What Is Disability Insurance?

Disability income insurance provides you with an income should you become sick or injured and unable to work. It helps protect against family financial catastrophe by giving you an income to meet daily expenses.

Disability income insurance comes in two major forms:

• A variety of employer-paid and government sponsored programs, generally cost-free to the recipient, covering certain categories of workers.
• Private policies (paid for by individuals) that protect income when there are no applicable employer or government programs or when those programs do not adequately meet income needs.

As with all insurance, disability income insurance operates on the principle that many people pool small sums of money to benefit those who need help. The beneficiaries are people who need adequate income should they become disabled.