Where to look for disability insurance savings

Disability insurance can provide you with income if your income is reduced due to illness or injury. However, disability policies are expensive. If you want to cut costs while maintaining the protection you need, consider one or more of these tactics:

* Extend the waiting period. Specify that your benefits will not begin until you have been disabled for six months or a year. The longer you wait, the lower your premiums. You can take this action if you have sufficient cash reserves.

* Reduce profit. Perhaps you would like to receive, say, $5,000 per month if you are disabled. A policy that pays, say, $3,000 per month will be cheaper. With that $3,000 per month, you might be able to cover your basic living expenses.

* Reduce the benefit period. Most disability policies will pay until age 65. A policy that pays no more than five years will cost less.

* Let the riders “dismount”. Many disability insurance vendors will encourage you to add optional riders. Some options are valuable, but they increase the cost. You can probably do without runners who pay extra in the event of an accident or if you need to be hospitalized. You might also consider doing without a rider that adjusts your benefits for inflation or a rider that will pay out “residual” (partial) disability benefits.