A Family Business – Team Q&A

Andy: When I started selling insurance, my favorite clients were my physicians. They were smart, hardworking, accomplished, and they were experts at what they did. They mirrored the way I wanted to build my career; I was working to become an expert in insurance and to find the best place to add value and help my clients.

Physicians also face unique economic realities. They often go from making very little income during their training to suddenly making a significant amount of money, basically overnight, when they enter practice. Through talking with many physicians, I realized they needed income protection more than most people because they invest more than up front in their careers than most people. By the time physicians finally start earning their income after years of additional education, they’re often in their 30s or older. They’ve invested years in training through medical school, residency, fellowship and more. The cost of a physician losing the ability to practice is so significant to their financial lives.

When I was starting out there weren’t many people specializing in disability insurance. It was a newer form of income protection that was different from life insurance or other types of coverage. Disability insurance is the only insurance that pays you directly as the insured. It’s also the product folks are most likely to need over the course of their lives—unfortunately 1 in 4 people will become disabled at some point during their working career.

Over time I found the perfect niche: working with clients building careers in medicine, with their specific financial needs, and a product offering income protection in the event of disability. I’ve never looked back.

D.K.: When I started talking to military physicians I realized many of them didn’t know exactly how much disability income protection they had. Some military physicians weren’t aware their civilian side income (moonlighting) was not protected. I quickly learned through my conversations that other insurance agents were focusing exclusively on civilian physicians and active-duty military physicians were undeservedly being overlooked. We can provide exceptional income protection to the folks who protect us through their service in the military, and we should.

Jenna: An incredible group of female physicians got me through a very challenging personal health experience; I have saved voicemails from a few on my phone and still see them. When I started working in insurance, I didn’t explicitly set out to work with women, I certainly have many male clients as well. It’s also become clear over time that my female physician friends and clients have unique concerns relevant to their shared personal experiences: the same questions continue to arise.

• When in their family planning should female physicians purchase disability insurance?
• How does this type of coverage fit into their financial goals?
• How can women find the most cost-effective options for coverage with comprehensive income protection (as plans for women are often more expensive than for men)?
• Do they need to consider life insurance?

D.K.: I wanted an opportunity to use my analytical abilities to help people efficiently understand their options to protect themselves and their family against financial calamity. In my previous work benchmarking small business retirement plans for cost-efficiency, I realized that recommendations that made perfect financial sense were shot down to protect relationships. With individual disability / life insurance, objectivity is necessary, not optional. My father (who also had a disability insurance background) suggested that I obtain my insurance license, and he introduced me to a local agent who introduced me to Andy.

Jenna: I had a personal health experience that caused me to think for the first time about the unique health challenges professional women face, and the lack of options and education for how women can best protect our ability to earn a living. At the same time, I built incredible relationships with a group of female physicians who helped me navigate the most challenging experience of my life. Our health can be unpredictable. Life is unpredictable! All we can do is be ready for the inevitable challenges. My transition to working in insurance full-time started out gradually, then happened all at once. It was hard to leave the customer experience career I built in tech, but as I kept helping more with DI4MDs, evolving how we work with our clients, and thinking about what made us special, I kept taking on more projects.

I made the decision to join DI4MDs full-time and get my insurance license when I started talking directly to and learning from our incredible clients. Every conversation drove home how important income protection for our physicians is. This work is an opportunity to help them protect their biggest investment; I couldn’t be prouder to do it.

Andy: Helping people with claims. One of the first claims I experienced was a dentist who developed a neurodegenerative condition that made it impossible for him to continue to practice dentistry. I worked with him to help him file his claim and navigate what can be a challenging process. Years later, he introduced me to his son as “the guy who made it possible for you to go to college.” That’s why we provide claims assistance for our clients—we know them. We know what matters in their lives. We know what they’re protecting. We build personal relationships with our clients and we’re there for them when they need us.

We live in a time of unprecedented medical advancements, and because of who we work with, we’re always learning about new therapies or treatments. Our clients also tell us this can be a double-edged sword. Patients are now surviving accidents and illnesses that in the past that would have potentially led to death. Our clients highlight how many people are now living with disabling conditions. We want to make sure every single one of our clients is able to support their families, ideally working full-time as physicians in their chosen medical specialty! If they become disabled and can no longer practice, we will be there so they can continue to support their families.

D.K.: Nothing makes me happier than when I’m able to help a client establish high-quality disability insurance that they may otherwise not qualify for due to health history. Disability insurance underwriting decisions can be harsh, and people do not realize how just one note in their medical record can negatively impact the terms of their policy. Being able to help my clients navigate that and find the best income protection solution for them is rewarding.

Jenna: I love watching people’s careers and families grow over time. Growing up, I recognized that a lot of my doctors were my dad’s clients. Then I watched several become family friends and I grew up friends with their kids. I vividly remember the first time a friend of mine became a client. And now I get to connect and re-connect with my own clients when they’re having kids, starting their own practices, and for a few lucky folks (so far!) retiring. Personal relationships make this work so fun for me.