What is the greatest threat to your financial well-being and that of your family? If you are the primary breadwinner, that threat would be that you became disabled and not able to work. You probably have life insurance so that your family would have some financial protection if you were to die as the result of a serious illness or accident, but if you didn’t die, are you protected financially if you can’t work? That is a question everyone should consider. You still have the usual expenses of food, clothing and shelter, along with the added expenses of your injury or illness, but no income. Most people do not plan for that possibility. Everyone should.

The risk of disability during your working lifetime is real, and the consequences can be devastating. Despite that risk, many people do not have an adequate plan to protect them if the primary income earner becomes disabled and unable to work. One reason is that many people do not think they are likely to be disabled. They underestimate the risk that a disability might prevent them from working.

For most people the ability to earn a living is their greatest financial asset, but any disability threatens that asset. A disabling illness or injury can stop income, impose additional costs and prevent saving for the future. For most people, savings will cover only a few months of disability. After that, you have a problem.

One reason many of us don’t worry about the risk of total disability is that we think any injury or illness will be temporary and that our savings or other safety net programs will be sufficient. The trouble is the help from your savings may be limited, and the help from those safety net programs is, at best, limited and far too often no-existent. For example, you may think the Social Security Disability Insurance Program will cover you, but SSDI’s strict “disability” definition makes it difficult to qualify. Even for those who do qualify, the SSDI does not pay enough to maintain an adequate standard of living.

You may think you can turn to workers’ compensation benefits if you are disabled, but those benefits are only available if you are disabled because of a work-related injury or illness– and most disabling injuries and illnesses are not work related. Too, only a few states have temporary disability programs but, even when available, these provide limited benefits.

We often neglect to protect against the risk of disability because we give higher priority to other insurance needs, even though the risk of disability is as great as, or greater than, the health, life, and even dental risks against which we routinely insure. That is a mistake. Anyone can become disabled. An automobile accident, a weekend sports injury and any number of chronic or sudden illnesses can restrict a person’s ability to work. In fact, the risk of disability is greater than the risk of premature death. Statistics from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners show a 25 percent chance that a 35-year old will incur at least one period of disability of 90 days or longer during his or her working years. In other words, one out of every four will be unable to work for at least 90 days.

Another reason we minimize the risk is that we tend to think of disability as being due to an injury. That assumption is wrong. According to findings by a leading disability research and consulting firm, published in the JHA 2002 U.S. Group Disability Rate and Risk Management Survey, accidents do not cause many disabling injuries. In fact, 90 percent of disability is the result of illness, with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, connective tissue, circulatory system and various forms of cancer among the leading causes.

The risk of disability, therefore, is real and can be devastating for anyone who is not properly insured.