One of your most valuable assets may not be among the first things that come to mind when you think about your finances. It’s not your house, your car or even your health.
It’s the ability to make a living.
Disability insurance pays a portion of your income if an illness or injury makes it impossible to work for an extended period.
More than half of workers say they know little or nothing about disability insurance, according to a 2012 survey by the Consumer Federation of America and UNUM. But the coverage is vital. Make sure you sign up for disability insurance if it’s offered as part of an employee benefit plan at work, and consider purchasing it through the workplace or on your own if your employer doesn’t pay the full cost or offer the benefit.
Why you need disability insurance
Disability insurance is important because most people don’t have the emergency savings to keep them afloat for even a short period without a paycheck.
A 2015 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that 55% of American households can replace less than a month of their income through liquid savings — money that’s readily available.
“Everybody who relies on a paycheck should have this coverage,” says Keith Hoffman, vice president of disability insurance at NFP Corp., an insurance brokerage and consultancy headquartered in New York.
Yet 69% of Americans don’t have disability insurance, according to Northwestern Mutual’s 2016 Planning & Progress Study. The chance of a long-term employment absence from a disabling injury or illness may seem remote, especially if you’re young and healthy and work at a desk job.
“You never think it’s going to be you,” says Carol Harnett, president of the Council for Disability Awareness, an insurance industry group.
But more than one in four 20-year-olds will experience a disability for 90 days or more sometime before they retire, according to the Social Security Administration. The average length of a long-term disability claim is almost three years, according to the council.
Accidents aren’t the primary cause of disability. Back injuries, cancer, heart attacks, diabetes and other illnesses lead to most disability claims, the council says.
One of the reasons people shrug off the risk of disability is that they think about worst-case scenarios, such as spinal cord injuries leading to quadriplegia or horrific accidents that result in amputation, Harnett says. Those instances are indeed rare. But disability insurance also provides coverage for extended illnesses and more commonplace injuries — think weekend warrior mishaps — that can keep you out of work for weeks or months. A short-term disability policy can also pay a portion of income for recovery after childbirth or for pregnancy complications — if the doctor orders bed rest, for instance.
“The questions people have to ask are, ‘What would you do if you couldn’t work? How far could you go without a paycheck?” Harnett says.
Types of disability insurance
There are two main types of disability insurance:
- Short-term disability insurance replaces a portion of your base salary, usually 60% to 70%, up to a monthly dollar cap under employer-sponsored plans, for a specified period. It usually pays out for less than six months but could last up to a year after an illness, injury or childbirth. There may be a waiting period of up to two weeks after you become disabled before the benefits kick in.
- Long-term disability insurance replaces a portion of your base salary, usually 40% to 60%, up to a monthly dollar cap, such as $10,000. The benefits end when the disability ends. If you remain disabled, benefits may end after a specified number of years or last until you reach retirement age, depending on the policy. Some policies also provide payment for additional services, such as training to help you get back into the workforce after a disability. A long-term disability insurance plan also has a waiting period. The length varies by policy, but a common period is 90 days. The waiting period is typically timed so the benefits kick in when the short-term disability insurance ends.
Disability policies vary in how they define “disabled.” Some policies pay out only if you can’t work any job for which you are qualified. Others pay out if you can’t perform a job in your occupation. Some policies cover partial disability, which means they pay a portion of the benefit if you can work part time. Others pay out only if you are fully disabled and can’t work at all.
How to get disability insurance
Here are ways to get covered:
- Sign up for employer-sponsored coverage at work. Most employers that offer disability benefits pay some or all of the premiums.
- Purchase disability insurance through your workplace. Some employers don’t pay for disability coverage but offer it as a “voluntary” benefit, giving employees the opportunity to buy coverage through the employer’s insurance broker at a group rate.
- Buy disability insurance through a professional association. Many professional groups offer members coverage at group rates.
- Buy an individual disability insurance plan. You can purchase disability insurance from an insurance broker or directly from an insurance company.
Buying your own disability policy
Consider buying your own policy if you don’t have any or enough disability coverage at work or if you’re self-employed. Employer-sponsored disability insurance usually pays only a portion of your base salary, up to a cap. It’s a good idea to supplement that coverage if you earn a high salary that far exceeds the cap or if you depend on bonuses or commissions.
An insurer will consider your other sources of disability insurance to determine how much insurance you can buy. Generally, you can’t replace more than 75% of your income from all the coverage combined, Hoffman says.
Buying your own coverage has several advantages. It lets you:
- Customize the coverage with extra features, such as annual cost-of-living adjustments to benefits.
- Choose the insurance company with the best offerings.
- Take the coverage with you when you change jobs. Employer-paid coverage ends when you leave the company. (You might be able to take coverage with you if you pay the full premium for disability insurance offered through the workplace.)
- Control the disability insurance. You keep the coverage as long as you pay the premiums. Employer-sponsored coverage will end if the employer decides to stop providing disability benefits.
- Collect benefits tax-free if you become disabled. If your employer pays the premium, you must pay taxes on any benefits you receive.
Premiums for a long-term disability insurance policy generally range from 1% to 3% of your annual income, according to the Council for Disability Awareness. However, a variety of factors will affect the cost of an individual disability insurance policy, including:
- Your age and health: You’ll pay more the older you are and the more health problems you have.
- Your gender: Women usually pay more because they tend to file more claims.
- Whether you smoke: You pay less if you don’t smoke.
- Your occupation: You’ll pay more if you work in a job with a high risk for injuries.
- The definition of disability: The broader the definition of disability, the higher the premium. A policy that covers you if you can’t work in your own occupation but could earn income in a lower-paying job will cost more than a policy that covers you only if you can’t work at all.
- Length of waiting period: This is known as the elimination period. You can reduce the premium by increasing the waiting period before benefits kick in.
- Your income: The more income you have to protect, the more you’ll pay for coverage.
- Length of benefits: The longer the policy promises to pay out if you become disabled, the more you’ll pay in premiums.
- Extra features: Additional features, such as cost-of-living adjustments to protect against inflation, will increase the premium.
Other ways to find disability protection
The following programs also offer financial protection in case of a disability, but they have limitations.
- Social Security pays disability benefits, but it’s difficult and time-consuming to qualify, and the payments are low. The average monthly disability benefit in 2015 was $1,165.
- Workers compensation insurance replaces some of your income if you’re disabled because of a work-related injury. All states require employers to have workers compensation coverage for their employees, but most long-term disabilities are not the result of work-related injuries.
Although these programs can help if you qualify after a disability, they don’t fully cover the risks of losing your ability to work after an illness or injury. Disability insurance is the smart bet to provide a safety net.
Source: Barbara Marquand is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. This article originally appeared on NerdWallet.