Congratulations to the 2013 graduating class of medical students and dental students! Most of you had graduation this past week and feel a great sense of relief and accomplishment!

During this week, I have received several calls, texts and emails asking if they should purchase their disability insurance right now as a medical or dental student or wait a few weeks until they start their residency. We refer to this as the disability insurance dilemma limbo.

The question comes down to where you are graduating from and where you will be doing your residency. If there are discounts available at your medical school or dental school and not at your residency or new hospital,  purchase it now before you move to your residency. If you graduated this week, you have until the end of the month to still obtain those discounts. For example, I have several clients graduating from Tufts University School of Medicine this week who took advantage of these discounts. This is especially crucial for the students who are moving to California where the discounts don’t exist at their new program, but the rates are also significantly higher.

If you are moving from a non discounted medical school or moving to a state with less expensive rates, you are better off waiting until your residency starts. For example, I have a client graduating from medical school in California and moving here to Colorado to practice her residency at University of Colorado Hospital. By waiting until she arrives in Denver, she will save substantially.

If you are staying put where you are or if there are discounts at both places (or neither), your timing will depend on when you have the time to complete the paperwork and take the blood and urine test.

The best thing to do is to contact us here at Set for Life Insurance and we can walk you through the process and help you determine the best course of action.

Congratulations again graduating class of 2013!