| Course | GF591 Individual Insurance Planning |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Disability coverage memo |
| Length | About 800 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Finance |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for GF591 Unit 5
Own Occupation, Nine Thousand a Month, Ninety Days: A Unit 5 Disability Coverage Memo
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
GF591: Individual Insurance Planning
Unit 5 Disability Coverage Memo
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The client, her earnings, the quotes and the household figures are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
To: Client From: Planning Analyst Re: Disability income coverage
Recommendation
Buy a second individual disability contract, one that pays when you cannot do endodontics specifically, with a $9,000 monthly benefit, a 90-day elimination period, and residual, cost-of-living and future increase riders. The quoted premium is about $4,740 a year.
The Gap
Your gross earnings from the practice are about $23,750 a month. Your residency policy pays $5,000, about 21 percent of that. Insurers generally limit total individual coverage to about 60 percent of earnings, here about $14,250, which leaves room for roughly $9,250 more. A $9,000 benefit brings your total to $14,000, or 58.9 percent of gross.
Because you pay the premiums yourself with after-tax dollars, benefits would arrive free of income tax (Internal Revenue Service, 2025). With your spouse's take-home pay of $7,583, the household would receive about $21,583 a month against essential spending of $15,800.
The Definition Comes First
The definition of disability decides whether any benefit is ever paid. Your residency policy uses a modified definition: it pays only if you cannot perform your occupation and are not working in any other. The proposed policy reads: "Total disability means that, due to injury or sickness, you are unable to perform the material and substantial duties of your regular occupation. Your regular occupation is the occupation in which you are engaged at the time disability begins." Under that wording, if a hand tremor ended your ability to perform root canals, benefits would be paid even if you taught at a dental school or consulted.
For a procedural specialist, the definition matters more than the amount, because a fine motor impairment that ends clinical work may leave every other skill intact, and an any-occupation clause would pay nothing.
The Waiting Period: Both Directions
The quote is about $4,740 a year with a 90-day elimination period and about $3,960 with a 180-day period. The longer wait saves $780 a year, 16.5 percent of the premium.
Against that saving, a 180-day wait gives up three more months of benefit, $27,000 on every claim. The saving would need 34.6 claim-free years to repay one claim, longer than the 21 years until you reach 65.
The cash test is decisive. During the wait, essential spending exceeds your spouse's pay by $8,217 a month. Your $64,000 reserve would last about 7.8 months. A 90-day wait uses about $24,650 of it; a 180-day wait uses about $49,300, 77 percent of the household's cash, leaving little for anything else that goes wrong at the same time.
What Was Considered and Rejected
A larger benefit was not available: issue limits cap total coverage near 60 percent of earnings, and the proposal sits just under that line. Replacing the residency policy instead of adding to it was also rejected. That policy was priced when you were younger, its premium is lower than a new one would be, and it can be kept alongside the new contract. A group policy through a dental association was quoted as well, but its definition shifts to any occupation after two years and its rates can change for the whole group, so it does not protect a specialist career for the long term.
Riders
1. Residual disability. Pays a proportional benefit if you return part time with reduced income, which is common after many injuries.
2. Cost-of-living adjustment. Raises benefits during a long claim so inflation does not erode them.
3. Future increase option. Lets you buy more coverage without new medical evidence as the practice grows.
Each rider adds premium, and each is tied to something in your situation: a practice whose income could recover gradually, a long career ahead and earnings likely to rise.
Why Now
You are 44 and in good health. Premiums rise with age, and a new diagnosis could make coverage harder to obtain or lead the insurer to exclude a condition. Research on disabled workers shows that earnings losses after disability are large and lasting, and that public programs replace only a small share for higher earners (Meyer & Mok, 2019).
Outside This Memo
Your practice's fixed costs, such as rent, staff and equipment leases, would continue during a disability. A separate business overhead expense policy is designed for those costs and should be reviewed with the practice's advisers. It is not included here (Rejda et al., 2020).
Next Step
If you agree, the application can be submitted this month, with a paramedical exam scheduled at your office.
References
Internal Revenue Service. (2025). Taxable and nontaxable income (Publication 525). https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525
Meyer, B. D., & Mok, W. K. (2019). Disability, earnings, income and consumption. Journal of Public Economics, 171, 51-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.06.011
Rejda, G. E., McNamara, M. J., & Rabel, W. H. (2020). Principles of risk management and insurance (14th ed.). Pearson.
