02 Jan Disability Insurance Gives a Way of Life
Disability insurance gives a way of life for the Zatir family
At 45, attorney Peter Zatir attributed the fatigue he was feeling to middle age. Add to that a busy law practice and five active kids—the youngest just a year old—and it’s easy to see how he could have written off the early signs of a serious illness. When he finally visited his doctor, the diagnosis was grim. He had an aggressive form of thyroid cancer and was given less than a year to live.
As Peter lay awake at night, his financial situation was one thing he didn’t lose sleep over. When Peter and his partner opened their law practice, they knew they needed insurance advice and turned to Brent Kimball, CFP, CLU, ChFC, who convinced them to protect their incomes and the business with disability insurance.
Shortly after Peter stopped working to focus on fighting his disease, the individual disability insurance policy he purchased began paying a monthly benefit. A year later, Peter had outlived his prognosis, but knew with a damaged larynx that he could never return to the courtroom to litigate cases. Because the partners had set up a buy-sell agreement and funded it with a disability buy-out policy, Peter was compensated for his half of the business, and his partner became the sole owner.
An experimental drug reduced Peter’s tumor, which surgeons were then able to operate on. Now, almost six years after his diagnosis, Peter is doing better, and has been able to maintain his family’s standard of living. He continues to receive benefits from his individual disability policy, and his retirement is being funded thanks to an additional disability policy he had in place for that purpose. “I dread where we would be today if I hadn’t taken Brent’s advice,” he says.
As a business owner, you’re responsible for two families: the one you have at home and the one you have through work. That’s why it’s important to have disability insurance coverage to protect both. Learn more about disability insurance and contact QQIS today to get a quote.
Disability Insurance Gives a Way of Life – Video Transcription
Evamarie Zatir Fernandes (Sister): Pete is loyal, dedicated.
Melody Zatir (Wife): Very responsible, very strong, smart.
Peter Zatir: I was born in 1961, grew up in New Bedford, Mass. Working class family. Somewhere along the way decided that I was going to go to law school. Went into personal injury law. My wife and I, Melody, have 5 children so I knew that, you know, at some point I have to start thinking about life insurance and disability insurance personally as well as the fact that my partner and I doing pretty well in our practice making a good deal of money and we need to protect the value of the practice.
Brent Kimball (Insurance Agent): We went the a conference room and we shut the door and except for a small lunch break – maybe a half hour – we had an 8 hour meeting. We had put in individual disability, we had put in a disability buyout, we had put in a retirement plan, we put a life insurance buyout, and we also put life insurance in the retirement plan.
Melody: You have to plan for the unexpected. It doesn’t matter what you think you feel today.
Peter: In the spring of 2006, I noticed that I was feeling a bit tired over the course of the day.
Melody: And one morning out of the blue he hadn’t been feeling – well little things had been going on – and he asked me if I felt a lump on his throat.
Peter: The original diagnosis was what they called an anaplastic thyroid cancer which is a very aggressive thyroid cancer.
Evamarie: The doctor’s told him to go home and get his affairs in order. That he probably had less than 6 months to live.
Brent: What the doctors didn’t realize is he already had his affairs in order. All we really did was pull together some of the family members to actually sit down and make sure that we had it exactly the way we wanted it.
Evamarie: He underwent chemotherapy and radiation simultaneously which was very very devastating to his body.
Melody: They were fighting just to get us time. Just to get us time.
Peter: So ultimately it was decided that surgery was an option which was an extreme feeling of hope for me. I woke up, I saw my wife there.
Melody: He was blowing on his fingers and he said “I don’t have a tube?” I said, “No. I saw the news and it’s so good, it’s so good.”
Peter: My surgeon ultimately that the cancer was like a vine around my esophagus and my trachea and around my lymph nodes. They were able to peel it away without having to do the structural repairs that they anticipated. Unfortunately, however, I’ve been left with a completely paralyzed vocal chord on the left side so it’s very difficult for me to talk.
I’m at the prime of my life at 49, but I’m not able to exercise my profession. I’m not able to get out there and put on the suit and tie and go into courtroom and fight the battle. That being said, I’m doing much better. I’m spending a lot of time with my children. I’m focusing on my well-being.
Brent: After a year, the disability buyout called for him to be bought out from the firm. So he got his initial lump sum from that and he’s getting installments so we have about another year left on the installments and he’ll be fully bought out. And from the day he got the lump sum the practice went to his partner.
Peter: It’s important to do this kind of planning because life is full on uncertainties and life is full of risks. It enabled me to sleep better at night knowing that protection was in place. Without that protection I couldn’t fathom where me and my family would be right now.