What is disability insurance and who sells it?
Well, first off - if you own an individual disability policy, that is, one that you purchased on your own, outside of work, or paid for by your own funds through work, then you will appreciate this blog. I owned both, and if I hadn't my life would be a total disaster by now. I feel that having such a
contract to protect your future income stream is absolutely a MUST for everyone who is working for pay in the United States. I would recommend to all citizens of the US to advocate for each other and spread the word of how important learning and obtaining your own financial future is to your life.
First, let me tell you my story. I once was a financial planner, on the road to become certified and successful. I learned so much through working for an insurance company, that it felt like it was my future, my ethics, my life, and my
business. I had to market and advertise, all by myself but through some assistance of the agency I was working for at the time in Bedford, NH. I had to search and find my clients who would be purchasing the insurances that I sold which was mostly life and disability insurance. I had to become familiar with all the rules and regulations of the
financial industry, including being educated in finance, accounting, and law. I had to maintain a standard code of ethics and become part of an ever changing financial
insurance industry. I become thoroughly educated and had to as part of my 4 year work contract. This education was constant while I worked full time in my career. (Oh by the way, I found this job by reading in the newspaper about a job offer with an unlimited ceiling for income. It never stated what that was until I had my first interview. And ever then, I had to secure my future with the agency by having 3 interviews to see if I could potential succeed in this endeavor. And I did obviously).
The career of a financial planner was that of long hours, working Monday through Saturday at the office and abroad via your personal vehicle. Spreading the news about your status as a registered agent of the insurance industry to all your family and friends and hopefully working under a mentorship program that the agency formed for you. Well the ups and downs of this industry were extreme and my income was limited to only $1500/month, just part of what I needed to maintain my standard of living and monthly expenses. Although I could ask for a bonus that became tiresome for asking everytime when I was short on change felt lowly and demeaning, especially when I had earned the right to obtain some of my future earned income from a pool of funds that was maintained by the agency and its managers. That kinda sucked. But I was a hard worker and I did well in the beginning for a newbie and I received my share of the extra income that I earned. Oh, just to let you know, this pool of funds had upwards of $54,000 in it to be earned over the length of your career contract. That impressed me, and I said, "yeah, I want this extra income" to myself. Your present sales were multiplied by a factor of I think 3.3 to start, so if you earned $1000 worth of commissions, you actually earned $3,300. This factoring slowly decreased over each quarter until you had no factoring. This extra funding mechanism was built to help new agents "make it" in the business. It was pool of money that I wanted to so badly earn. I was mistaken to allow the sales manager of the business - the one who interviewed me, to lower my expected income from $2,500 to $1,500. He knew that this was absolute income that had to be received, whether or not I could earn it. I was told that it was flexible and that it could be raised to $2,500 or more later, but of course that never happened. So, this was the first lie that I earned.
Anyway, I worked for several years. Had to pay back some commissions due to the agency screwing with my numbers to make themselves look good, and to allow me a trip with the agency to a conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. I enjoyed the trip but sorely hated the backlash of paying back almost $9,000 in commissions a few months later. I then only earned my minimum $1,500/month, which was not enough. This income stayed stagnant like this for several months, and I begged and pleaded to receive more income, because I earned it...I soon later learned that if they depleted my pool of "extra" income....and I quit, they would lose out on they bonus or regular income, as they earned a piece of my commission for every sale I made. Oh yeah, how about earning only 50% of each insurance sale....that means if I earned $100, I got only $50. That sucks right! Yes indeed. Most other agencies paid upwards of 90% but that didn't stop me from educating myself and continuing on a downward spiral with this firm. I believed in their efforts and management style, however over time, I regretted my decision for I basically lost my licenses and education, and all my hard work over a period of 4 years because I started to get sick.
