Top carriers for Quantitative Analysts and Traders
All five carriers below can be written as true own-occupation for most professions. Ameritas builds it into the base definition, Guardian delivers it on the Premier package we place, MassMutual and Principal deliver it through their own-occupation rider or definition, and at The Standard it comes through a rider whose availability depends on your occupation class. Your optimal carrier depends on your specific specialty, income structure, and state. We compare all five side-by-side in every analysis.
| Carrier | Product | AM Best rating | Contract strength |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Provider Choice | A++ (Superior) | Strong contract in our view, and its specimen says long hours alone are not a material duty |
 | Platinum Advantage | A (Excellent) | Bank and finance row at 5A from $200,000, the step where its preferred occupation discount applies |
 | Income Protector | A+ (Superior) | Most flexible underwriting of the five in our experience, with bond traders and stockbrokers at 5A from $150,000 |
 | Radius Choice | A++ (Superior) | Mutual-company dividends, and a broker and trader row that reaches 5A/5 at $250,000 for three years |
 | DInamic Cornerstone | A (Excellent) | Competitive pricing, with brokers and traders at 5A after two years at $150,000 |
Provider Choice
- AM Best
- A++ (Superior)
- Strength
- Strong contract in our view, and its specimen says long hours alone are not a material duty
Radius Choice
- AM Best
- A++ (Superior)
- Strength
- Mutual-company dividends, and a broker and trader row that reaches 5A/5 at $250,000 for three years
Income Protector
- AM Best
- A+ (Superior)
- Strength
- Most flexible underwriting of the five in our experience, with bond traders and stockbrokers at 5A from $150,000
Platinum Advantage
- AM Best
- A (Excellent)
- Strength
- Bank and finance row at 5A from $200,000, the step where its preferred occupation discount applies
DInamic Cornerstone
- AM Best
- A (Excellent)
- Strength
- Competitive pricing, with brokers and traders at 5A after two years at $150,000
Get a comparison of all five carriers tailored to your specialty
Get a Quote ComparisonWhy do traders and quants need a separate disability insurance comparison?
Traders and quantitative analysts need their own comparison because the carriers write trading-specific rules, from floor and day trader declines to income-and-tenure tests on broker rows, and pay that rises and falls with the markets is read one way at application and another at claim, and none of them prints a row for quantitative work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts traders in its Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents occupation and describes the job this way, "Securities and commodities traders carry out buy and sell orders for stocks, bonds, and commodities from clients and make trades on behalf of the firm itself." Its median wage for that occupation inside securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investments was $103,030 in May 2025.
A carrier averages a swinging payout by its own rule when you apply, and the residual wording in each contract separates a drop the disability caused from a drop the market caused.
Our finance professionals hub maps every finance role at once, and the pages for investment bankers, portfolio managers, and private equity professionals cover bonus, partnership, and carried-interest pay in depth.
What occupation class does each carrier give a desk trader?
A desk trader generally lands on each carrier's broker rows, at 4 or 3 with Guardian, up to 5A at Principal, Ameritas, and The Standard, and up to 5A/5 at MassMutual once the income and tenure tests are met. MassMutual and Ameritas print trader titles on their broker rows and Principal prints a bond trader row, while Guardian prints no trader title and The Standard routes bond traders to its bank and finance row by cross-reference. Under the carriers' mid-2026 occupation listings, the rows look like this.
