If you’re a tech professional working at Amazon, you’re likely familiar with what’s included in your compensation package, like salary, Amazon RSUs, and bonuses. But Amazon also offers incredible employee benefits including a robust life insurance policy, AD&D insurance, disability, and more. This can help offset the loss of income if you pass away or become incapable of work, setting your family up for financial success. 

What should you know about Amazon life insurance for employees? Here’s what you need to know to make the most of this valuable benefit for you and your loved ones.

What is Amazon’s Life Insurance Policy?

If your family depends on your income to maintain your lifestyle, they might be adrift without financial support directly in the wake of your passing. Amazon acknowledges that many of its workers are high earners in their families and offers robust life insurance policies as a security measure to the loved ones you may leave behind. 

Under the umbrella of Amazon’s life insurance and AD&D policy, employees are entitled to two times their annual base salary up to $300,000. This coverage comes at no cost to the employee, giving your family peace of mind following a loss. 

However, what should you do if you feel that your family will need more than this base amount?

The good news is that Amazon also allows employees to purchase supplemental life insurance for themselves at a rate of one to eleven times their base annual earnings (up to $2,200,000). The same is true for AD&D insurance. 

Some people may want to provide more coverage for their family in the event of a tragic loss. To this end, you can also purchase life insurance to cover a spouse or partner with some restrictions. Life insurance for a partner can be at a rate of one-half to five times your base salary up to $250,000. It should not exceed the total cost of your life insurance (both basic and supplemental). 

AD&D insurance can also be applied to your dependents at up to eleven times your annual salary up to $2,200,000. 

An Example of Amazon Death Benefits

What does all of this mean in practice? Imagine being a level 1 software developer with an average annual salary of $139,000. If you went with their base coverage and life insurance, beneficiaries would benefit from a $278,000 payout at minimum.

This can be substantial for replacing income lost, but you might want more. 

Instead, you could have opted into supplemental life insurance up to eleven times your annual salary. This would have a payout of up to $1,529,000. 

Other Related Amazon Benefits

Your Amazon life and AD&D insurance is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits you receive from working at this tech giant. They also have benefits that protect your income under other unpreventable circumstances. 

Namely, they have robust disability insurance and a critical illness and personal accident insurance program. Take a closer look at what you can expect from these policies.

Disability Insurance 

Disability insurance offsets your income if you’re unable to work for an extended period. It’s available to all employees working thirty hours or more and covers both short-term and long-term conditions at a rate of up to 60 percent of your salary. 

To take advantage of short-term disability, there is a seven-day waiting period before you receive benefits but it lasts up to 26 weeks. Long-term disability has a 180-day waiting period but has no definitive period for how long benefits will remain in effect. Keep in mind that some pre-existing conditions may not be covered. 

Pregnancy is a separate issue when it comes to short-term disability. For example, there is still a seven-day waiting period but pay will be retroactive back to your very first day. It also clocks in at a higher rate of reimbursement with payouts equal to 100 percent of your earnings for four weeks before birth and ten weeks after.  

Critical Illness and Personal Accident Insurance

In addition to disability insurance, you can also enroll in discounted critical illness and personal accident insurance. There are no barriers to entry into these programs because they require no medical questions or further testing before your policy is issued.

Under the umbrella of critical illness insurance, the policy provides you with a lump sum benefit. This covers conditions like heart attack and stroke that might render you incapable of working. Keep in mind that this is not a substitute for health insurance. It is simply designed to help offset the costs remaining after insurance kicks in. 

Another great benefit to critical illness insurance is its Disability Advocacy and Advisory Services which can help you to get Social Security benefits for long-term critical illness (a minimum of twelve months of disability is required). 

On the other hand, personal accident insurance provides a lump sum payment to cover costs not included under your health insurance plan or AD&D insurance. This includes off-the-job scenarios only but covers medical treatments such as emergency room visits, therapy, and even surgeries. 

Money from personal accident insurance can go toward hitting your deductible for healthcare costs or covering your coinsurance. 

Make the Most of Your Benefits with Consilio

There’s a lot to know about working at Amazon and making the most of all the benefits available to you – and when you’re focused on climbing farther in your career, the financial planning part of it might fall to the wayside.

Consilio specializes in working with tech professionals and can help review your complex Amazon benefits. This includes your RSUs, stock options, and more to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your compensation package.

For guides, cheatsheets, and more, explore our free downloadable Amazon resources for tech professionals. Or, if you’re ready to see what our experts can do for you, schedule a call!

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