Disability Insurance – Statistics about Insuring Your Most Valuable Asset

Never has there been more unanimity from financial experts, educators, media on a financial strategy than the advice to insure one’s most valuable asset, one’s future income, with disability insurance.

A look at the statistics tells you why. Most people don’t know the actual data of the likelihood of disability or the devastation that a loss of income can cause. Without getting pessimistic one can still take a rational look at one’s own life and see what would happen if income stopped for a long period of time or worse, for the rest of one’s life.

A study was done where people were asked what the chances were of becoming disabled before they retired. The survey showed that the average estimate was a 16% chance. The actual statistics are that men have a 43% chance of a long term disability and women a 54% chance. Also, since most people, especially families get life insurance, to compare the statistics for death and disability, for example, it is four times more likely at age 42 that a person would have a long term disability than die before age 65.

So what is the solution? Take the time to investigate, learn about and then obtain a disability insurance policy. This is not quite as easy a process as getting other kinds of insurance. Why is it not simple?

First of all there is a great difference among the disability insurance programs available. Contract provisions differ among companies. The biggest difference is how each one defines disability. The wording you should look for in a disability insurance contract is one that defines disability as the inability to perform the duties of one’s own occupation.

Also, look for a policy that has a generous recovery and residual benefit. This covers the important area of what happens when or if one returns to work after disability and the likely continuing partial loss of income for some time when one rebuilds one’s business. How this is treated is different from company to company.

So, how do you investigate? With the internet, there is now abundant material available. At one site, Protectyourincome.com, you can watch educational videos on disability insurance, read more on the different details and obtain quotes from the leading disability insurance companies.