| Carrier | Row a desk trader is placed on | Class ladder | Conditions printed with the class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broker, stocks or bonds (office duties only, not exchange floor). Broker, commodity (not exchange floor). Broker, futures or options | 4 for stocks or bonds. 3 for commodity, futures, or options | Commodity and futures or options rows step up to 4 with $60,000 of salary and bonus for two years and five years in the occupation |
| Bond trader (no floor trading), stockbroker, and commodity broker | 5A at $150,000 a year for the last two years. 4A from $75,000 ($100,000 for commodity brokers). Base 3A | Bond trader and stockbroker need five years in business at 5A and 4A. Same classes in California and New York |
| Broker row, which names stock, bond, or commodity brokers and traders | 5A/5 at $250,000 or more for three years. 5A from $200,001 and 4A from $150,000 for two years. 3A for all others | Not a floor trader and not managing own account. Five years in the business for 5A/5, three for 5A and 4A |
| Brokers and traders (bond, stock, commodity) | 5A with $150,000 or more for at least two years, otherwise 4A | Two years of financial documents and at least 12 months in the occupation class applied for |
| Bank and finance row, which lists broker, stockbroker, and commodity broker | 5A at $200,000 or more in each of the last two years. 4A at $100,000. Otherwise 3A | The 5A step qualifies for a 20% preferred occupation discount (10% in South Carolina) |
Each label sits on its own carrier's scale. Guardian's class 4 is two steps below its top class of 6, MassMutual's scale tops out at 5A/5, and Principal and Ameritas print higher rows, 6A+ and 6A, for credentialed and degreed work, which matters for the quant rows further down.
The tenure tests catch lateral and early-career traders. Principal wants five years in business before its bond trader and stockbroker rows reach 4A or 5A (its commodity broker row has no years test), MassMutual wants five years for 5A/5 and three for 5A or 4A, and Ameritas asks for at least 12 months in the occupation class applied for. A trader who came over from a quant or sales seat inside the last year may class lower at application than the pay alone would suggest. MassMutual generally offers stockbrokers coverage without a special benefit limit unless excessive unearned income exists.
How does Guardian's one-class step-up work for commodity, futures, and options brokers?
Guardian's commodity broker and futures or options broker rows start at class 3 and can step up one class, to 4, when salary and bonus reached $60,000 in each of the past two years and the applicant has five years in the occupation. Every condition has to be met. Guardian prints the same step-up on its hedge fund or derivative manager row and its office-only venture capitalist row, which the portfolio manager disability insurance page covers. For a desk trader the step-up reaches the stock and bond row's class 4 and goes no higher, and the five years in the occupation is the condition a newer trader is more likely to miss.
Which trading roles do the carriers decline?
Floor traders are declined at all five carriers we place, and day traders are declined in writing at Principal, Ameritas, and The Standard. The Standard also declines an investor primarily trading their own accounts, MassMutual makes not managing your own account a condition of its 4A to 5A/5 broker rungs, and Guardian prints no row for day or own-account trading.
| Carrier | Floor trader | Day trader | Trading your own account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Declined (exchange-floor brokers) | No row printed | No row printed, and not on Guardian's list of financial-industry titles |
| Declined | Declined | No separate row beyond the day trader decline |
| Declined | No row printed | Rules out the 4A to 5A/5 broker rungs, which require not managing own account |
| Declined | Declined | No row printed |
| Declined | Declined | Declined, printed as an investor primarily trading own accounts |
Guardian's lack of a row leaves the decision to its underwriter. Its financial-industry rules cover a fixed list of office-based broker, banker, and fund titles, and a day or own-account trader is not on that list, so an application is decided case by case and a decline is one possible result. A desk trader paid salary and bonus by a bank or fund is generally on the insurable rows above at every carrier.
Can income from trading your own account support a benefit?
Returns on your own capital fall under the investment-income language the contracts treat as unearned, so they generally support no benefit even where a carrier will consider the application. MassMutual's Radius Choice specimen (form ICC15-XLIS-RC) lists "investment income, including, but not limited to, interest, dividends and capital gains" as Unearned Income, and Principal's Income Protector (form ICC22-800) leaves "capital gains, income received from any form of deferred compensation" out of Earnings. At underwriting, Guardian counts only business income for its financial-industry titles and does not count capital gains toward issue limits. Contract language varies by state and edition, and the issued policy governs.
Large investment income can also shrink the benefit a salaried trader qualifies for. Principal, MassMutual, and Ameritas ignore unearned income up to half of earned income and cut the benefit for part of the excess, a formula the private equity page works through with carried interest. How a trading entity reports its income is a tax question, so confirm the details with a tax professional.
