Comments on: Is it Smart to Buy Disability Insurance?

By: sonya

sonya — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:47:02 +0000

Till what age does one get disability benefits if disabled

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:20:54 +0000

You should also buy a policy with after-tax dollars where possible: The reason is simple – benefits paid by a policy purchased with after-tax dollars are not taxable. This means you could use 100% of your benefit payment for your living expenses

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:19:55 +0000

I’m one that thought I would never need disability insurance, but because is was very reasonable through my work, both long and short term, I carried it. In 5 years with my company I have been on short term disability for 82 weeks (expected total of 114 weeks) due to 3 surgeries and 2 series of ovarian cancer treatments. I was on long term for 2 months, working part time. This time I may also roll into long term disability…God willing, hopefully not for long. But worst case, I’m facing that it could be until the end of my life. So insurance is insurance and you never know when you might need it. I couln’t have survived financially without it.

By: Steven Teoh

Steven Teoh — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:34:15 +0000

As a Realtor, I strongly believe in Disability insurance.
Never know when we will need it.

By: Handicap Equipment

Handicap Equipment — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:55:58 +0000

As someone mentioned before, when it comes to short term disability it is better to have an emergency fund. For long term disability however, insurance is definitely needed for most people.

By: 42

42 — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:38:56 +0000

long-term disability insurance isn’t cheap. my employer doesn’t provide it and the one quote I got from MassMutual was around $250/mo.

I would definitely like to get quotes from other companies and the problem is that there just aren’t that many companies that sell this insurance. If you have some suggestions I’d be grateful.

on the other hand, payments from such policies are free from income tax, so don’t dismiss 50%-of-salary policies. sure it’s less than your paycheck but not all that much.

By: wayne

wayne — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:48:15 +0000

I have been ponderign this question the last 2 weeks (nice timing on the topic!): If things are very tight, would it be better to drop the life insurance and pick up long term disability? Especially for someone like me that can only get life ins through work that will pay 2x my annual salary. (basically a $90K life ins policy – which isn’t much)

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:56:57 +0000

JC, while it is true you can’t take an employer’s disability plan with you when you leave, you will pay a significant premium if you decide to buy your own coverage. The average annual premium for a group LTD plan for 2007 was $226. That is less than 20 dollars a month.

On the other hand, when buying your own LTD plan, the premiums are typically between 1-3% of your annual salary. For someone making $50,000 a year, that is a $500-$1,500 premium. So, you’re typically better off to pay the much lower group rate while you do have that job. If you leave, you won’t have income anyway and the insurance doesn’t matter. When you get a new job you can see if they offer it, and if not, then decide to buy an individual policy if you have to.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:00:52 +0000

You should also get long-term disability rather than short term. For short term, your emergency fund should cover the 6 or so month that you might be disabled. Long term covers a long time.

Also, don’t get disability insurance through your company. You can’t take it with you if you were to leave or get laid off.

By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal

Ron@TheWisdomJournal — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:59:51 +0000

“What About Social Security Disability?
Good luck.”

That’s a good one! My father was disabled for about a year and a half. Collecting SSI requires an attorney to get anywhere with them. The system is set up to avoid fraud and in the process, makes it very difficult to get any help whatsoever.