If you believe that life insurance only applies to you when you die, then you have yet to discover the power of life insurance with living benefits, where you can access your benefit while you are alive.

Living benefits allows you to access a portion or up to all of your death benefit. This gives you the peace of mind that you don’t have to drain any of your own funds or assets. This is the concept of “insuring your money” so in the event that you are unable to perform at work or in your business, you have a bucket of resources that is available to you while you are alive. Some call it income protection and critical illness insurance and/or serious illness insurance

Here are the Top 3 Living Benefits to look for.

Terminal Illness Insurance

A majority of carriers will include Terminal Illness living benefits in their insurance products. This benefit will apply when your physician diagnoses you with a terminal illness that is likely to result in your death within 24 months.

Chronic Illness Insurance

You are eligible for Chronic Illness living benefits when your physician certifies, within the last 12 months, that you are unable to perform at least two of the six Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) unassisted for a minimum of 90 days consecutively or you are cognitively impaired for a minimum of 90 days. ADLs include bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting and transferring.

Note: Medicare does not cover this type of care and many individuals without this type of living benefit will be forced to drain their own resources and assets to cover expenses related to this kind of illness.

Critical Illness or Injury Insurance

Experiencing a critical illness may be a huge financial burden to you and your family. We are all potentially one doctor’s visit away from being physically unable to perform our duties to earn income. Having this type of living benefit may be a key component in protecting your income and/or your financial future or retirement. The most basic Critical illness or Injury living benefits cover being diagnosed with cancer, heart attack and stroke, as these are some of the most common illnesses and leading causes of death worldwide. –(World Health Organization – “Top 10 Causes of Death” -Aug 5, 2020)

This type of living benefit may also cover many other illnesses such as:

-Angioplasty, Kidney failure, Organ transplants, Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple sclerosis, Cystic fibrosis, Paralysis, Severe burns.