Disability Insurance Articles

How To Obtain Disability Insurance For Self Employment Endeavors

2010-08-18

The necessity for life insurance is a fact of life. What is often ignored is the fact that, according to statistics, a person is much more likely to become disabled during his working years than to die. Self employment is no different than working for a company when it comes to the need for disability insurance for protection against loss of income due to injury or illness. For many Americans the loss of even one month of income can be difficult. An extended period of disability can be catastrophic. Fortunately there are several options for obtaining self employment disability insurance.

One possibility is Social Security Disability Insurance. Once the basic Social Security Administration criteria are met, mainly the severity of the disability, then the application is sent to a determining service for review. There is a five month waiting period from the beginning of the disability before eligibility for benefits. You can get an idea of your disability benefits by going to the Social Security Administration online. To avoid disappointment keep in mind that social security benefits are limited to a portion of the amount of taxes that you have paid and will not be near what you were making before the disability.

A self employed person can obtain disability insurance on his own through independent insurance providers. The major insurance companies offer a variety of optional policies for self employment. A few telephone calls or online comparison should be sufficient to find the appropriate policy. When seeking self employment disability insurance it is important to be mindful of a few variables to such policies. Basically these are: how much do the benefits pay, the type of the disability as determined by the person's ability to work, the waiting period before the benefits begin and how long the benefits will be paid. Being aware of these variables will help the person seeking insurance to find the policy which fits his needs. Obviously, he would want coverage for at least the extent of the loss of income. If the decision comes down to higher benefits or to getting the benefits for longer a person should choose the longer time period. In severe disability the age 65 or even for life is optimal. The decisions are effected by how high a premium the person is able to pay and the offerings of the insurance company.

Disability insurance is just as important to the self employed as life insurance. Obtaining it simply requires a little planning and research. Check with a qualified agent and go online.