Florida Disability Insurance

A Florida disability insurance policy may be all that stands between you living in your home or your car. Insure your paycheck!

If the stream of paychecks that makes your life possible stops how long would your savings last?

Very few employers provide disability insurance that lasts longer than a few weeks. After that you are on your own. If you have your own business then you probably have no protection at all. When making a decision regarding Ohio disability insurance, consider the following:

If you saved 5% of your annual income for a "rainy day", an extended disability could eat up close to 10 years of savings in just 6 months.

- Between the ages of 35 and 65 seven out of ten people will become disabled for 3 months or longer
- One out of seven employed people will be disabled for 5 years or more before age 65
- Average long-term loss due to disability is over 5 years.
- Average American household only has two months worth of savings in reserve.
- Workers compensation coverage only covers injuries that occur on the job

FLORIDA DISABILITY INSURANCE - COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

"I am in good health, I know I can earn a living."
This is a common misconception. People can become disabled in many ways; workplace injury, car accident or the onset of a debilitating medical condition. Statistically between the ages of 35 and 65 seven out of ten people will become disabled for three months or longer.

"Won't Social Security help me?"
Social Security benefits are extremely difficult to qualify for and take a great deal of time to finally start. You must prove that not only are you incapable of performing your usual occupation but any occupation. In addition, the benefits most likely will not meet your financial obligations. The maximum payment for a 30-year-old earning $70,000.00 per year is $1,600.00 per month.

- 1993 - Social Security denied 55 % of 1.4 million applications it received.
- 1998 - only 35% of Social Security disability claims were approved.
- Over 5 months must pass before Social Security will pay on an approved claim
- Social Security requires that you cannot perform "any" gainful work.
- Social Security demands that the disability must last at least 12 months.

"What about employer provided group Florida disability insurance or worker compensation coverage?"
Workers compensation only covers individuals that have been injured on the job and those benefits are typically quite low and do not come close to covering your earnings. Group Florida disability insurance plans through an employer are not prevalent, less than 41 % of companies with over 100 employee's and less than 19% of companies with under 100 employees provide this coverage. Also these benefits will not be adequate to replace income. Having some type of individual Florida disability insurance plan is the only answer.

Florida disability insurance protection comes in many forms

You can get Florida disability insurance for different time spans.
- If you can afford it, you are best off with a plan that covers you until you are 65.
- Next, you can find plans that will protect you for 5 years, 2 years or even down to one year.

Decide how long you can wait for a check. It is a lot cheaper to have a plan that does not cover you for the first 90 days than it is to have a plan that covers you after 30 days.

If you have some other income or savings you might not want to have a large benefit. But be sure to get the pricing for a few different amounts. The difference might not be that much and you will be happy you have the extra coverage.

You can buy a term life insurance plan that has a Florida disability insurance rider and will give you back your premiums at the end of its term.

I have always been amazed at this product. How the hell do they do it? The answer is, they are betting that you won't keep your life insurance for the full term. I wish they had this ten years ago. I am not giving up my 20 year level term insurance. I would have to be nuts. But, this is a great deal if you really want to protect your home. You buy a level term life insurance plan with the disability and return of premium rider. Then twenty years later you say thank you very much and get your premiums back. You might take a 20 year level term against a 30 year mortgage and use the lump sum to pay down or pay off the rest of your mortgage. What a great deal.