The Risk of Becoming Disabled
A disability can happen to anyone. The absence of emergency savings, rising medical costs, and an overall trend of fewer employers offering benefits to workers has created a critical blind spot for many American workers and their families. Without income protection, more Americans are experiencing severe financial difficulty should they become sick or hurt and unable to work.
Disability Quick Facts
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National statistics show that one in four workers will face an accident or illness during their lifetime that keeps them out of work for at least one year.1
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The number of disabled among the U.S. population rose nearly 35 percent in the last four years, to an all-time high of 38,844,000 at the end of November, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.2
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A large study of consumer bankruptcy filings found that 77.8% of debtors cited income loss as a contributor to their bankruptcy. This included 44.3% specifically citing medically-related work loss as a contributor.3
Potential Amount of Income Risk
This table illustrates potential lost earnings should you become disabled at various ages.
Assumes a retirement age of 65.
Safeguard Your Income
In order to maintain your standard of living, it is critical to protect your ability to earn an income. Individual disability income insurance helps preserve a portion of your income and provides financial protection if you become disabled for an extended period of time. To understand what coverage makes sense for you, speak with your Lenox Advisors team about disability income insurance.
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A disability income policy has exclusions and limitations. For costs and complete details of coverage, please contact Lenox Advisors.
1 Social Security Administration. Social Security Fact Sheet (2025). U.S. Social Security Administration, https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/basicfact-alt.pdf
2 Bailey, Doug. “Post-COVID Disabilities Increase Puzzles Experts.” InsuranceNewsNet, 27 June 2024, https://insurancenewsnet.com/innarticle/post-covid-disabilities-increase-
puzzles-experts
3 David U. Himmelstein, Robert M. Lawless, Deborah Thorne, Pamela Foohey, Steffie Woolhandler, “Medical Bankruptcy: Still Common Despite the Affordable Care Act,” American Journal of Public Health 109, no. 3 (March 1, 2019): pp. 431 – 433. See Table 1. Free access available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6366487/
4 Social Security Administration. “2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet.” U.S. Social Security Administration,
https://www.ssa.gov/news/en/cola/factsheets/2026.html