Why do you need Disability Insurance? Consider this . . .

Statistics show you are much more likely to be injured in an accident than to die from one.
• A fatal injury occurs every 5 minutes, and a disabling injury occurs every 1.5 seconds.¹
• There is a death caused by a motor vehicle crash every 12 minutes; there is a disabling injury every 14 seconds.¹
• In the home, there is a fatal injury every 16 minutes and a disabling injury every 4 seconds.¹

While many people survive accidental injuries, many others live with serious illnesses.
• In the United States, men have a little less than a 1-in-2 lifetime risk of developing cancer; for women the risk is a little more than 1-in-3. The five-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined is 63%.²
• One in five males and females has some form of cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure is the most common form of cardiovascular disease.³
• More than 35 million Americans are now living with chronic lung diseases, such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.⁴

Advances in medicine are allowing us to live longer. However, recovery from a serious illness or injury often requires time away from work.
• In the last 20 years, deaths due to the big three (cancer, heart attack, and stroke) have gone down significantly. But disabilities due to those same three
are up dramatically! Things that use to kill now disable.⁵
• You have life insurance, home insurance, and automobile insurance.
• But is your income insured?

Why Income Protection?
If you are suddenly unable to work because of a disability, how will you continue to meet your financial obligations without a paycheck?

Counting on Social Security to provide disability benefits?
Social Security’s definition of disability requires that the impairment must be expected to result in death or to last at least 12 months, or must have lasted at least 12 months. Also, Social Security disability benefits usually have a five-month waiting period.

Covered by workers’ compensation?
Workers’ compensation provides benefits only for occupational-related injuries or illnesses. About two-thirds of the disabling injuries suffered by American workers in 2002 occurred off the job.*

Think your savings will get you through a disability?
Experts recommend a minimum savings of three months’ salary to prepare for a sudden loss of income. However, most people simply aren’t saving enough money to last more than a few weeks without a regular income. For some, the financial impact of even one missed paycheck can be devastating.

Will you have to turn to family or friends to help support you?
Chances are, if you are not saving enough, your loved ones are not either.

¹ National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2003 Edition
² American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2004
³ American Heart Association, Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2004 Update
⁴ American Lung Association, Lung Disease Data 2003
⁵ National Underwriter, May 2002

*Injury Facts, 2003 Edition, National Safety Council