How do carriers class a quantitative analyst?
No carrier we place prints a quantitative analyst or financial engineer row, so a quant is classed against the nearest printed rows, which run from statistician and economist to credentialed actuary and investment or financial analyst. The BLS handbook entry for financial analysts describes the nearest occupation it tracks this way, "Financial and investment analysts conduct quantitative analyses of information involving investment programs or financial data of public or private institutions." The same entry puts the top 10 percent of financial and investment analysts above $180,860 in May 2025 and reports a median of $117,330 for financial risk specialists.
| Carrier | Statistician | Actuary with credentials | Economist | Investment or financial analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 6 (the row reads actuary, with no credential test) | 6 | 5 (investment analyst or banker) |
| No row | 6A+ for FSA, FCAS, ASA, or ACAS | 6A with a four-year degree, 4A without | 5A at $150,000 for two years, 4A from $75,000, base 3A |
| 5A | 5A/5 for FSA, ASA, FCA, ACA, or MAAA | 5A/5 with a PhD, 5A with a master's (each 90% office duties), 4A others | No analyst row |
| 5A | 6A with credentials, 5A without | No row | 5A at $150,000 for two years, otherwise 4A |
| No row | 5A for a Fellow or MAAA, 4A with another designation, 3A without | 5A at any income | 5A at $200,000 in each of the last two years, 4A at $100,000, otherwise 3A |
The candidate rows can sit a step or two apart at the same carrier. At Guardian an economist or actuary is class 6 and a statistician or investment analyst 5, and at Principal an economist with a four-year degree is 6A while its investment analyst row tops out at 5A after two years at $150,000. MassMutual prints no analyst row at all, so its comparison runs through the statistician, economist, and actuary rows.
Data scientist rows are another comparison for a quant who builds models from large datasets. Guardian prints its data scientist row at 5 and MassMutual at 5A/5, Ameritas classes data scientists 6A above $75,000 of income, The Standard gives 5A with a discount for a master's or PhD, and Principal prints the row only for PhD holders, who follow its executive rows. The data scientist page sets those rows out in full.
Which row fits a quant researcher, a quant developer, or a risk quant?
The duties written on the application decide which nearby row the underwriter starts from, since every carrier places an unlisted title by comparing the work with the rows it prints. Statistical research and model design generally read closest to the statistician and economist rows, security pricing and investment research to the investment or financial analyst rows, and a quant developer who mostly writes production trading code to the software developer rows.
The row also decides which income rules apply at Guardian. Its financial-industry list, whose averaging rules appear in the next section, includes investment analysts and leaves out actuaries, statisticians, and economists. Describing the research, modeling, and coding work accurately and in full lets the underwriter see which row fits.
Can a new quant graduate buy coverage before a salary history exists?
MassMutual sets a starting benefit of $4,500 a month for economists, statisticians, and actuaries in their first two years of practice, and $2,500 for students in their final year, before any salary is on record. The other carriers' student and new-graduate limits for analytical roles are compared on the data scientist disability insurance page.
How does each carrier treat a trading payout that swings from year to year?
Each carrier averages or trims a swinging payout at application by its own rule, and after a down year those rules can point to different income figures. Guardian writes a separate block of these rules for its financial-industry titles, including a cap for volatile records.
