Cited: Dolan Media Newswires Colorado Springs Business Journal

If you do not have disability insurance and get injured or disabled on the job or off, it can be a very big financial impact. In fact, the cost of not having disability insurance can be 20 times your annual salary. Life Foundation and America’s Health Insurance Plans did a study that stated just that. The study looked at various types of income protection that reduce the financial risks of disability as well as the consequences facing people who cannot work because of a disability or injury.

In the absence of insurance, a majority of Americans would have to make “drastic lifestyle changes” in order to cover the costs associated with disabilities, regardless of whether the disability is short- or long-term. The study found that the financial impact - equal to lost income plus expenses - can be as high as nearly $1 million for a 40-year-old single man earning $50,000 annually who suffers a long-term disability lasting until 65. The costs associated with short-term disabilities also can be significant - equaling one to two times income in some cases for a disability lasting two years.

Those hardest hit by the costs are single individuals who do not have a second income to rely on; lower income people, because added expenses are greater relative to the lost income; and those who suffer longer-term disabilities.

More than a quarter of Americans admit they would have difficulty supporting themselves financially immediately after a disability, while 49% would reach that point within a month, according to Life.

“Our experience tells us that if you become disabled and don’t have disability insurance, you’re going to have a very rough go of it. This study quantifies the impact of a disability so working Americans can get a better understanding of financial difficulties they’ll likely face without proper insurance coverage,” said Marvin H. Feldman, president and CEO of the foundation. “Disability insurance provides a financial safety net that can be counted on to replace lost income if you were suddenly out of work due to illness or injury.”

The study also shows that various sources of disability insurance provide valuable income replacement to help cover the high costs of disability. Private disability insurance plans, such as employer-sponsored or individual coverage, can reduce the cost of a disability by 70% to 80% Individual disability coverage, in combination with employer- or government-sponsored insurance programs, can reduce the financial cost of disability by 80% to 95%.

For those employers looking for more payroll options for their employees . . . Your employees are what keep your business ticking, and you can offer a solution that automates all critical functions including benefits management, payroll connectivity, workflow automation, and the hire-to-fire process. You can get employee payroll services that create a comprehensive and paperless HR management environment. You could even offer online payroll services for those employees who work in the field.

The study also makes clear that while government-sponsored disability insurance - either through Workers’ Compensation or Social Security - is available to many working Americans, it can be difficult to qualify for. Workers’ Compensation insurance is limited to disabilities that occur on the job, but a vast majority (90%) of injuries happen outside the workplace, and are therefore not covered by Workers’ Compensation programs. During recent years, only about 45% of initial applications for Social Security benefits have been approved, and the average monthly benefit, $1,062, is barely above the poverty level.

“The Social Security Disability Insurance program can be one source of disability income for many Americans, but this is no guarantee that disabled individuals will be eligible for SSDI,” said Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of AHIP. “Working Americans and their families can benefit from the value that private disability income insurance provides.”

According to the study, it is not just the financial stress that can cause problems when a disabled person is overwhelmed by the expense of medical costs. A person’s self-worth and overall happiness can be directly tied to their financial status. That financial status can possibly cause problems with a person’s disability simply because of the stress. This makes it difficult for a person to get back on their feet to any degree.

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My Take: Every employer is required by law to provide Worker’s Compensation. However, this does not cover the complete costs if the disability or injury is permanent. It may cover equipment such as wheelchairs and walkers if those are needed permanently and it will give you a percentage of your weekly paycheck as compensation.

I think the best thing anybody should do is ask their employer to offer disability insurance that can be deducted from their paychecks on a weekly or biweekly basis. Depending on the insurance, this should not be too much of a burden financially. A person should think of the benefits they will get if they are injured or disabled permanently and cannot work.

Becoming permanently disabled is not something people anticipate. There is always a possibility of becoming permanently injured or disabled. It could happen on the job, on your way to work, on your way home from work or even in your home.

Many young people today have realized that they need to prepare for retirement now. However, they are not anticipating disability in the future. They need to realize that we live in a 50-50 world. There is always that chance that something could go drastically wrong. If they do not have disability insurance for that reason, they may be in a financial crisis.

