“Anyone who is not disabled,” is the ironic answer. Disability insurance, a way to bolster the fragile safety net offered by the federal government’s Social Security program, will enable you to keep receiving a certain portion of your paycheck in the event that you contract an illness or injury which prevents you from working. Short-term disability insurance will provide you with a percentage of your lost salary should you find yourself incapacitated for more than a few days. Payouts will dwindle as the time you spend injured increases, but most short-term policies will provide coverage for about half a year. Long-term disability insurance will, as its name suggests, protect you from more serious circumstances that threaten your ability to work permanently. These policies provide coverage for several years and are best used in conjunction with short-term plans. While it might seem like an unnecessary expenditure to the healthy, disability insurance is an invaluable protection for any worker to have. Policies are most affordable to those who appear to need them least, and people who wait until they are actually injured may find themselves with almost no money to live on.
