When it is Time to Think about Disability Insurance
May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month (DIAM)
Disability Insurance Awareness Month is to remind us to make sure we are financially covered for health problems that can lead to disability and financial distress. Disability insurance is really income insurance.
Illness is Main Cause for Disability
Most Disability is from Diseases
No one ever wants to think about the possibility of suddenly becoming temporarily or permanently disabled. Statistics, however, show that 90% of disability cases come from diseases and only 10% from injuries.
Seniors over Age 65
For seniors over the age of 65 Medicare can cover a lot of these expenses, and they may have a pension or other resources they built up before retiring. If they need short or long-term care they can find themselves in a wonderful, warm and caring facility like Royal Suites Healthcare and Rehabilitation situated on a beautiful 8 acre location in Galloway Township, New Jersey.
Illness can Strike without Warning at any Age
However, serious illness can strike without warning at any age, and people in their prime of life can unexpectedly find themselves unable to work or get around. If they are living alone, they may suddenly be in a position where they need to have someone look after them, to come in and take care of them, and may not have the finances to cover these needs. We hear too many stories of people who were just a few months away from retirement who suddenly got ill with a serious disease like cancer that required months of treatments, needed surgery with a few weeks to recover, needed rehabilitation for a stroke or heart attack, needed care from complications from illnesses like diabetes that may have suddenly catapulted them into becoming an amputee and more. Here is where disability insurance can step in to help.
Early Onset Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
More and more people, only in their forties and fifties are being hit with early onset dementia and Alzheimer’s and this is draining families of all their life savings. Once someone has Alzheimer’s it is too late to get private disability insurance, as it will be considered a pre-existing condition. Make sure that any private disability insurance you invest in will also cover early onset dementia.
The plain fact is you have to start paying for disability insurance while you are healthy.
The AARP Recommends Investment in Disability Insurance for People Ages 50-55
The AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) recommends that people age 50-55 invest in disability insurance. Most insurance companies will not cover people once they hit age 60, so the AARP advises people who are still working to invest in disability insurance to cover them in case illness strikes. Most policies will cover you until age 65 or full retirement age.
Disability Insurance and Pre-existing Medical Conditions
In some cases you may get turned down for private disability insurance if you have health problems when you apply. In other cases, you may get the disability insurance, but it may exclude coverage for your particular health condition.
Group Disability Insurance
The AARP also recommends that you join a group disability insurance plan at your job if available. This should also be less expensive and the ideal scenario is that it will cover 60-70% of your salary should you become disabled.
Warning
According to the AARP, only a few private life insurance companies will offer a policy that cannot be cancelled by them and where the terms and costs will not be changed.
Women are Charged More than Men
Since statistically women are more likely than men to get disabled, they are charged more than the men are! However, if a woman buys a policy together with a man or men, she can pay unisex rates and get a cheaper price on the policy.
Long Term Care Insurance
The AARP recommends that people between the ages of 55-60 begin to invest in Long Term Care Insurance.
Conclusion
The time to protect yourself and invest in disability insurance is while you are still working and in good health and the recommended time to do this is when you are between the ages of 50-55. When you are age 55-60 you should think about investing in a long term care insurance policy.