Disability Insurance

Disability insurance is insurance that can kick in for those who find themselves unable to work thanks to a disability.

Maybe you’re a construction worker who threw out his back one too many times, leaving you disabled in a wheelchair. Maybe you’re a typist who lost their vision. In these cases, it’d be nice to have some disability insurance.

Key to disability insurance is what counts as a disability and what doesn’t. For some programs, and depending on your age, you only have to prove that your disability doesn’t allow you to do your old job. For others, or if you’re young, you may have to prove you can’t work at all...even at a new job that you’d need training to do. Different types of disabilities may or may not be covered, for short-term (less than six months) or long-term (more than six months).

Many organizations provide their own versions of disability insurance, and with their own rules as to what makes someone eligible to receive the insurance. The U.S. government also has disability insurance programs under the Social Security Administration. If you’ve worked and paid your taxes, you can potentially be eligible for Social Security Disability (SSD) and/or Social Security Income (SSI).