Amount of Disability Insurance Benefits

How much Disability insurance should I have?

For starters, the amount of Disability insurance benefits you can purchase is dependent on how much you earn. Most people are able to protect up to 60% of their income and higher earners are capped at an even smaller percentage.

Most importantly, the amount of Disability insurance you have should provide enough money to cover you and your family’s financial needs. We recommend creating a list of all your monthly expenses, in order for you to know the minimal amount of benefit you need. You should have enough coverage to pay your rent/mortgage, utilities, car payments, insurance premiums, credit card bills, student loans, living expenses, etc. You should also consider adding the Future Increase Option rider to your policy, which allows you to increase your benefit in the future, without having to provide medical information. This way, as your earnings and responsibilities increase, you’ll also be able to increase the amount of Disability insurance you have.

Although most people purchase Disability insurance hoping to never use it, it is important that if you are applying money towards it, it will properly do what it is intended to do. You'll never hear a person on disability claim say, “Wow, I probably didn’t need this extra $2,000 of benefit”.

Try to envision actually being on disability claim. At that point, would you rather have just enough to survive or enough to maintain a similar lifestyle for you and your family? If you have not already, we encourage you to request a Disability insurance quote to learn about your options.

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