Assessing Your Long-Term Disability Risks

Long-term disabilities can happen to anyone, leaving you unable to work. In planning for the future, it is important to be aware of the risks. Our Orlando long-term disability lawyer explains how there are two primary areas to address: your odds of eventually suffering a long-term disability and whether you have insurance to protect against lost income.

How Likely Are You To Eventually Suffer A Long-Term Disability?

If you are young and in reasonably good health, long-term disability may seem like something that does not impact you personally. However, it is important to be aware of the facts. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), roughly one out of every four current 20-year-olds will eventually become disabled prior to reaching retirement age.

Taking the time now to assess your risk can help ensure you are prepared for whatever the future might hold. Consider the following in determining how likely you are to eventually suffer a long-term disability:

• Your current health: Are you in reasonably good health? Do you have a family history of serious health problems? If you suffer from any chronic health conditions, are you under a doctor’s care and following all of their recommendations?
• Your lifestyle: Do you engage in extreme sports or other recreational hobbies that could increase serious injury risks? Do you smoke, overeat, ignore stress, or have other unhealthy behaviors that increase long-term disability risks?
• Your job: Do you perform dangerous tasks on your job or are you routinely exposed to hazardous substances? Do you work so much that you tend to ignore your physical or mental health? 

How Will You Deal With Lost Income?

Even if you are currently healthy and otherwise at low risk, the unexpected can still happen. Long-term disabilities can arise suddenly, preventing you from providing for yourself and your family. Consider now how you would deal with losses in income that result:

• Does your employer provide long-term disability insurance? Long-term disability benefits may be included as part of your compensation package. Review any policies you have in place now, before the need to file a claim arises. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), your employer is required to provide copies of all policy-related documents, free of charge and at your request.
• Are you entitled to Social Security Disability benefits? In addition to employer-provided coverage, you may be eligible for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), based on your work history and whether you have a qualifying condition.
• Do you need supplemental long-term disability insurance? If you are not entitled to disability benefits through your employer or the Social Security Administration or have concerns that these would not provide enough income in the event you are unable to work, you may want to invest in a privately purchased policy.

Contact Our Florida Long-Term Disability Lawyer

At Farrell Disability Law, we help clients get the long-term disability benefits they are entitled to. For help filing a claim or appealing denied benefits, contact our Florida long-term disability lawyer and request a consultation in our Orlando or Jacksonville office today.

Sources:

ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10029.pdf

dol.gov/general/topic/retirement/erisa

ssa.gov/benefits/disability/qualify.html