a high deductible, limits your out-of-pocket expense each year. Doctors are like the proverbial shoe cobbler, taking care of everyone else’s needs but their own. If you get sick, it’s better to treat it sooner than later.
A catastrophic condition, such as a heart attack, can drain your assets if you don’t have health coverage.
Give yourself the advice you’d give your patients and invest in income protection through medical insurance. You never know when it will come in handy!
2. Disability Insurance
While health insurance is a common expense, many people forget about disability coverage. This type of preventative insurance offers a stopgap between your lost income and your bills if you’re ever temporary or fully disabled.Disability insurance policy coverage ranges from partial to full salary protection. Each one also has its own benefit period when coverage kicks in and when it ends.
Accidents are statistically one of the most frequent causes of disability, and no one is immune to them. Your policy should cover your income in the event of a temporary or permanent injury due to:
- A fracture or sprain
- Back injuries from a collision or other accident
- Cancer
- Heart attack
- Mental health issues
- Other chronic conditions
Consider how much income you’d lose if you were out of work for even a few weeks. Your insurance policy premium for a year is likely to be much cheaper than that!
3. Retirement Planning
Retirement might seem like it’s a long way away, but life happens whether we’re paying attention to it or not. If you want to live in the same style you’re accustomed to now, or better, when you retire, you need to get a jump on it and start planning now.A good retirement plan involves investing your money where it can work for you. A savings account that has a low interest rate is better than nothing, but a diverse portfolio in stocks, bonds, and real estate, as well as life insurance, will help your assets grow.
What you invest in should line up with your risk preferences. Investments with minimum risk are also likely to give you small gains. Bigger risks, on the other hand, come with more substantial possibilities for higher gains.
Talk to your financial planner to determine your preferred level of risk and the options you have for investing. The sooner you get started, the better your retirement plan will be!
Conclusion
As a physician, you know the importance of protecting your health. Prevention is the key to reducing your chances of illness, injury, and disease.The same school of thought applies to your finances. You want them to be healthy, and if you have assets in your savings, keeping them there for your future enjoyment is a goal you must work on actively.
Use these three tips to safeguard your income in the event of an emergency or life-changing event. If you never need them, that’s a great problem to have, but if you do, you are protected.
