If you are super healthy or at a tender age, the thoughts of pain, wounds, disease, and disability never come to you. You remain under the notion that this is permanent, and you’re never going to fall ill or become disabled. Well. you’re not alone. There are many people like you who think that they’ll never need a disability insurance.
Here are five myths about disability insurance that might make you reconsider and reorder your priorities:
1. I’m too young to worry about it: During the period 2009-2012, 41% of Unum long-term disability recipients were people aged below 50, with a third of those under 40. Elizabeth Falkner, a mom in her 30s, from Fresno, California, relied on three disability paychecks for her knee surgery, and needed a break from her day job as a photojournalist for three months. “Without the disability benefits, there was no way out for me to face the surgery financially,” she said, adding, “It helped me keep my calm as I knew the money was in place.”
2. I doubt if I’ll ever need it: According to estimations by Social Security Administrations, one in four in their 20s will become disabled before they reach the age of 67. As per records, in 2012, more than $9 billion was spent in long-term disability benefits for more than 650,000 disabled through employer-sponsored group disability coverage.
3. It’s a problem of men, and I’m a woman: The bitter fact is 60% of the Unum long-term disability beneficiaries during the 2009-2012 time frame were women.
4. Worker’s compensation is there to cover me: Worker’s compensation is there to replace your lost income due to an injury or illness. However, fewer than 5% of the disabling accidents and illnesses happen during work or emerge from work. More than 95% of the long-term disability claims filed are for illnesses, and not for accidents. Adam Clark, a resident of Austin, Texas, and a recipient of Unum long-term disability could not work anymore as an assistant librarian in a private library when his chronic gastritis relapsed. “I had the time to take a deep breath and concentrate on cure knowing I had the money coming in,” he says.
5. I can get coverage on my own if needed: Disability insurance policies bought privately, and sold through financial advisors are considerably more expensive than employer-sponsored ones. Unfortunately, only a third of the private industry workers have access to the employer-sponsored coverage. While some generous employers pay 100% of the premiums; some share the cost with the employees, and some offer it as a voluntary employee benefit, requiring the employee to pay the premiums in full. Before you head on to the individual market to buy a policy, check if your employer offers it.
Click here to get a policy comparison checklist from the Consumer Federation of America.