Protect Your Paycheck With Disability Insurance
Posted on Thu, May 20, 2010
From: Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education
You've got a car and you wouldn't think about not insuring it, right? Same goes for your home because who has enough money sitting in their bank account to buy a new car or home if either were to crash or burn? So your car and your home are insured, but chances are you aren't properly protecting something that is many times more valuable than either of those things: your paycheck.
Think about it. What would happen if suddenly, due to an illness or accident, you were unable to work? Without your paycheck, how long would you be able to make your mortgage payment or buy groceries or pay your credit card bills without feeling the pinch? If you are like most, it wouldn't be long at all: 50 percent of working Americans couldn't make it a month before financial difficulties set in, and more than one in four would have problems immediately, according to a LIFE Foundation survey.1
That's where disability insurance comes in. Think of it as insurance for your paycheck. It ensures that if you are unable to work because of illness or injury, you will continue to receive an income and make ends meet until you're able to return to work.
It's a decision to make now
Many people put off buying disability insurance because they think that a disabling illness or accident will never happen to them-and you may be one of those. But did you know that you have a roughly three in 10 chance of becoming disabled for 90 days or more before turning 65.2
We insure our homes and cars against the unforeseen, but many of us are not doing the same due-diligence when it comes to our ability to earn a living. Remember, your bills will not stop rolling in if you're unable to work due to illness or injury. So if you depend on your paycheck to fund all the things in your life today-and nearly all of us do-you need disability insurance.
The LIFE Foundation is the leading source on the Internet for unbiased information about disability insurance. Here are some links to help you determine if you need coverage and, if so, what your options are for getting it.
1 The Disability Survey conducted by Kelton Research on behalf of the LIFE Foundation, April 2009
2 The Real Risk of Disability in the United States, Milliman Inc. on behalf of the LIFE Foundation, May 2007