Author Topic: Disability Insurance?  (Read 3221 times)

Andrew928

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Disability Insurance?
« on: May 19, 2016, 11:54:03 AM »
Hey guys, what do you think of Disability insurance? I'm 22, and don't have any dependents though the woman I will probably marry does come with two little monsters.

As for occupation I do work in bail and can see myself getting injured at some point for the duration of my stay in this business.

Andrew928

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2016, 12:39:56 PM »
Sorry for the self bump, important question to me.

Rezdent

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2016, 01:19:07 PM »
I am guessing you are talking about short term and long term disability?
Insurance in general is highly dependent on your circumstances.

If you are injured at work, worker's compensation should cover that (but check with your company anyway to make sure).

The questions are, if you are injured and cannot work, what will happen to you? Your dependents?  What level of risk are you comfortable with?

I have longterm disability, but not shortterm.  I have enough emergency fund to carry me the three months, so I would not need shortterm to be okay.  Once I am FI, I will not carry longterm anymore, because I won't need to replace job income if I am disabled, and I would go on SS disability.

Capsu78

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2016, 01:19:36 PM »
I have been told it is the most important and likely to use insurance product you need.  If provided at work, fine but when I went to the consulting side I set it up and paid for it for 20 years- no claim and that's still OK by me.

NextTime

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2016, 01:39:05 PM »
My company stopped paying for our short term disability insurance this year, so I just dropped it rather than paying it myself.   Like Rezdent said, I can cover a short period of time with emergency funds.


onlykelsey

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2016, 01:41:22 PM »
I think long-term disability probably makes sense in your case.  I imagine if you have a short-term injury (you get in a fight and break an arm), you're mustachian enough to have 2 or 4 months saved up.  But if you get in a fight and get paralyzed, the coverage would probably be worth it.

SimplyMarvie

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2016, 02:57:04 PM »
I have no access to short term or long term disability through my job (I work for the Government), and have a position where I'm probably more likely than baseline, but not highly likely to come up disabled in the short term. I am also the sole wage earner in our family at the moment.

So, I bought disability insurance. I actually chose to buy that over life insurance, sticking with the $450k policy I get through work. I have enough sick time to cover a middle of the road illness, but not enough to cover something greater than about 6 weeks. My options are a bit limited given my work, but I was able to get a policy that has both short and long term rolled in together, and the long-term is 4 years 'own occupation' (which, since my job is Government-only is easy for me to qualify for) and 'any occupation' after that.

If I were in your circumstances, I likely wouldn't have bothered. In my case, we're a one-income family with three kids. We're still a good way away from FIRE, and don't yet have the huge pool of assets and passive income that a lot of people here have. Plus, being unable to work for any significant time would probably mean a relocation for us to somewhere with better health care, which would strain our resources... so the income would be needed. It's $40 a month, and the peace of mind we get is worth it. Once we have stronger financial resources and side-hustles, I'll re-evaluate.

debbie does duncan

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2016, 01:24:57 PM »
My husband was an owner /operator with no insurance .
 While talking to other small business owners he decided he too needed some ins.
He paid into that for 4 yrs before his injury. OMG. Best thing ever. He was covered.

brooklynmoney

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2016, 03:47:05 PM »
I sit behind a desk all day and I've still had a private policy I bought 5 years ago and I will continue paying for it until I am done working. You never know.

Andrew928

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Re: Disability Insurance?
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2016, 12:18:41 PM »
Thanks for the insight guy, definitely going to pick up a policy.