| Carrier | When pay is rising | When pay is falling | Other limits on variable pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Averaged over three years | Lowest of the past two years | A swing over 50% across three years caps income at 75% of the three-year average. Capital gains not counted |
| A sharp rise is averaged over three years | The lower, more recent year | Dramatic swings are averaged over three years |
| Bonus averaged over two years when the current year is higher | Current-year bonus used when it is lower | One year of bonus on record counts at 75%, and a current year of zero adds nothing |
| Current income normally used. Projected raises are not counted for non-salaried staff who changed employers | Three-year average when income has fluctuated | Tax-reported income only. Pay with no clear pattern gets close review |
| Bonus and commission count once two years of tax returns show them | W-2 Medicare wages, or current salary plus bonus already paid | Bonuses are never projected forward |
Consider an illustrative trader whose W-2 pay ran $250,000, $540,000, and $300,000 over the last three years, oldest first. The three-year average is ($250,000 + $540,000 + $300,000) ÷ 3, or about $363,333. Guardian's falling-income rule points to $300,000, the lower of the last two years, and a 116% rise from $250,000 to $540,000 is far past its 50% swing test, so as we read the rule its cap limits the figure to 75% of $363,333, about $272,500. Guardian does not say how it measures the swing.
Principal's rules split on the same record. Its falling-income rule uses the lower, more recent $300,000, its rule for dramatic swings uses the three-year average of about $363,333, and the underwriter decides which pattern fits. If the swing sat entirely in bonus over a flat $200,000 salary, MassMutual would compare this year's $100,000 bonus with last year's $340,000 and use the lower current year, for $300,000 in total.
Those readings change the benefit. Guardian's capped figure sits just above the $265,000 point where the carriers' issue and participation limits allow roughly $12,400 a month, and Principal's three-year average sits above the $350,000 point where they allow about $15,000, a gap of roughly $2,600 a month ($15,000 minus $12,400).
What income records should a trader or quant have ready?
A trader on a broker row should plan to document two to three years of pay. Guardian asks its financial-industry titles for three years in the industry, three years of complete corporate and personal tax returns with all schedules, and current pay stubs, Ameritas asks brokers and traders for two years of financial documents, and The Standard counts bonus only once two years of tax returns show it. A quant on a statistician, economist, or actuary row falls outside Guardian's financial-industry list, though bonus still needs the history each carrier asks for.
Where do bonus history, deferred pay, and partnership income fit for a trader?
Guardian credits bonus only after two years with the same employer, which matters for a trader who changes firms. The investment banker disability insurance page compares each carrier's rule for lateral hires, deferred bonuses, and the clauses that assign a lump sum paid during a claim to the months it was earned.
A trader paid through a K-1 as a fund partner is underwritten on the carriers' partnership and owner income rules, which the portfolio and asset manager page sets out by contract, and carried interest and co-investment returns are covered on the private equity page. A trader who leaves to run a small fund with an office and staff can also look at business overhead expense coverage for the fixed costs.
How do residual riders separate a market loss from a disability loss?
A drop in pay that the market caused generally does not count toward a residual claim, because every residual contract we place, and the Lloyd's rider, ties the lost income to the injury or sickness behind the claim. Residual disability is the benefit that pays a share of the monthly amount when a condition cuts your income without ending your work, and the causation wording below decides how much of a weak trading year it pays for.
| Carrier | Wording that links lost income to the disability | Specimen form |
|---|---|---|
| Loss of Income counts "to the extent it is solely the result of the Injury or Sickness that caused Your Disability" | Provider Choice, ICC16 18ID |
| "Solely due to Injury or Sickness You have a Loss of Earnings greater than or equal to 15%" | Income Protector residual rider, ICC22-800-RDRB |
| After six months of partial disability the insured must show "a Demonstrated Relationship between the Loss of Income and the current Disability" | Radius Choice Extended Partial rider, ICC15-EPS-RC |
| Residual disability applies "solely due to your sickness or injury". Recovery benefits exclude a loss "contributed to by intervening causes that are not related to your residual disability" | DInamic Cornerstone residual rider, ICC21 EPRES |
| The Loss Of Income must "be solely due to the Injury or Sickness that caused your Disability" | Platinum Advantage residual riders, ICC17-PR203 and PR204 |
 | Residual disability applies when "solely due to Sickness or Injury You experience a Loss of Earnings that is at least 15% of Your Prior Earnings" | Petersen residual rider on certificate PDI111521 |
Guardian, Principal, Ameritas, The Standard, and the Lloyd's rider use "solely" language, and MassMutual's rider frames the link as a demonstrated relationship. For a trader the practical reading is that the carrier will ask how much of a weaker year the condition caused. Cut risk limits, a slow market, or a strategy that stopped working can all lower pay with no disability involved, and the wording above leaves that part of the drop outside the claim.