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Related Resources

Life Insurance

Life Insurance is typically used as a replacement of income that can support the dependants of an insured individual after that person has passed away. In addition to that, primary purpose life insurance can also be used as a powerful savings vehicle as it enjoys significant tax advantages over other traditional forms of savings tools. You might want to look into getting some whole life insurance quotes to help take care of your family.

While you are looking for quotes, you might also look for long term care insurance quotes for yourself and your husband in your golden years. This would lift the burden your family shoulders. Long-term care refers to a broad range of medical and personal services designed to assist people who have lost their ability to function independently. If you are thinking of buying Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI), you will want to make sure it covers the services you may need.

IT Services

Recently, banks, credit bureaus and universities have made the headlines with serious security failures that resulted in digital information getting into the wrong hands. Once you have a security leak, the unauthorized access to your confidential data could be catastrophic.

With Fairfield California managed IT services, you will need to know how information is shared, who has access and what controls govern access to data (Authorization, Authentication, Access control…). Information technology services CA can define security recommendations that identify steps to be taken when unauthorized information access occurs.

Business Financing

At one time, merchants had no alternative to traditional bank small business loans except for outrageously expensive factoring-type financing. These “factoring” companies were thriving at the merchant’s expense because they had no real competition.

You can now get financing for merchants at the lowest possible cost with no “fine print” with CCRF. CCRF (Credit Card Receivable Financing ) is a short-term working capital “Loan” for Visa/MC merchants. The loan amount is based on the merchant’s previous 6 month average (12 months if the business is seasonal) monthly sales volume on Visa/MC. The typical loan amount is 70% -100% of the monthly average. The typical term is 6 months.

Loan is amortized by an automatic daily payment based on the merchant’s Visa/MC sales. The typical daily payment percentage is 15% - 20%. The merchant has the option of using a fixed daily payment instead of percentage of daily sales. You might even call this a merchant cash advance.

Strict Liability

Injuries resulting from alter hazardous activities may result in strict liability towards being brought for which the defendant can be held liable even though the defendant was not negligent and did not actually cause the injury. Strict liability can also be applied to some product liability claims as well as copyright infringement and some trademark cases. Your Portland OR personal injury attorneys would be able to explain strict liability were clearly. In some cases, statutory torts are also considered strict liability including environmental torts. Basically, strict liability is not based on knowledge or intention to cause a wrongful act or even that it violated a standard of care, instead it is focused on the conduct itself or its result.

When Does a Personal Injury Claim Begin?

When you contact North Carolina personal injury attorneys, your personal injury claim will begin and it will end with the conclusion of the case whether with a settlement or the trial concluded with a judgment given. You need to make sure that you file your claim within a specific time period after the accident or illness. Otherwise they become what is called “statute barred” and will not succeed. This time limit varies state to state that is usually approximately 3 years. When you have had an accident, you should consult an attorney while events are fresh in your mind instead of waiting and trying to recall what happened months or years later.

Had a Traffic Accident?

Minor traffic violations can have big consequences if not handled properly including a simple speeding ticket. Depending on the circumstances a person’s license could be suspended for a certain period of time as well as insurance premiums can go up significantly. However, if you have an accident you could be talking to Texas injury attorneys about alternatives to pleading guilty to specific charges on a citation. You will need to carefully consider the alternatives available to determine what is right for you. With an attorney handling the case, you may be able to keep your insurance premiums low and protect your driving record.

CSI Type Services

Everybody has watched the CSI shows on TV. Did you know that there are actually private forensic medical companies that are dedicated to the practice of forensic medicine and pathology? These are the people who will perform a private autopsy in court cases such as wrongful deaths or homicides. They are called medical legal consultants who provide pathological diagnoses of various diseases to patients, hospitals, doctors, lawyers and insurance companies nationally and internationally. Their work is very similar to that of those performed on the CSI shows. In fact, many states like Nebraska have agreements with these companies to provide forensic medical and pathological services to the citizens of other states.

Qualifying For Auto Insurance

An insurance company is required to pull your driving record. This will give them accurate information on your abilities as a driver. With a clean driving record, you will get the best car insurance quote available. If your record is severely marred with accidents, speeding tickets and other violations then your premium is going to be very high no matter what company you choose. In fact, some insurance companies will go so far as to pull your credit report. This will tell them how likely you are to be able to pay your premiums. Remember, with a good clean record, you can get low auto insurance quotes from everybody.

