Disability Income
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Disability income means that if you fall victim to an injury or an illness and cannot work you will need to find money somewhere to pay your bills and allow you an adequate standard of living. For the majority of people, disability income will not come by way of a fortune saved in the bank but instead thanks to a disability insurance policy. Disability income insurance is not just for those who work at jobs where they put their lives on the line all of the time. In fact it is valuable for everyone to have, regardless of his or her lifestyle or the type of work they do. Studies have shown that most people do not give enough thought to the possibility that they could become disabled. Even if you are unable to work for a short period of time, such as a matter of weeks or a month this can still wreck havoc on your financial situation. Approximately 80 percent of Americans who are of working age either have no type of disability income insurance whatsoever or they have it but they do not have enough of it to see them through. Remember that you can never predict what could happen to you in the future.
Disabilities happen to people all of the time and they range from mild to moderate to very serious. Even a small injury to your hand or foot could cause you problems with your job performance and it might necessitate the need to not work at all for a short or long period of time until you have recuperated. Consider this- one in every three United States resident is likely to become disabled for a period of three months or more before they reach the age of 65. Also consider the fact that in the majority of cases a person who has suffered a disability loses an average of two and a half years from work.
It is a scary prospect to imagine that something bad could happen to change your life in an instant and render you unable to work and live your life in the manner you are accustomed too. However bills will still need to be paid regardless of your health and work situation so thinking ahead to disability income insurance when you are very healthy is a wise thing to do.
Throughout a person’s working years their chance of dying is less than their chance of becoming disabled. Or to put is another way, a person’s chances of suffering a disability are “two to three times greater than death during their working years.” For example at the age of 27 a person has a 2.7 to 1 chance of becoming disabled as opposed to dying. Ten years later at the age of 37 a person has a 3.3 to 1 percent chance. The greatest risk of disability appears to be in the early 40s. At the age of 42 a person has a 3.5 to 1 chance of becoming disabled as opposed to dying. This drops to 2.8 to 1 by the age of 47 and is even lower at age 52, 2.2 to 1 percent chance. With these statistics in mind it is obvious to see why disability income is something that should be of concern to everyone that is of an employable age, and not just a select few.
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