May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month: Is Your Income Protected?

DES MOINES, Iowa - Only 36 percent of all full-time employees have access to long-term disability insurance through their employers, and fewer than 6 million individual disability policies are in force in the United States1 - compared to more than 112 million individual life insurance policies2. Yet, someone who is 35 years old has a 50 percent chance of experiencing a disability lasting 90 days or more before they turn 653.

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month and Americans are encouraged to review their current disability coverage and to take steps to make the appropriate changes to their coverage, if necessary.

“Many Americans aren’t protecting their most valuable asset – their ability to work and earn an income. Individuals continue to underestimate their likelihood of becoming disabled – either through illness or injury, which can lead to devastating financial consequences,” said Jerry Patterson, vice president of marketing for the Principal Financial Group. “Disability Insurance Awareness month is a great reminder of the importance of ongoing evaluation of disability insurance needs as part of an overall financial plan.”

Throughout May, The Principal® urges customers to learn more about their employer-sponsored disability insurance coverage and to consider individual disability insurance. Individual disability insurance can work in tandem with employer-sponsored coverage, to help protect a higher level of income or provide standalone benefits, if other disability benefits are not available. Meeting with a financial professional is often the first step in helping to develop an action plan for a secure financial future.

To help identify appropriate level of coverage, The Principal also offers an innovative program to educate consumers on individual life and disability insurance and to help them achieve financial security. This program is called “From Here to SecuritySM”, and it offers consumer education with easy-to-read guides to understanding life and disability insurance. The materials contain definitions, examples, statistics and a personal needs-analysis worksheet. Insurance calculators allow customers to run “what if” scenarios to determine the level of coverage appropriate for their individual situation.