Long term disability insurance can provide you with a sense of security. Disability insurance ensures that you will have some sort of income even if you’re unable to work because you become disabled. The payments, while less than your normal income, make sure you that have some money flowing in. So, how young is too young to make sure you have long term disability insurance?
Who can it help?
Long term disability insurance can help you at any age, as long as you’re working because you run the risk of being disabled at any age. In fact, many people believe that if you work at all, then you need to have long term disability insurance. If you’re used to a steady paycheck, and that paycheck suddenly ceases due to illness or injury, it would be useful to have insurance.
When should I buy it?
Unfortunately, the older you get, the harder it is to obtain disability insurance. The average age of people making claims on their long term disability is around 50, which means you should probably make sure you have the insurance before that.
If you don't, though, it's not too late! If you’re between the ages of 50 and 55 and you don’t already have long term disability insurance, now is the time to get it. During this time, you’re probably trying to make sure that you have enough money to retire in the next 15 years. If you become disabled, it could seriously mess up your financial planning.
Don't I get it from my employer?
Hopefully, you don’t need to worry about purchasing long term disability insurance on your own. Many employers cover some kind of disability insurance in their benefits packages. However, sometimes these policies aren’t very good and there is no long term disability coverage. In these cases, you’ll want to purchase long term disability insurance as an individual to supplement your employer provided plan.
By some reports, as many as 30% of workers will become disabled by the time they reach the age when they can retire. So if you start working at 20 years old, you have almost 50 years until you can retire. During that time, there’s a nearly 1 in 3 chance that you’ll become disabled.
If you’re a working adult, you’re old enough to get long term disability insurance, and there’s a chance you may need it. If you wait too long to purchase it, you may find yourself disabled with no income, or you might find yourself too old to buy a policy.