What the GF591 Unit 5 assignment asks for
GF591's fifth unit asks for a memo advising one client on individual disability income coverage. Lead with the recommendation, then show the gap between earnings and existing benefits, the insurer's likely issue limit and the room it leaves. Explain how premium payment affects the tax treatment of benefits. Put the definition of disability ahead of amount, quoting the proposed wording beside the existing policy's, and explain what it would mean for this client's occupation. Compare elimination periods on both sides: premium saved against benefit given up and cash drained during the wait. Tie each recommended rider to a fact about the client. Record alternatives considered and rejected. Name any related exposure the memo leaves to another policy. Use memo form throughout and cite tax guidance and disability research in APA 7.
Inside the GF591 Unit 5 example
A standard memo header leads into a one-paragraph recommendation. The gap section works from $23,750 of monthly earnings to a 60 percent issue limit and a $9,000 proposal, citing the IRS on tax-free benefits. A definition section quotes the proposed own-occupation wording against the older policy's modified definition, and the highlighted sentence ties it to a specialist's fine motor risk. The waiting period section compares $780 of annual savings with $27,000 a claim and 34.6 claim-free years, then shows $24,650 against $49,300 of reserve consumed. A section records rejected options, including replacing the residency policy and an association group plan. Three riders follow. A section on timing cites Meyer and Mok, and practice overhead coverage is flagged as outside the memo, citing Rejda and colleagues.
Reading the GF591 Unit 5 grading rubric
GF591 disability memos are graded first on structure: a recommendation at the top and the evidence beneath it in memo form. Graders give heavy weight to the definition of disability, quoted and applied to the client's occupation, because it decides whether benefits are ever paid. The benefit amount earns credit when built from issue limits, tax treatment and essential spending rather than a round percentage. Pricing the elimination period in both directions, with the cash drain made explicit, is where many memos separate themselves. Instructors in the MS in Finance program value riders tied to client facts, rejected alternatives explained and a clear boundary around business overhead. The IRS publication on benefit taxation, Meyer and Mok's earnings research and the Rejda text supply the support this memo needs.
GF591 Unit 5 help from the desk
Many GF591 Unit 5 memos pick a benefit amount without checking issue limits or tax treatment, so the recommendation cannot actually be bought or overstates take-home benefits. Definitions are summarized loosely instead of quoted, and the client's occupation is never applied to them. Elimination periods are chosen by premium alone, ignoring the reserve. Riders are listed as a menu rather than tied to the client. Business overhead is either ignored or folded into personal coverage. The recommendation appears on the last page. For a different client, such as a salaried employee with group coverage or a self-employed tradesperson, keep the memo sequence: recommendation, gap and issue limit, tax treatment, definition quoted and applied, waiting period both ways, riders tied to facts, rejected options and what lies outside the memo.
Get a GF591 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Include the client's income, existing coverage, reserve and spending figures from the GF591 Unit 5 case, any quotes supplied and the rubric. A custom memo quotes the definition, builds the amount from issue limits and essentials, prices each waiting period against savings and ties every rider to a fact. The first one is free; 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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GF591 Unit 5 questions, answered
Why does tax treatment change the benefit amount?
Because the same monthly figure is worth different amounts depending on who paid the premium. Individually owned coverage paid with after-tax dollars generally pays benefits free of income tax, while employer-paid group benefits are usually taxable. The sample's 14,000 is untaxed, which is why it covers essentials. Placing a taxable group benefit on the same line would overstate it.
Is a 90-day elimination period always the right choice?
No. It depends on the reserve and on how much spending other income covers during the wait. A household with a large cash cushion and a working spouse might reasonably accept 180 days. The sample chooses 90 because the longer wait would consume most of the reserve for a small premium saving, and it shows both calculations in full.
Should the memo cover the practice's overhead?
It should name the exposure and say it sits outside a personal disability policy. Rent, staff wages and equipment leases continue during a claim, and business overhead coverage is a separate product with its own limits. Sizing it properly is a business-planning task, so the sample flags it in a closing paragraph rather than folding it into the personal benefit.
Where can I find a free GF591 Unit 5 sample paper?
A complete GF591 Unit 5 disability coverage memo is available here, recommending $9,000 a month of own-occupation coverage with a 90-day wait for an endodontist, with tables of costs and APA 7 references.
Why are her disability benefits tax free?
She pays the premiums herself with after-tax dollars. Benefits from individually owned policies paid that way are generally not taxable income, while benefits from employer-paid group plans generally are.