Mellody's Mail: Disability Insurance

— -- QUESTION: You spoke of disability insurance on Feb. 2. Please give me more information about that, because I need to consider getting some.

ANSWER: This is an excellent question and I commend you for proactively seeking more information on this topic as disability insurance can prevent financial ruin in the case of a medical crisis. Essentially, disability insurance can provide you with income when an illness or injury prevents you from working. Generally, it is designed to pay 60 percent of your current income, which should be enough to cover your basic expenses.

Coverage from disability insurance is divided into two periods: short term and long term. The length of both short-term and long-term coverage will vary depending on the state in which you live as well as your specific policy. Typically, short-term coverage expires after six months, while benefits from long-term disability are usually paid for one, two, five or 10 years, or up to age 65, depending on the policy.

Many employers offer disability insurance at no cost to the employee, so as a first step, you should speak with someone in your human resources department to get more information on the type of coverage, if any, your employer provides. If your employer does not provide disability insurance or if you are concerned that the coverage it offers will not be enough to cover your expenses, you can purchase an individual, private policy. The annual premium on individual coverage will vary and depend on a number of factors, such as your age, sex, job, income, medical history and lifestyle. Prices vary from $2 a day upward to thousands of dollars a year. When looking at disability insurance, there are a few key points to be sure you understand: