If you have ever thought about an unfortunate time that you will get injured or sick and be unable to work, and it scared you, a solution exists to protect yourself and your loved ones from experiencing financial hardships when you or one of them are unable to work. This solution is applicable to single breadwinners, single-income, and anyone working to provide for themselves and their families.
What are some ways to protect yourself from loss of income?
1. Disability Insurance
The coverage of disability insurance is when you get an injury or an illness that can render you unable to work. When you are younger and healthier, it is better to start applying for a policy. As you age, the cost of insurance premiums increase. If your health goes on a downward spiral, it may be harder for you to qualify for an affordable insurance policy at all.
It does not only extend its coverage to accidents that will lead to blindness or loss of your limb. Most disability insurance claims also cover and recognize heart attacks and cancer as disabilities. Such is the case because those things could happen to anyone inside any place of work.
Disability insurance protects your income from being disrupted by injuries and illnesses you may have while working or ones that will prevent you from doing so. Even if you are a self-employed individual, it is still important because you still provide services that require you to exert labor.
2. Social Security
This type of income protection is state-sanctioned. It provides to individuals who have limited income and resources to live with necessities. If you are rendered physically unable to work for at least 12 months, the social security disability benefits can come to your rescue and provide you with a portion of your income for a specified amount of time that you are out of work due to your situation.
Social security disability benefit also pays out to people over 65 years of age without physical disabilities, given they meet financial requirements.
3. Automotive Insurance
Car insurance policies also pay out to individuals with secured policies who sustained injuries from vehicular accidents. If the injury resulted in income loss due to the inability to work, the policy will payout to follow the personal injury protection section of the car insurance policy.
Which one is suitable for you?
We laid down the sources of income protection that you can easily avail of even when perfectly healthy. Accidents, work-related or not, can happen anytime with varying effects. Some events can render us unable to work for long periods; some cannot.
What is important is that you are always ready for events that will push your finances to their lowest points. Having a safe-haven to fall on when things go the unexpected way is a good protection measure for you and your loved ones.
Any, if not all, of those we provided is suitable for income protection. You can have one or all of them under your name to ensure that you will be ready for anything life will throw in your direction. Picking the right way to protect what you earn is based on your perceived needs. Do you have a family? Are you single? Are you the breadwinner? Your answers to these questions will define the best way for you to protect your income.
Do you really need income protection?
Consider these:
- What can you do financially in case you are suddenly unable to work?
- How long can you stay financially afloat when you sustain an injury or get ill?
Accidents happen everywhere and to anyone. They do not pick a time, a person, or a place to occur. There is no way for you to get ready for whatever their effects will be physically, mentally, or financially. Income protection measures exist as safety nets for your income. Securing policies or benefits will allow you to secure your income if you are forced to be out of work for physical or mental ailments.
Your current employer might be providing you with an insurance policy, but they are mostly conditional and only cover work-related injuries and illnesses. What if you happen to get involved in an accident outside of your workplace? What if you are self-employed and do not have an employer with those benefits?
Your answer is to select the right type of income protection that will keep yourself and the people you support in-check financially if something happens to you. This way, you would have enough coverage when an emergency occurs.