Dr. Mena points to “P” as a reminder to protect yourself with a financial defense strategy. Photo courtesy of Dr. Mena.
By Vittorio Mena, OD, MS
Dec. 22, 2025
Over the past few months, I’ve discussed how to develop your financial defense strategy and how to be prepared even when the unexpected occurs. My previous columns analyzed the differences between both term and permanent life insurance. Here are a few other ways you can protect yourself financially and prepare with extra coverage.
ADEQUATE LIFE INSURANCE
I wanted to add one final thought on life insurance before the other defensive measures. If you receive life insurance as an employee at your job (whether it is free as a benefit or you elect to pay for it out of your paycheck), it is not the same as having a separate life policy. Employee-sponsored life insurance policies typically only cover between 1-3 times the employee’s annual salary for a death benefit. If you make $150,000 a year the policy could cover between $150,000-$450,000 of death benefit.
There also might be “clauses” in the policy that the insurance company may not pay out if a certain scenario were to happen. For example, if you are sick and on sick leave and were to pass away, it may not pay the death benefit. Another scenario could be in an act of terror/war or doing something illegal, such as not wearing a seatbelt and then passing away during a car crash. Also, in some cases, the plan may be tied to your particular job. It may or may not be transferable to another job, and if it is, there could be a jump in price.
The bottom line: always read the fine print when it comes to protecting your family!
DISABILITY INSURANCE
Disability insurance is important to consider especially with a rising number of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar and OCD. The National Institute of Health states that “young adults aged 18-25 years had the highest prevalence of any mental illness 36.2% compared to adults aged 26-49 years 29.4% and aged 50 and older 13.9%”1.
Just like life insurance has two main options, disability insurance also offers short-term or long-term coverage. Short-term will cover between 40%-80% of the employee’s monthly salary for either a few weeks to a full year. This covers if the individual gets injured or an illness and cannot work during that time period with a medical note from a physician.
A few states, such as California, New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island, require employers to provide temporary disability coverage to all of their employees.
Long-term disability covers around 50%-70% of the employee’s monthly salary. It can range from two years or permanently until retirement age or whenever social security begins. It depends on the length of coverage. The longer the term, the more expensive it gets.
The downside to long-term coverage is that coverage or payments will be delayed until an elimination period, usually around 3 months, before the injured starts to see the benefit payments. This is why it is important to always have an emergency fund, not just money sitting in a typical bank account accruing very little interest.
WORKER’S COMPENSATION
Worker’s compensation insurance is straightforward. If an employee gets injured or has an illness on the job, they will provide coverage. If you are an employer, it will protect you from any potential lawsuits by any of your employees. Each state has different guidelines.
SPECIFIED BUSINESS INSURANCE
Business assets or business personal property insurance helps to protect the assets of the business such as equipment, office furnishings, any type of building improvements or buildouts, damage to the property, business income, accounts receivable or any general liabilities.
UMBRELLA INSURANCE
Umbrella insurance protects you from anything extra that your other insurances already have covered, but reached its limit. For example, if you have malpractice insurance covering you for $1 million and a patient sues you for $1.5 million, then the umbrella policy will cover the remaining $500,000.
This type of coverage is good to have if you own many assets or investments. It’s also beneficial if you have any potential major liability risks. This supplement can give you peace of mind.
MALPRACTICE OR PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE
Often the most common insurance purchased by optometrists is malpractice or professional liability insurance. It’s a no-brainer since we do not want a big bill if we were to get sued by patients for any type of negligence.
Most optometrists elect for either $1 million/$3 million or $2 million/$4 million of coverage. The $1 million and $2 million of coverage refers to the maximum amount that is payable per claim. The $3 million and $4 million of coverage refers to the limit for all claims within that policy period. Please check with your state board for specifics and consider your practice size and perceived risk when determining which amounts to select.
WIN BY PLANNING AHEAD: PREPARE WITH EXTRA COVERAGE
In the end, defense wins championships! Optometrists tend to jump at the opportunity of purchasing malpractice insurance. Don’t overlook life insurance and other coverage options, as well. Consider this: we know that one day our families will receive the benefits from our life insurance plan. Yet there’s much less of a chance of being sued by a patient.
Cover all your bases. Remember to always read the fine print. I hope you found value in this series and that it prompted action in preparing your own financial defense strategy.
Have a wonderful Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanza. See you in 2026, and God bless!
Read part 1 and part 2 of Dr. Mena’s financial defense strategy series on ROB.
This column is for informational purposes only, based on hypotheticals, and does not constitute financial advice. There is always risk and potential for loss with any investment. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making choices about investments.
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Vittorio Mena, OD, MS, is the sports vision director with Optical Academy. Dr. Mena is also an optometric financial coach/fiduciary with Series 6 and 63 investment licenses and Series 2-14 life and variable annuity licenses. To contact him: menavitt@gmail.com |
