Your lifestyle: Something to think about.

When you’re healthy and working, it’s hard to imagine being disabled by illness or injury. But it can happen. In fact:

• One in three working Americans will become disabled for 90 days or more before age 65.*
• The average disability absence is 2½ years.*
• More than 80% of working Americans don’t have disability income insurance or aren’t covered adequately.**
• The chart below illustrates that an individual’s chances of disability are two to three times greater than death during their working years.*

What would happen if your paychecks suddenly stopped because you were too sick or injured to work? What if you couldn’t work for months – or years?

You’d still have to pay all your monthly bills, including food, utilities, house and car payments. Add in things like tuition and retirement funding, and it’s easy to see how savings could quickly disappear.

Unfortunately, you can’t rely on other income sources like Social Security to protect you. In many cases, they don’t apply -- or aren’t enough. For more information on other income sources, see below. Think you're already protected?

Plan ahead to help protect your lifestyle. Then relax.

New England Financial has flexible Disability Income Insurance policies through Metropolitan Life Insurance Company that:

• Provide monthly income to help maintain your standard of living 
• Can be customized to fit your particular situation
• Help you retain independence and dignity without burdening others
• Help keep your financial dreams and goals for the future intact.

Think you're already protected?

Think about this:

• Social Security disability payments are limited to disabilities expected to last at least 12 months or end in death. To qualify, you must be unable to engage in any type of work.
• Personal Savings can best be used to build a comfortable future. Add up your monthly bills, then multiply by 12 and you can see how fast even substantial savings can be depleted by unexpected illness or injury.
• Long-Term Disability Insurance offered through your employer is a start. But workplace disability benefits often cover only about 50% of your income. Can your family survive on half a paycheck?

Here are the other reasons why Group Long-Term Disability (LTD) may not be enough:

• Group LTD usually covers only a portion of an employee’s compensation
• LTD benefits are generally taxable if the employer pays the premiums
• Many plans don’t cover bonus or incentive compensation
• There is often a maximum monthly cap and, as a result, an employee's monthly after-tax income during a disability may drop by 50% or more!

For information on our disability income insurance products, contact your New England Financial representative.