Why is long-term disability insurance so important?
Long-term disability is defined as an illness or injury that prevents one’s ability to fulfill job duties. Because the range of ‘disability’ is so broad, the likelihood of suffering from long-term disability is greater than most expect. What if you suffer from a heart attack or stroke that prevents your ability to function fully at work? What if you develop carpal tunnel syndrome? There are endless what-ifs, and the fact is, one in three working Americans will become disabled in some capacity for more than 90 days before age 65. They may take advantage of an employer’s short-term disability insurance, but that coverage may stop after 90 days. What next? Hopefully, the answer is that long-term disability insurance kicks in, but for 82 percent of Americans, that is not the case. Only 18 percent of people have appropriate levels of long-term disability insurance. Also, with the working population delaying retirement and, therefore, maintaining employment at an older age, the incidence of
