Most, if asked what disability insurance is, won’t be able to come up with a satisfactory explanation. If put simple, disability insurance is there to protect your paycheck.
If you fall ill or become injured and unable to work, disability insurance ensures you a portion of your monthly income until you get back to work. As per a survey conducted by Life Happens, most people fail to make it a month without a paycheck. So it’s easy to guess how important disability insurance is.
In spite of all these arguments, many might come up with their own reasons why they don’t need it.
Reason #1: “I’m young and in good shape. I don’t need a disability”
According to historical statistics, 3 in 10 young people suffer from disability that keeps them away from work for 90 days or more. You just have no clue which side of that statistic you’ll be on.
Reason #2: “There are plenty of government benefits. Those are enough!!”
Most long-term disabilities happen due to injury or illness that is not work related. Therefore, there is no question of qualifying for Workers Compensation. And if you are thinking that Social Security benefit would come to your rescue, then the paltry $1000 a month would just leave you right around the poverty level.
Reason #3: “My job offers me disability coverage.”
If you have one then it’s good, but it’s more than likely that you don’t. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 70% of the private firms don’t offer long-term disability insurance.
So, put simple, if you work and reply on your paycheck only for your expenses, you need to have separate long-term disability insurance.
So what do you need to do?
Consider the following options:
1) Find out what disability coverage you could have through your work (short-term, long-term, both, or nothing). Get in touch with your HR department for all the required information.
2) Find out how much disability coverage you actually need by using this online Disability Insurance Needs Calculator. Your employer might offer you coverage but there is no guarantee that it’ll be enough.
3) Get a separate disability insurance policy apart from the one provided by your employee to make sure you’re taken care of if something were to happen to you. Get in touch with an insurance agent in your locality and finalize a policy that meets your needs and budget.