Need Help

Are you looking for an experienced and effective Texas personal injury attorney or personal injury lawyer? One law firm can help you! When you choose this law office to represent you on your personal injury case, you are partnering yourself with a group of attorneys who do not merely dabble in personal injury law, but rather a highly specialized firm that spends all day, every day, winning cases just like yours. If you need help with any personal injury matter, the experienced and dedicated staff in this law firm is here to help you!

Bicycling Accidents

The popularity of bicycling has increased dramatically over the past 30 years and so have the injuries. Many of these injuries have been caused by the neglect of operators of vehicles such as cars and trucks and SUVs. You may not need a group of Los Angeles injury attorneys, but they are all available to assist you. In fact, nearly 20,000 bicyclists in the US die each year because of a bicycle accident. These accidents cannot only be cards by vehicles but by pedestrians, defective bicycle components and even defective safety equipment. This means you may need one of the Los Angeles personal injury attorneys for yourself if you run a bicycle. Under California law, you can seek damages for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering as well as emotional distress.

Many people avoid getting life insurance because it is not an easy task to accomplish. There are just so many policies to choose from and each has different elements and they may be difficult to understand. The most common insurance policies are term and whole life. You can easily research the best term life insurance quotes on the Internet.

The really interesting thing is that if you combined term and whole life you come up with universal life insurance. It is a mix of both term and whole life insurance policies. It has both good and bad features of both. Make sure that you research both term and whole life insurance before researching universal life.

A universal policy offers an investment component like whole life and is usually less expensive than whole or term life. This is fantastic if you want cash value accruement in a life insurance policy. However, you may be unable to afford one. Earning cash value is not guaranteed with either whole life or universal. If your account gets too low, the coverage could even stop. No cash value is available with a term life policy. Make sure that you research Universal life insurance quotes before making your final decision.

If you have researched whole life insurance quotes, you may be interested in the universal life insurance as well. You should first speak with an insurance agent before you make a decision on purchasing any type of life insurance policy. An agent can point you towards the policy that meets both your needs and your wants.

Today’s economy has many of us worried about our futures.   Will we have a job in six months?  Will we have enough to retire in 20, 30, 40 years?  What about my family and how do I provide for them if I am unable to work, or worse, if I pass away unexpectedly?

Obviously there’s not a lot that most of us can do about the economic fall out from the housing industry that has rocked the credit markets and trickled down to impact the performance of nearly every industry across the board.  But, we can plan.  We can try to sock $ 5, $10 or maybe even $20 away each week for a small nest egg if we are down to a paycheck-to-paycheck situation.  We can attempt to learn new skills to safeguard our careers against changes in our industries.  This is particularly applicable when it comes to the auto industry, which is amidst unprecedented uncertainty and producing increasing numbers of pink lips for workers across the country and abroad.

We can also look into purchasing life insurance, term life insurance, whole life insurance, or a combination of both, to ensure that, in the event that something should happen to us, we have set aside some kind of financing to cover funeral costs, pay off debts or even use to help cover a mortgage payment on a house we might leave behind.

So, how do you shop for the best term life insurance quotes?  Well, first of all, you can rest assured that locating affordable, low-cost life insurance can be done easily online and usually you can find all you need in one location.  There are many Web sites available that will shop for insurance for you based on your plugged in parameters, such as your age, health history, location and other factors.

Just as you would shop for a mortgage, a pair of shoes, a new car online, you also have the option for comparison shopping when it comes to buying life insurance.  You do not have to buy insurance from a friend or from a recommended broker if you can find another policy somewhere else that better serves your long- or short-term needs.

Comparison shopping for insurance, regardless of your age or health, is one of the essential ways experts recommend that will save you time and money over the long run.  The other key recommendation they offer is this: once you have purchased a policy, don’t just toss it in a file box and forget about it.  Keep in mind: insurance policies often carry scheduled price increases that take affect as you age.  If you don’t keep track of these changes, you could be wasting hard-earned dollars without even knowing it.