Dr. Carrie Birdwell is a single mom and practicing obstetrician with a thriving practice. Her 9 year old daughter attends a local grade school and plays soccer in the local league. Dr. Birdwell was sidelined with pancreatitis last year and was unable to work for over five months, during which her practice was closed.

"I still don't know how I got pancreatitis." says Dr. Birdwell. "It almost exclusively occurs in people who drink heavily and I don't drink at all!"

The severity of the illness kept Dr. Birdwell off her feet for months, during which she had to send patients to other doctors. "I had no income from the practice... literally zero. Luckily, my income insurance kicked in after 60 days and I started receiving checks from the policy."

Dr. Birdwell carried short-term and long-term income insurance (also called disability insurance). Her policy paid $6,000 per month. "What a Godsend. I was having to dip into savings for everything from groceries to my daughter's dance classes and to hire a car to take me back and forth to the doctor each week."

Statistics show that 1 in 3 American workers will miss work for at least 90 consecutive days due to illness or injury. 1 in 5 will be out for over a year. Without income insurance, all expenses, including the monthly mortgage, come directly out of savings.

A recent study revealed that nearly half of all foreclosures are the direct result of the owner not being physically or mentally able to work. Once the savings are gone, the house is next, and from there... financial ruin.

Income insurance can be the fallback position that gets you through a tough time. Individual policies, on average, cover up to 60% of your income and potentially more. Coverage can be written to provide benefits to business owners until their regular income returns to normal, not just until they are able to return to work. Numerous other options are available depending on your occupation.

"My short term policy paid for the first 6 months while I wasn't even able to work. My long-term policy kicked in after that and paid for another 6 months until the practice was up and going again and my take home pay got back on track", comments Dr. Birdwell.

Supplemental income insurance can plug the many holes commonly found in employer-sponsored group coverage. Such coverage usually protects up to 60% of your income, however, benefits are taxed as regular wages, lowering your take home to roughly 42%. Group policies are also riddled with exceptions and exclusions that limit benefits and even exclude certain conditions.

Supplemental coverage can affordably fill in the gaps of a group policy and literally extend coverage up to 100% of regular income. In addition, benefits from a supplemental policy are not taxable because you, not your employer, pay the small premium.

"Income insurance was an afterthought, to tell you the truth. I was more concerned about life insurance. But, in the end, the income insurance is what kept us from having problems", Dr. Birdwell emphasizes.

A young mom needs all the help she can get, especially single working moms. Being a single mom means your paycheck is how the bills get paid. Losing that paycheck during an illness or injury can be catastrophic. An affordable income insurance policy can provide cash flow when you can't work, and deliver single mothers help when they need it most.