Temporary Disability Insurance

Temporary Disability Insurance: For When You Least Expect It

When you’re healthy and haven’t had an accident in several years or more, you don’t think about becoming ill or having an accident, whether it is an auto accident or a fall down the stairs at your home. Whatever the reason may be, you need to prepare for things that happen unexpectedly. No matter how careful you are or how healthy you are, things can still happen, and they always manage to do that when you are least expecting it, such as while you are on vacation. Temporary disability insurance can carry you through those times when you become ill and injured, providing a source of income until you are able to return to work. It’s a solution to a temporary situation, however, without the insurance; you will no likely have no income during the course of your confinement.

Why Pay For Something I May Never Need?

Many people have the mistaken assumption that because they have never missed more than a day or two of work because of accident or illness, the chance that they will need temporary disability insurance is a remote one. Unfortunately, those who think in such a way are the most likely to be faced with something catastrophic for no other reason than they were not expecting it, and are unprepared. When you are prepared for a major illness or injury, you are better able to face it, and thus have the things in order that you need to have in order to continue receiving an income. Without temporary disability insurance, an illness or injury that extends beyond the sick days can destroy a family’s financial stability in a matter of days.

Temporary Disability Insurance: A Good Buy for the Money

At first thought, you may think that purchasing temporary disability insurance is a frivolous expense that you don’t need right now, but the harsh reality is that you could go out the door right now and be in a car accident or the innocent victim of an accident without even getting into your car. How many times do you read articles in the paper about people who are standing on the sidewalk when a vehicle goes out of control and hits people on the street? That is part of the harsh reality of the world in which we live. Bullets ricochet and hit innocent victims, including children. Combine these statistics with the number of illnesses that are in the air and \you have a great potential for being ill or in an accident and left without any source of income unless you have temporary disability insurance. 

It’s Not a Luxury, It’s a Necessity

If you think having temporary disability insurance is a luxury that you don’t need, then you need to rethink that position. Over 95% of the population is only one paycheck away from bankruptcy, and all it takes is the loss of one paycheck through accident or illness to create that reality. Even if you work for a company that gives you sick time, a major illness or accident can wipe those out, and unless you have disability insurance, where does that leave you and your family? You have to face the reality of life and understand that none of us is immortal nor is any of us immune to the dangers of every day life. For that reason alone, we have to protect ourselves from financial ruin by ascertaining that we have insurance to cover our income in the event of a medical catastrophe.

I Have a Savings Account – Isn’t That Enough?

A savings account will only take care of you for the period of time that the funds last. Unless you have a couple of years’ salary in your savings account, you’re still playing with danger if you don’t have temporary disability insurance. Most people think of a savings account in terms of having a couple of months salary in case of a layoff, but when you think of a major illness, two months’ salary may not be enough, especially if it turns out that you are going to be out of work for longer than two months. After all, if something happens that prevents you from returning to work for several months, the savings will be depleted, and there will be no way to replenish it in the event that something else happens later. It’s more economically sound to invest in temporary disability insurance than to rely on a savings account, even if you have three or four months’ worth of salary saved. Instead of depending on the savings account, allow it to be the cushion your former pay and your disability pay.