I received my series 6, 65, and 7 certificates. I could use them to sell stocks and bonds for people. I also could sell variable annuities and other variable "mutual fund/stock and in the market financial" products. I eanred so many life insurance licesnses from Metlife, to
New England Financial to Unum to others I just cannot remember. I really loved my job....it was my life for such a long time. I earned good money for the most part, but the agency really did me in which exascerbated a hidden mental condition that I soon discovered to be bipolar I disorder.
Working for New England Financial was awesome to me, it was the career of a lifetime. I was being educated while working at the same time. Soon I became upset at my managers and felt they lied to me, continued to lie to me, and really not "hook me up" so to speak with a good mentoring program. I had to do it by myself, like any hard worker, I was up for it. Cuz I had earned some connections and made good contacts that were going to help me "outside" of the agency. Although I learned that the old mantra of the agency program was meant to create a solid menttorship program for agents to continue their success after they have shown their true colors over the period of the 4 year contract. I was one of those good eggs. However, I didn't succeed all the time at speaking in front of large groups of consumers, nor could I really "close" a deal. I was an expert at finding qualified suspects who would then become qualified clients. No one used my talents properly and they suffered and I suffered for it ultimately.
I started work in September of 2000 and was convinced by the managers to purchase my own policies that I was selling. Both life and disability insurances. So I did. It was a kind of requirement. But it took over a year before I made the decision (from what I can remember). I purchased a term life insurance policy for $400,000 that had provisions in it that if I were disabled that it would continue to pay for the contract while I was still disabled (that is called a "premium waiver rider") and also it would turn into a
whole life insurance product being paid for by the company while I was disabled, if indeed I was disabled for I think 3 or more years in a row. I also owned a second life insurance policy that was a variable whole life product that had the premium waiver rider on it, and a provision that stated if I was disabled that it would pay out a guaranteed monthly income of $600/month until a pool of $60,000 was exhausted. I also purchased a 2 year disability policy. I never thought of anything with these contracts and I fully thank the Lord above for giving me the opportunity to obtain the very policies that have saved my future income. I didn't read all the fine print and didn't really know much about the contracts I just purchased besides some of these "extra cost riders". Time had past and I continued to work diligently.
In 2002, I had been suffering from the sales cycle, the ups and downs of this business and it affected my life. I went to some doctors and they diagnosed me with bipolar II disorder. In 2004, I was still experiencing major depression and manic symptoms because a lot was happening from February to June of 2004. In the beginning of the year, I had to stop paying on my mortgage of the 3 family home I had purchased prior to obtaining this job. I didn't earn enough cash to support my lifestyle. I was becoming extremely hypersexual, which means that I had sex with multiple anonymous partners. I frequently departed work to have sex with men, I was cheating on my girlfriend. I did bad things. I didn't care. I was losing my mind and hope for my successful business. I had nightmares and feared that I would lose my house. I was awful. I just had an I don't care attitude. I borrowed money from friends. I did drugs and more drugs, and had more sexual encounters with strangers, all to soothe my emotional financial instability during this time period.
Then I lost it, became very psychotic, thought I was Jesus Christ, was talking to bugs, doing crystal meth - a lot of it. My sisters and brother came to my rescue at my house and confronted me in my bedroom and wanted me to go to the hospital. So my half brother and girlfriend had to bring me Parkland Medical, and my family followed. They stayed at the hospital while they figured out what to do with me. They released me after a very long wait to find out that my insurance wouldn't cover me at this hospital. So off to the hospital in Portsmouth, called the Pavilion. I ended up staying there for 4 nights and was then diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder. I was not myself. I was not paying my bills, paying attention to detail like usual, work was a joke, my life was becoming shameful. So in the summer of 2004, I begged my girlfriend to pick me up and stated to the hospital that I was leaving. They suggested against it. I thought I was fine. I went to work and explained my situation to one of my managers "outside" of work. He thought I had a chemical inbalance in my head. I told him the details of my visit to the hospital and that they diagnosed me with Bipolar. I was allowed back to work and then I became very unpredictable again. I was doing weird things at the office and my agency feared me and what I was capable of doing. I was suspended a few times, they wanted a doctor's note before I could work again. I got that by convincing the doctor that I was fine, so I passed that test of my agency. The managers wanted me to go out on disability, but I feared that I didn't know how I was going to be paid, and so I was against it and said I was "fine". I eventually filled out a disability form at work, to be denied from my managers and I stormed out of the agency, mad as hell.
