Disability
Disability insurance is private insurance that replaces some of your income if an injury or illness prevents you from working. Talk to your Human Resources department to see if your job offers STD or LTD coverage as a benefit.Disability insurance is important because it can ease the financial burden on a household when someone has a serious illness or injury. The main difference between disability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance is that for disability insurance, the injury or illness does not need to be work-related.
There are two types of disability insurance:
There are two types of disability insurance:
- Short-Term Disability (STD) pays you a portion of your income for a short period of time after you run out of sick leave. Depending on your plan, STD generally will pay you for between 9 and 52 weeks (or 1 year).
- Long-Term Disability (LTD) pays you a portion of your income after you run out of both sick leave and STD. Depending on your plan, LTD may pay you for a specific number of years, like 2 years or 5 years, or until you turn a specific age, like 65.
