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Courtesy Choncé Maddox
- I broke my foot last year, and it was painful, but the changes to my lifestyle were really hard.
- Americans tend to feel like they have to keep working no matter what, but sometimes we need time to recover.
- Disability insurance means I'll have time to recuperate if I'm ever fully unable to work.
Around the holidays last year, I broke my foot after an accident. I'd never broken anything before, but the pain was excruciating during the first few days. My doctor took X-rays and told me while I wouldn't need surgery, I'd still need several weeks off my foot.
It was so hard to stay off my foot and not do my day-to-day activities. But I remember being thankful that it was my foot and not my hand or my wrist. At least I could still type and do work from my computer.
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I deserve the time I need to recover
The whole experience made me realize how bad I am at taking time off work and letting my body rest and heal when needed. American workers are less likely to use their paid time off. There's often this underlying pressure to keep pushing and working hard no matter what.
This isn't always realistic or even healthy, and in the case of a disabling injury or illness, there's no choice but to take a step back.
The Social Security Administration says that one in four Americans will become disabled before reaching retirement age; I realized that while I don't plan to become disabled any time soon, I deserve the time and space to heal if I ever am, and disability insurance will help with this.
Disability insurance can also cover mental health illnesses like depression or anxiety disorders, and this means a lot to me.
Luckily, it's easy to get an individual disability insurance policy on your own at an affordable rate — I did it several years ago.
How disability insurance works
Disability insurance is basically protection for your income if you are unable to work due to a covered disabling injury or illness. The benefit is usually a percentage of your income. In most cases, that's 60%, though it can be more or less.
So if you normally bring home $5,000 per month, disability insurance will probably pay you up to 60% of that amount of $3,000.
There are two main types of disability insurance: short-term and long-term. Short-term disability has a benefit period usually around three months; long-term disability has longer benefit periods of five to 10 years or even up to retirement age.
Most people can get a free quote for disability insurance online, but it's important to carefully read the policy details to see what's covered and included and what isn't.
Initially, I found an affordable policy for around $20 per month. Recently, I chose to bump up my coverage amount so I'm paying around $35 per month.
My family relies heavily on my income
As the higher earner in my household, losing my income would lead to financial hardship for my family. I don't want to feel stressed about how we'll pay our bills and cover other needs.
I also don't want my son to have to go without certain things I planned for his future, such as college savings or even the support of being able to live with us as a young adult while he saves.
Then there's the thought that my husband could have to give up his job to help take care of me depending on the disability.
The thing with disabilities, though, is that you have little control over the situation and may not exactly know when things are going to improve. At the time, bills keep flowing in and this is just a burden I'd rather not have my family deal with.
I can take my individual policy anywhere
I've seen friends and family members take months or years to manage sudden medical conditions or need to heal from workplace accidents. As someone who's self-employed, I don't have any workplace benefits to fall back on.
The fact that I have an individual disability insurance policy brings me a lot of comfort. I may or may not stay self-employed forever, but regardless, I won't lose my benefits if my career changes.
I can take this policy with me and even add benefits if I want more protection or to supplement coverage. Starting a policy when I'm still somewhat young and in good health was a good idea; some policies also have limitations based on pre-existing conditions.
Having disability insurance is giving me more benefits than the cost, so it's a must-have in my book. While there's no telling what the future holds, putting a plan in place today is one of the best things anyone can do.