The Forgotten Question in a Year-End Review: What Protects the Paycheck?

As the year winds down, many insurance and financial professionals begin conducting client reviews. We review life insurance, retirement accounts and beneficiaries. We talk about Medicare, health insurance, long-term care and retirement planning.

But there is one financial asset that is surprisingly easy to overlook: the client’s ability to earn an income.

For most working clients, their future income may be worth more than almost anything else they own. Consider a 40-year-old earning $100,000 per year. Even without assuming future raises, that person could earn another $2.5 million before age 65.

We insure the house. We insure the cars. We insure our lives. But what happens if an illness or injury prevents the client from earning the paycheck that pays for all of them? That’s the conversation Disability Income insurance is designed to address.

“I HAVE DISABILITY THROUGH WORK”

That’s a great place to start – but it shouldn’t necessarily end the conversation. A year-end review is an excellent opportunity to ask clients exactly what their employer coverage provides.

• How much of their income is actually covered?
• Is the benefit taxable?
• Is there a monthly benefit cap?
• How long is the elimination period?
• How long could benefits continue?
• What definition of disability does the policy use?
• Would the coverage follow them if they changed jobs?

Many employees know they have “disability insurance” but have never looked closely at what that protection would actually provide if they couldn’t work. That creates an opportunity for an agent to provide education rather than simply sell another policy.

START WITH THE PAYCHECK

One of the easiest ways to introduce Disability Income insurance is to avoid talking about insurance at first. Ask:

“If your paycheck stopped tomorrow because you were sick or injured, how long could you continue paying your normal monthly bills?”

Then listen. For many households, savings would disappear surprisingly quickly.

LIMRA’s 2025 Insurance Barometer research found that if consumers lost their ability to earn an income, 51% said they would rely on personal savings. About one-third said they would turn to family, 26% would tap retirement savings, and one in five would use loans or credit cards.

A disability therefore isn’t only a health event. It can become a financial event.

WHY YEAR-END REVIEWS ARE THE PERFECT TIME

A client’s financial situation rarely stays exactly the same from year to year. Maybe they received a raise, changed jobs, became self-employed, bought a larger home, had a spouse stop working, added another child to the family, or haven’t reviewed their existing Disability Income policy in years.

Each of those changes creates a reason to revisit income protection. For business owners and highly compensated professionals, the conversation can go even further. Personal Disability Income insurance, Business Overhead Expense coverage and other disability planning strategies may all deserve consideration depending on the client’s circumstances.

ADD ONE QUESTION TO EVERY REVIEW

You don’t need to turn every year-end appointment into a Disability Income presentation. Simply add one question:

“Before we finish, when was the last time someone reviewed your disability and income protection?”

If the answer is “never,” you have identified an important planning gap. If the client already has coverage, offer to review it. And if the coverage is adequate, tell them so. That’s what builds trust.

The goal isn’t to sell every client another policy. The goal is to identify risks that could derail everything else they are working toward.

Life insurance protects a family’s financial future if someone dies. Retirement planning helps protect their future income after they stop working. Disability Income insurance helps protect the income that gets them there.

As you conduct year-end reviews, don’t forget to protect the client’s most valuable asset: their ability to earn a paycheck.