Principal's residual rider also reserves the right to review the loss and the benefit at least once a year "to take into account fluctuations in Earnings." Medical records that tie reduced hours or lost duties to the condition, kept alongside desk results and pay statements, are generally what separate a disability loss from a market loss at claim. Our contract language library hosts each specimen.
How far back does each contract look to measure pre-claim earnings?
The look-back runs from the best 12 consecutive months of the last 24 on the Lloyd's rider to the best 24 consecutive months of the last 60 at MassMutual, and for swinging pay that window sets the baseline a residual claim is measured against. Guardian, Principal, Ameritas, and The Standard each offer at least one option that reaches past a weak final year to a stronger calendar or tax year.
| Carrier | Look-back options | Indexing after year one | Other earnings rule at claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greater of the last 24 months or the best two of the last three calendar years | CPI-U on the Enhanced Partial rider, never below the starting figure | Pay received during the claim for work done before it is not current income |
| Best two consecutive calendar years of the last three. California and New York form, best 12 consecutive of the last 24 months | CPI-U factor on each claim anniversary, never below 1 | Bonuses and lump sums assigned to the months they were earned |
| Greatest of the last 12 months, the last 24, or the best 24 consecutive of the last 60 | CPI after each 12 months, with a floor the specimen shows as 3% | Amounts earned before the disability are left out of current income |
| Greater of any two of the last three tax years or the last 12 months | CPI-U from the first anniversary, ratio never below 1.00 | Bonuses and lump sums assigned to the months earned. No residual benefit if prior earnings are zero or less |
| Greater of the best 12 consecutive of the last 24 months or any two of the last three full tax years divided by 24 | CPI-U after the first year, factor never below 1 | Cash-method filers leave out pay earned before and received after the start |
| Best 12 consecutive of the last 24 months | None printed | A 65% cap on benefits from all sources, which a lower average earned income can reduce |
Ameritas's DInamic Cornerstone residual rider (form ICC21 EPRES) averages earnings over "any two of the past three full tax years just prior to the onset date of disability" or the last 12 months, whichever is greater. The Standard's Platinum Advantage (form ICC17-B180) sets its best 12 months in a row against "your Earnings for any two full tax years within the three full tax years preceding the date" of disability, divided by 24. We read "any two" in both as the two best years, which the text allows without saying so.
Lloyd's measures only the "highest twelve (12) consecutive months out of the last twenty four (24) calendar months" on the Petersen rider, with no inflation adjustment printed. Guardian's Enhanced Partial rider adjusts Prior Income by the CPI-U and states "We will make no change that would reduce Prior Income or Prior Business Expenses below what they were at the start of claim." Contract language varies by state and edition, and the issued policy governs.
What happens to a residual claim after a bad trading year?
The look-back decides it, and in the illustrative case below the same trader starts a claim with a baseline anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000 a month depending on the contract. Consider a trader whose W-2 pay ran $780,000 in 2021, $660,000 in 2022, $420,000 in 2023, $540,000 in 2024, and $240,000 in a weak 2025, who becomes disabled on January 1, 2026, and returns to part-time work earning $18,000 a month. To keep the arithmetic visible we treat each year's pay as earned and received evenly across its months and assume a $12,000 monthly benefit.