I went back to work one of the next days and was silent the entire time. I couldn't and didn't talk at all. My manager was worried that I couldn't do my job, there was hardly anyone at the office at this time around 5:00pm....and so my sales manager threatened to call the police if I didn't leave. I needed to stay and find out some information about a policy of mine, so I was doing my work, advocating for me, and I turned around and ignored him. The police came, I left and then I didn't come back. I got a letter stating that I was terminated for the behavior that my manager experienced and that in 30 days I would lose my license with the agency. I wasn't to sell insurance or be an agent with them any longer. I didn't know what to do.
In July of 2004, I lost my house to an foreclosure auction while I was under the covers in bed, way up on the 3rd floor in my bedroom and was extremely depressed. I cried and was so sad. My girlfriend lived on the first floor at this time. She watched as the auction finished and people tried to get in to see the house, but she didn't allow it. I on the other hand was frightened and silent and alone.
My girlfriend was told by the winner of the auction that he was giving us notice to move from the property. She found a place in Concord, NH. Leaving Raymond, NH behind was devastating enough to me. I was now going to be moving in with my girlfriend into a home while still in my extreme state of mind. Was this a mistake? It wasn't a mistake. If I didn't have my girlfriend to support me financially, emotionally and for so much more I wouldn't be here speaking out about this. I would be in a mental institution.
To make this long story shorter for now, I was able to over the course of one year, complete my disability paperwork for my life insurances, disability insurance and social security. I was able to reclaim possession of my policies and have them reinstated for they never got paid for about one year. I was able to go out on disability, which means that my policy was going to pay me my benefit of up to $36,000 over the course of two years. Well I got it in a lump sum, as it was already a year into the disease of my mental conditions. I not only had bipolar disorder, I had PTSD, OCD, psychotic disorder not otherwise specified, and ADD and was not mentally stable at all.
I received my disability income benefit, I received back pay from premiums I used to pay for my life insurance policies, and I received the $600/month guaranteed benefit each month, as well as securing my income benefit from social security of $1200/month. I was thankful and couldn't have done this without the help of my girlfriend. I will explain in another blog what it means to have an advocate on your side, as I was the financial advocate for myself, while I was sane and sold my policies to myself. No one was there to help clean up my mess, except for me, and I was ill. How can this be?
Without the help of these policies, to this day I would be in a mental hospital. I already have gone into Concord's 5-West mental health wing twice, since my first breakdown. I am so glad that I was able to get back on my feet using the funds that I had coming to me from my previously purchased disability and life insurance policies. It paid to be a financial planner and God put me there for a reason, to spread His word, his work, and the work of insurance in our society.
This story is real and recent. Be mindful of your families and if you are single or have children - you really must get some sort of disability insurance for yourself. Don't rely on work to provide that for you. Work isn't always there for you, especially in this economy. Just think if you relied on them for this and you were terminated or laid off then you got into a bad car accident? What if you fell down the stairs or on ice and were laid up for several months? years? Talk to a financial planner. Learn the ropes of this insurance and help those around you who are in need of an advocate if you find them to be mentally ill. It will pay off. Mentally ill people are really in need of so much help. Won't you advocate for yourself before any hidden illness creeps up on you. I never knew about mine. It is common among 30-40 year olds and because of childhood trauma, genetics, and the stresses of work and the environment you live in, anything can exascerbate it, bring it out into the open. Just make sure you are diagnosed correctly and you have second opinions. Don't let this illness take over your life - because it can so easily.
However, with disability insurance, you can be assured that you will have the funds to continue to live your lifestyle for as long as you are covered, up to age 65 with most policies. So, look around and find someone who advocates these types of plans and policies, so that your future will be saved too!
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