Disability insurance, is it necessary?

One out of three working Canadians will experience a period of disability lasting longer than 90 days during their working lives. Nearly half of Canadians underestimate how frequently disability actually occurs.

In reality, 62% of Canadian workers have been exposed to someone having taken time off work due to a disability, with 25% having had taken this time themselves. Even a temporary disability could affect your ability to work and take home a pay check. Without disability insurance to help cover expenses, many families would find themselves in financial trouble. A separate study released earlier this month revealed 51% of workers would find it difficult to meet their financial obligations if their pay checks were delayed by a single week.

The numbers also reveal that less than half of Canadians consider conditions such as depression and arthritis a disability along with terminal illness and physical accidents. There is a mistaken perception that disabilities tend to be catastrophic in nature-caused by a one-time, traumatic event. Most Canadians don’t recognize that common, chronic conditions such as mental illness cause the majority of disabilities. In fact, less than 10% of disabilities are caused by accidents.

If you owned a goose that laid the golden egg... which one would you insure first? The goose or the egg? The answer would be "the goose". As long as you have the goose, you can always get more eggs... right? However, the opposite stands for us. If the golden egg represents your assets such as a home, valuable watch, or a car, you probably insured all of it.

Have you protected your income? Your goose? Your earning power is your MOST valuable asset. Let us make sure that your most valuable asset is protected!