| Carrier | Pre-claim monthly figure | How the figure is reached | Benefit at $18,000 of current pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | 2023 and 2024, ($420,000 + $540,000) ÷ 24, beats the last 24 months at $32,500 | $6,600 (55% loss) |
| $40,000 | Best consecutive pair, 2023 and 2024. The California and New York form's best 12 months gives $45,000 | $6,600 (55% loss) |
| $60,000 | 2021 and 2022, ($780,000 + $660,000) ÷ 24, the best 24 months in a row of the last 60 | $8,400 (70% loss) |
| $40,000 | Best two of the last three tax years, 2023 and 2024, beats the last 12 months at $20,000 | $6,600 (55% loss) |
| $45,000 | Best 12 consecutive months, calendar 2024, $540,000 ÷ 12 | $7,200 (60% loss) |
| $45,000 | Best 12 consecutive of the last 24, calendar 2024 | $7,200 (60% loss) |
The benefit column applies the proportional formula these riders use after any early-claim provisions, (pre-claim figure minus $18,000) ÷ pre-claim figure × $12,000. At $40,000 that is $22,000 ÷ $40,000, a 55% loss, or $6,600 a month.
A contract that measured only the last 12 months would start from $20,000 (2025's $240,000 ÷ 12) and see a loss of $2,000, or 10%, below a 15% residual threshold, so it would pay nothing. During a long claim each baseline rises with the CPI on the residual riders above, while the Lloyd's rider prints no adjustment. A total disability claim pays the stated monthly benefit whatever the income at claim, so the look-back matters for partial and recovery claims and for the Lloyd's 65% earnings cap. The residual disability benefits guide explains the early-claim floors and recovery benefits.
Is losing a securities license or registration a disability?
Losing a securities license or registration is not by itself a disability under the specimens that address it, and a claim still turns on whether the injury or sickness stops the work. Principal's Income Protector (form ICC22-800) says that while a condition may lead to the loss or restriction of a license or certification, "that loss or restriction, by itself, does not constitute a Disability." Ameritas's DInamic Cornerstone (form ICC21 4601NC) says "this loss of your professional or occupational license or certification by itself does not constitute a disability."
The clauses speak of professional and occupational licenses and certifications, and how a particular registration is read is a claim-time question. A trader or quant who cannot keep a registration because of a condition is measured on the duties the condition stops. A license that lapses for reasons unrelated to health generally falls outside the claim, the same way a market loss does.
Do long trading hours count as a duty of the job?
Long hours alone are not a duty at Guardian, whose Provider Choice specimen (form ICC16 18ID) says "Working an average of more than 40 hours in a week, in itself, is not a material and substantial duty." A trader who can still manage a 40-hour week but not a 60-hour one is not totally disabled by that fact alone under this wording, though income lost to a condition can still support a partial claim.
True own-occupation, which pays when you cannot perform the material duties of your occupation even while working in another, is available at every finance class at the carriers we place. It measures a claim against the trading or quantitative occupation instead of one firm's desk, so a reorganization or a closed desk is not a disability, and our own-occupation guide explains the definitions.
Mental health coverage follows the same finance-class rules. No carrier we place requires a mental and nervous limitation for finance occupations as such, though state rules and MassMutual's built-in 24-month limit (removable by endorsement outside California) change the details, and the finance hub sets out each carrier's terms. In Seaworthy's placed book (2026 audit), about 43% of the exclusions carriers attached were for mental and nervous conditions.
How much individual coverage can a trader or quant buy?
Income sets the first limit. Under the carriers' issue and participation tables, $300,000 of income supports roughly $13,300 a month and $500,000 about $18,000, less any group benefit already in force, and a single carrier typically offers a high earner around $20,000 a month.
The class adds its own ceiling. At their 5A rungs MassMutual and The Standard issue up to $35,000 a month, but a trader below their income tests lands on 3A, where each issues no more than $15,000, while Guardian's $30,000 cap applies at its classes 3 and 4 alike. Above a single policy, MassMutual's Executive Select and The Standard's rule for stacking Lloyd's of London coverage are covered on the private equity disability insurance page.
A firm's group plan commonly pays on base salary alone, up to a monthly cap typically set between $10,000 and $15,000, so a trader's bonus generally sits outside it. Among the 546 respondents in the Seaworthy 2026 High Earner AI and Income Protection Survey (n=1,028 employed adults in $100,000-plus households, September 2026) who had employer coverage and earned bonus, commission, or equity pay, 26% believed the plan replaced that pay and 15% were not sure. When the firm pays the group premium the benefit is generally taxable income, though tax rules vary and a tax professional should confirm how yours is treated, and the group versus individual comparison covers the remaining gaps.
