The Responsible Resident
The Responsible Resident Podcast is a short-form educational series designed for medical students, residents, and fellows who want clarity around financial decisions during training, without pressure, sales, or noise.
Hosted by Amber Stitt, co-owner of MD Disability Quotes and a 15-year specialist in physician income protection, this podcast focuses on what truly matters during medical training: timing, underwriting, and protecting future earning power.
Most residents believe financial decisions can simply be handled later. What this series explains, calmly and clearly, is that some decisions are influenced by health history and timing. Flexibility exists during training, but it does not last forever.
You don’t need to take action immediately. The goal is competence first, so when decisions matter, you’re prepared.
If you’re in training and want to understand your options before they narrow, this podcast is for you.
The Responsible Resident
How Much Disability Insurance Coverage Do You Need? - RR Ep 6
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How much disability insurance should physicians have—and how is coverage calculated?
Disability insurance for doctors, income replacement, issue and participation limits explained.
In this episode of The Responsible Resident, Amber Stitt explains how much disability insurance physicians should carry, including income replacement percentages, training limits for residents, and how financial underwriting determines benefit amounts.
Learn how group disability insurance impacts private coverage, what issue and participation limits mean, and how to structure income protection throughout your career.
Follow, for more on disability insurance, underwriting, and financial planning for physicians.
📻 Thank you for tuning in to The Responsible Resident!
To Download the FREE Medical Professionals Blueprint:
If you would like a free quote, please contact us at:
mddisabilityquotes.com/responsible-resident
Amber Stitt is a disability insurance specialist with over 15 years of experience helping physicians protect their income and make informed financial decisions.
As the host of The Responsible Resident, she brings a structured, education-first approach to topics like disability insurance, underwriting, and income protection, areas often overlooked during medical training.
🔗 Connect with host, Amber Stitt, on Social Media:
📲 Be sure to visit the Stitt Strategies website:
🎬 And remember, let's take action today!!!
Amber Stitt [00:00:00]:
Welcome to The Responsible Resident. I'm Amber Stitt. This podcast takes a common sense approach to financial decisions for physicians, breaking down complex topics into something clear, practical, and usable. Because you shouldn't have to have a finance degree to build financial freedom. Today we're covering a very common question physicians ask when reviewing disability: "How much disability insurance should you actually have?" Income replacement is the goal. At its core, disability insurance is designed to replace a portion of your income if you become too sick or injured to work. Most private disability insurance policies are designed to replace roughly 50% to 60% of your income. Group contracts may cover a higher percent and we will explain why shortly. These percentages exist because disability benefits are typically designed to replace enough income to maintain your lifestyle, while also recognizing that certain expenses like commuting or retirement contributions may change if someone is not working, but is also factored to consider your tax bracket and take home pay.
Amber Stitt [00:01:09]:
Because benefits are often paid tax free when premiums are paid with after tax dollars, the effective income replacement can feel similar to what physicians take home after taxes. The higher the tax bracket, the lower the income replacement figure, especially for the higher earner in the higher tax bracket. During residency and fellowship, residents and fellows generally use training limits rather than income limits. The insurance carriers allowed for those in training to secure a certain amount of insurance regardless of income, or any other insurance being offered through a group plan. Because residents are still in training and earning lower salaries, carriers often offer standardized coverage amounts to allow for them to lock-in more at a younger age. Historically, residents had training limits that offered coverage at $5,000 per month. Today it can go as high as $7,500 per month depending on the program and carrier. These limits are designed to provide meaningful income protection early in your career, before your full attending income begins and group insurance is counted.
Amber Stitt [00:02:21]:
Once you transition into practice, eligibility shifts from training based limits to income based limits. At that point, insurance companies use financial underwriting to determine how much coverage you qualify for. Depending on income and any existing disability benefits, total coverage can reach up to $30,000 per month. These limits are structured to reflect a realistic portion of your earnings and there are defined caps on how much coverage can be issued. Those maximum caps vary based on the company, your state, and your specialty, and they do tend to increase over time as incomes and industry limits evolve. Another key factor is employer coverage. If you have a group long-term disability plan through your hospital, or employer, that benefit is included in the calculation. This often surprises physicians and it's common for private coverage to be reduced overall when strong employer benefits are factored into the equation.
