- I'm a stay-at-home mom and part-time freelance writer — my income helps pay down our debts, but it's my husband who covers the majority of our bills.
- I didn't think my income mattered enough to protect it with disability insurance until our financial adviser changed my mind.
- He told us: Protecting your income should be the priority, especially before you make any major decisions about how you use your money.
- Policygenius can help you compare disability insurance policies to find the right coverage for you, at the right price »
A little while back, a nurse came to my house for a medical exam, but not because I'm unhealthy. I'm in the application process for a new disability insurance policy, which will protect my income if for some reason I'm not able to continue working in the future.
I'm fortunate enough to have both life insurance and basic disability insurance coverage through my husband's employer. At first, I was resistant to the idea of purchasing an add-on policy for greater coverage, since I technically already have both. Honestly, I saw paying for more insurance as just another line item in our monthly budget rather than a way to protect our income and, ultimately, our future.
I didn't see the point in paying for more insurance
My thought process was simple. As a stay-at-home mom, I never really set out to have a career. I work part-time as a freelance writer, and I view my income as supplementary to my husband's (he works as a software engineer at a tech startup). We've generally paid our bills with his paychecks, then used whatever unpredictable cash I brought in to pay off debt, save, or use as spending money.
So I wasn't totally wrong: We don't need my income in the sense that we could make our house payments without it. But we do need it if we want to continue paying off debt and saving for the future, which are two of our biggest financial goals.
Another issue impeding our decision was that I also didn't define "disability" all that broadly, so it didn't seem very realistic. Sure, anybody can get in a car accident, but it's unlikely — especially because I don't drive that much. I don't play sports or engage in any risky behaviors that would cause me to, say, break a limb.
But what about chronic pain or debilitating migraines? What if I'm struggling with depression or anxiety that interfere with my ability to get work done? Those things seem far more likely, and I've never considered until now how we would manage financially if I was dealing with any of them.
Our financial adviser changed my changed
All of my misconceptions about disability insurance shifted in a recent meeting with our financial adviser. We were discussing our budget and cash flow when he brought up a good point: Protecting your income should be the priority, especially before you make any major decisions about how you use your money.
Sitting down to talk after the appointment, my husband and I realized during that meeting that while the bare bones of our lifestyle would be covered if something happened to either of us, our lifestyle wouldn't — and neither would our financial goals.
With our current income and short- and long-term financial goals in mind, our financial adviser recommended the amount of disability insurance I should buy and went over our options with us in the next meeting. We landed on a policy that's high enough to help ensure we can pay off our student loans and our other bills if I'm not working, and that allows us to continue saving money for retirement and, eventually, our kids' education.
I'm still waiting to hear back about how much the monthly premium will be (it'll depend, ultimately, on how "risky" my health and job make me to the insurer), but I'm not too worried about the added expense. It shouldn't add up to more than one date night at a nice restaurant each month, which seems like a fair trade-off.
Now that we're thinking more long-term about our financial goals, it feels good to have the extra protection in place. Our next step — once we are able to use a bit more of our income on paying off short-term debt — is to add on a term life insurance policy to protect both of our incomes in the event that something happens to either of us.
It can feel stressful and even overwhelming to think that far in the future, but I'm learning that the process of ensuring security for my family is worth the peace of mind.
SmartAsset's free tool can find a financial planner to help you take control of your money »
- More personal finance coverage
- 4 reasons to open a high-yield savings account while interest rates are down
- It took less than 10 minutes to open a high-yield cash account with Wealthfront and earn more on my savings
- How to buy a house with no money down
- When to save money in high-yield savings
- Best rewards credit cards
- 7 reasons you may need life insurance, even if you think you don't
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America