What does disability insurance cost a trader or quant?
Seaworthy prices each trader and quant on the class each carrier assigns, so this page prints no premium table, and the price depends first on which rung of each carrier's ladder the file lands on. No class set priced in Seaworthy's 2026 quote study matches the classes traders and quants receive, since a desk trader can sit at Guardian 3 or 4 while the rest reach 5A or 5A/5, and a quant's class follows whichever adjacent row the underwriter picks.
Class steps change the price, and the white-collar carrier comparison measures what one rung on a carrier's class ladder costs. For a sense of scale at the 5A office-finance classes, the banker page prints five-carrier ranges, and a trader at Guardian 3 or 4 or a quant on a 6 or 6A row would price differently from those figures.
The study measured these levers at other classes, so read them as direction and rough size for a trader or quant. On the male profile, the same coverage at the same carrier cost 14 to 35 percent more at 35 than at 28, 26 to 58 percent more at 45 than at 35, and 21 to 46 percent more at 55 than at 45. Measured another way, each year of issue age added about 3 to 4 percent of premium for a man buying $10,000 a month with the inflation rider.
Stretching the waiting period from 90 to 180 days cut the premium by about 5 to 7 percent at one carrier, 12 percent at another, 15 percent at a third, and 20 to 30 percent at the other two. That choice rests on cash reserves. In the same survey, 53% of all respondents, and 38% of those earning $200,000 or more, expected savings to last six months or less if their income stopped, and Seaworthy's placed book (2026 audit) carries a 90-day wait on 82% of policies, though roughly a third of recent placements chose 180.
Location counts too. A California policy priced about 8 to 47 percent above the Texas version (some carriers sell a different California contract), and New York ran anywhere from even with Texas to about 15 percent higher. Paying benefits to 67 rather than 65 raised premiums about 4 to 18 percent, and buying a paid future increase option instead of relying on the free increase rider raised them about 10 to 19 percent.
Women's premiums ran above men's at the same carrier and class by about 46 to 80 percent at 28, 39 to 76 percent at 35, 27 to 58 percent at 45, and 9 to 47 percent at 55, a gap that narrows with age. The study ran 442 carrier illustrations in August 2026 and about 360 more in October, priced on a Texas basis before discounts with California and New York samples, premiums rose in a straight line with the benefit through $25,000 with no policy fee, and actual premiums vary with age, health, occupation class, state, and carrier.
How does Seaworthy compare carriers for traders and quants?
Seaworthy quotes Guardian, Principal, MassMutual, Ameritas, and The Standard on every trader and quant file and weighs the class each assigns to the duties described, the swinging-pay rule each applies, the residual look-back, and price. Principal has been the most flexible of the five to underwrite in our experience, followed by The Standard, MassMutual, and Ameritas, with Guardian the most conservative, which matters on a file with swinging pay, though individual cases vary. Lloyd's of London, through Petersen International Underwriters, is for cases the five will not write and for excess above their limits.
Across Seaworthy's placed book (2026 audit), carriers attached an exclusion or rating to about 28% of policies, and more than 95% include residual coverage. At issue we negotiate for an exclusion or rating to be reconsidered later, and in 15+ years of placements we have often seen exclusions removed about two years after issue once a clean interval passes.
The rows, rules, and quoted clauses above were checked against the carriers' mid-2026 occupation and underwriting rules and the specimen contracts we hold, and a blank in a carrier's rules is reported as a blank. Seaworthy's ChatGPT app and Microsoft 365 Copilot agent, which run on the firm's MCP server, give a premium estimate range inside the assistant and pass each quote request to a licensed advisor. To see the classes and prices for your own file, start a quote comparison, and our underwriting research has the book data behind the figures above.