Amber Stitt [00:03:24]:
This process is known as "issue and participation limits." It's how insurers determine the total amount of disability coverage you can have at one time. So as you move into practice, your employer benefits can directly impact how much additional private coverage is available to you. In earlier episodes, we covered what to request from HR when reviewing your benefits. When applying for coverage, we submit those details to underwriting so they can complete the financial review. And in many larger health systems, these group benefits are automatically included. You often don't have the option to opt out, which makes understanding how they integrate with your overall plan even more important. To learn more, you can ask HR for these details.
Amber Stitt [00:04:11]:
How much of your base salary is actually covered? Most plans are up to 60% of pre-tax earnings, but this can vary. Is there a maximum monthly limit that could reduce your actual payout? Will your benefits be taxable, or tax free, depending on who pays the premium? Can you review the group certificate to understand definitions, waiting period, benefit duration, and limitations? The White Coat Investor explains that most physicians aim to ensure enough income to maintain their financial obligations and lifestyle if a disability occurs, the goal is not necessarily to replace 100% of income, but to ensure a physician and their family can maintain financial stability during a disability. I'd like to take a second to tell you about a FREE Medical Professional's Blueprint that I created with you in mind. At some point in your career you realize it's not just about making more money, it's about making decisions that actually support your life. That's exactly why I created "The Pathways Perspective for Physicians". It's a simple, non-technical framework to help you think through your career, your money, your risk, and how everything connects as your life evolves. You shouldn't have to have a finance degree to build financial freedom. You don't need to have everything figured out, you just need a place to start.
Amber Stitt [00:05:36]:
You can download the FREE Medical Professionals Blueprint at: StittStrategies.com/Blueprint. So, how much should you buy? For many physicians, the general guideline is to insure as much income as the insurance companies will allow under their issue and participation limits. This approach helps ensure that if a disability occurs, a physician has the strongest income protection available within the structure of the insurance market. If you go on claim, that monthly benefit that you have purchased is locked-in place and you cannot increase it using a purchase rider if on claim. By securing maximums allowed, you are maximizing the coverage and you are in full control here, after the fact. You are always able to downsize the coverage into the future, once you have more financial security. You can always remove riders off, and you can always extend the waiting period out, once you have enough to self-insure. We recommend having annual checkpoints with your advisor to stay on top of any income changes, or group changes to your benefit packages, or if it is time to take a reduction. They can help you determine what your maximums are when you have income or employment changes. The key takeaways: I would like to point out that the amount of disability insurance a physician can purchase depends on several factors: Your training status or income level. Issue and participation limits set by insurance companies. Existing group disability benefits through your employer, and whether you have riders that allow coverage to grow over time.
Amber Stitt [00:07:17]:
Understanding these factors helps physicians design coverage that aligns with both their current career stage and their future income potential. If you'd like help reviewing your disability insurance options, you're welcome to schedule a consultation with our team. My partner, Scott Nelson-Archer and I work with physicians nationwide through MD Disability Quotes to help residents, fellows, and attendings understand their contracts and take an independent look at their income protection options. We truly love what we do and our goal is to empower physicians with the education they need to make clear decisions about protecting their future earning power. You can request a consultation using the link in the description of this episode and our team can typically provide quotes, or underwriting insight within one business day. In the next episode of The Responsible Resident, we'll talk about common mistakes people make with their policies. If this episode helped you think a little more clearly about your next step, that's the goal. You don't need to have everything figured out, but you do need to take ownership and take a meaningful step forward today.
Amber Stitt [00:08:25]:
Thanks for listening to The Responsible Resident. As a reminder, this podcast is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, tax, or individualized financial advice and coverage options will vary based on your personal situation.