If you had a choice, which would you insure? Money? Or, the machine that prints it?

Disability income insurance protects your lifestyle. It can guarantee that your mortgage and other living expenses will be paid, even if you're disabled, by paying benefits when you're too sick or hurt to work.

Without adequate disability protection, most families would be hard-pressed if an income earner needed an unplanned vacation. What takes years to save can be depleted in months. While buying disability income insurance isn't the only option, the others aren't always up to the task.

You may have group disability insurance at work. This coverage is often inflexible or restrictive, however, and may or may not be convertible to an individual policy if you leave the company. Also, few group disability benefits replace salaries at the recommended 70% level — which raises the questions: "Could you live on the maximum monthly benefit paid by your group disability plan?" and, "Will these benefits last long enough?"

Sometimes, a disabled person's savings or investments can fill the income gap, but, even if you've faithfully saved 10% of your income each year, one year of disability could erase 10 years' savings. Most people could make it through short-term disability, but what if the illness is long-term?

Social Security provides disability income benefits. But the definition of disability is so tough, 65% of claims are turned away each year — and that percentage is probably even higher among white-collar workers.

Anyone who believes: "It can't happen to me" should consider this. According to Insurance Commissioners' statistics, a healthy 35-year old has a 22% chance of becoming disabled for a 90-day period before age 65. And a disability that lasts one year has more than a 50% chance of lasting two. These are hardly relaxing odds.

From time to time I send information on important topics to my clients and others I feel might benefit from it. I hope this has been helpful.

Sincerely,

Louis M. Jakowitz