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Disability insurance: Who needs it?

Today you can feel good about setting money aside for your children’s college education, emergencies, vacations and your retirement. But what happens if you become disabled due to an illness or injury? Without earning a paycheck, there is a good chance that you would worry about how you can make ends meet, use your savings to cover life’s necessities and risk your family’s financial future. 

Disability and loss of income may be more common than you think.

Consider these facts:

  • Over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled - about 12 percent of the total population. More than 50 percent of disabled Americans are in their working years, ages 18-641
  • Seven out of 10 Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless2

The average long-term disability claim lasts 34.6 months3

Where can you go from here?

You hope disability never happens to you, but if it does, it is helpful to have a strategy in place. To learn how you can protect your future from the derailing effects of a disability, access this five-step guide from the Council for Disability Awareness.

Take steps today to protect the financial future for yourself and your loved ones.

Simply put, if you have a job, you most likely need disability insurance. Most of us have some kind of personal debt, such as a mortgage or credit card bills. Would you be able to maintain your standard of living if you were too ill or injured to work for an extended length of time? Plus, a disabling injury or illness could lead to medical bills, modifications to your car or home or other unforeseen needs that can be quite expensive. 

You also have to think long term. How much do you earn in a year and what would that be over a lifetime? A 25-year-old worker who makes $50,000 a year and suffers a permanent disability could lose $3.8 million in future earnings.

For all these reasons, almost anyone who works—whether they’re single, married, with children or without—should consider disability insurance.

 

Sources: 

1Disability Can Happen

2American Aid Foundation

3Disability Can Happen