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<p>You/Job is the firm part of the equation. The Benefit(s) is the derivative part of you/job.
Stay on the Parent’s forum and you will find that It all happens, its only a matter of when. When and How Much $ are the two parts of derivatives. The third part is the pain.</p>
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<p>Insurance, (derivative) is to lay off risk that {you} can not absorb comfortably. It is exactly analogous to the credit bubble. </p>
<p>Dental and vision costs can typically be absorbed or should be easily absorbed at your income level, age, and risk. </p>
<p>However, just one carie, out-of-pocket expense, will pay for dental insurance. A dental cap, several years worth of insurance. Cleaning 2x/yr, is thrown as our part of benefit on our dental program.</p>
<p>some benefits let you enroll after you incur the ‘hazard’ and some do not. The insurance that does not allow enrollment after the discovery is the one that pays out the most in comparison to its cost.</p>
<p>My company changed its STD/LTD policy a few years back. It takes just 5 days off work to be required to go under STD. Since I have accrued sick leave, I am able to fund the remaining 40% (it is 60% of pay in STD) using my SL. It proved its worth when I was out for 6 weeks with cancer treatments. </p>
<p>I think I pay a little extra each paycheck for better LTD coverage. Many times if you don’t enroll in these the very first time they are offered, you don’t get a chance again unless you get a medical exam. As someone above said, sometimes things appear in the intervening years which make it difficult to get on a plan later.</p>
<p>Regarding disability insurance (my personal take on it), depends on your career and job. Some jobs that are more cerebral and less heavy labor are much LESS likely that you will ever be able to collect disability on–I can and have seen a lot of folks who do heavy manual labor and/or under more hazardous conditions who become disabled but less so with folks who have more “white collar” intellectual & less physically challenging work. I have never had disability insurance & don’t know if hubby ever has.</p>
<p>I know that many people disagree and are glad they have their disability policies–we all make different choices.</p>
<p>The point about looking into life insurance IF premiums are low and you can get it now at a guaranteed low premium that will stay at or about that low rate for an extended period & is GUARANTEED renewed, it could be worthwhile. Because I & both my kids have chronic health conditions, we likely do NOT qualify for life insurance, even tho we’re quite healthy otherwise.</p>
<p>Having a good health insurance policy that has a deductible & co-payments you can afford is CRUCIAL–it is otherwise a HUGE risk that most of us can’t self-insure for.</p>
<p>You also listed Group Umbrella Liability Insurance & Health Care Flexible Spending Acct that no one has commented on, so here you go:</p>
<p>Umbrella Liability - Only necessary if you have significant assets to protect in the event you get sued. Since you don’t have a car, that’s a big plus, as you can’t hurt someone, however if you rent a bit, you are open to it. I’m not sure on your finances, but it’s probably the least important on your list.</p>
<p>Flex Spending account - no cost to you. Just estimate all your medical & dental out of pockets and RX to put money aside pre-tax. A big change for 2011, however, is you can’t use it for OTC products like tylenol or contact lens solution. Given that change, I cut our family’s annual estimate by over $500. </p>
<p>One type of insurance you didn’t mention, but is necessary, is renter/homeowners. Look around and add up how much it would cost to replace your stuff. It doesn’t take much of a loss to may it worthwhile and it’s general fairly cheap. Also, some homeowners policies (not sure about renters), give you small general liability coverage.</p>