The Essence of Disability Insurance
Ron Cohen, RHU

The holiday season can be quite chaotic for many. The traveling alone, well, you get the picture. If you are one of those who wandered through the airports checking flight schedules and baggage, the word anxiety comes to mind. All and all, still a great time of the year!
I noticed something very interesting during my run through the crowds, standing in lines, sitting and waiting for the plane to board and then again, during the flight. We have become a Society dependent upon electronics. Cell phones, PDA’s and computers were everywhere! The minute the stewardess requested the passengers turn off their electronic companions, I am certain, many felt helpless and out of touch with the world!
At this point, many purchased the movie, read, or just went to sleep. In other words, few began communicating with one another. That’s the point here. Interaction, where have you gone?
During the last hurricane (Ike), many of us lost power and were forced to shut down our businesses for weeks. Some lost their businesses entirely, as well as their homes and some, even lost their lives. Nature and life are indeed unpredictable.
Information has become a chosen commodity. In other words, the TV station you watch, the radio stations you listen to, the movies you view, the books you read, the websites you visit, all are by choice. Now, turn off the power and your access to information is lost and you remain in the dark….for how long? Until somebody comes and fixes your power lines, you will be helpless. Again, the word anxiety comes to mind.
Preparing for a hurricane might help, having a generator, water, propane tanks and so on, could be beneficial….but many here in Texas realized that after the fact. At a local Loews store, I asked one of the workers how many generators they sold after the hurricane. “At least 1000”, he said. “People want to prepare for the next power outage”, he said. I’m sure that’s right. For those that lost their homes and businesses, not much can be done now.
As many of you might know, my house was hit by a tornado during Ike and helpless is a word that just doesn’t quite express the emotional roller coaster my wife and I experienced. As my wife was also disabled during the storm, it was quite traumatic to say the least.
An unforeseen disability due to a “sickness or accident” is unpredictable, yet the odds are much greater than being victimized by a hurricane. One can prepare for a disability and protect their families from the loss of income that will result. “Protecting one’s greatest asset, their ability to earn an income”, is the essence of disability insurance. Receiving the proper information and purchasing coverage prior to a disability is the preparation one must take before the storm. I wonder how many of those 1000 people who purchased generators from Loews, wished they had purchased them a day earlier. Once the lights go out, all information and communication is lost. Perhaps it’s time to interact with each other again and communicate. You might just find that a one on one conversation is the generator you need now.