Live Confidently

By Katie McCord Jenkins, President and Chairperson, Illinois Mutual.

If you were to ask me what type of business my company is in, you might be surprised with my response: We are in the business of preserving dreams and enabling people to live fearlessly in a time when so many live paycheck to paycheck.

Yes, I see the value of purchasing disability income insurance (DI, as I often refer to it), life and worksite insurance products. However, I believe those products are merely the tools that allow people to achieve and safeguard their financial security.

When you form a financial plan, you are expressing your devotion to your loved ones. If you are unable to work due to an injury, illness or pregnancy, products like disability insurance make it possible to pay your bills and keep the dreams you have for those that matter most alive. I’ve learned that those dreams vary from person to person, but the result of enrolling for or purchasing DI is the same: a sense of financial security.

Take Alan, for example. Owners of a dairy farm, Alan and his wife, Stephanie, are living the life they always wanted for their family. They are grateful for their ability to meaningfully contribute to their local community and surrounding areas through the hard work they enjoy. Choosing to be business owners, though, is something of a leap of faith that naturally comes with some apprehension. Yet, it’s what people do in order to follow the dream of owning a business. In order to reduce some of the risks of being a business owner, Alan purchased a DI policy. He understood that protecting his income is key to protecting his way of life⁠—the life he and Stephanie have built for their family.

Alan explained: “Having this insurance has given us the opportunity to enjoy the positive things in life a little more and worry a little bit less about some of the negative things that can happen in life.” He knows that having an income protection plan in place empowers small business owners to live more confidently and actively pursue their dreams.

I’m passionate about the importance of having disability insurance as part of your financial plan – as were my grandfather and father before me. There are a number of good carriers in the country who believe, as I do, that we can never forget that our job is to serve you. We work to fulfill our promise to pay claims with a sense of compassion and understanding that reflect the mountain of details that come along with experiencing a disability and being out of work.

We recently heard from a mother whose daughter, a professional single mom in her 40’s, suffered a stroke: “I bought a van with an access seat. A seat in the middle row will slowly make a 90-degree turn. It will tilt back and lower my daughter to the ground level. This van has been the most wonderful gift from God. The van was perfect. Without [the disability insurance check], I could have never afforded it. Thank you for your help.”

I am truly energized by the work my company does every day because, just like me, people are going to work every day to provide for those who depend on them. We recognize the significance of those relationships and prioritize offering DI coverage as a benefit to our qualified employees at no charge for this reason. It’s our way of honoring our employees and their commitment to those who matter most to them.

DI is an insurance product that is a critical part of financial planning, and the impact of knowing disability income insurance is in place to keep dreams alive and enable more working Americans to live confidently is truly what it’s all about.