Disability income insurance

The Paycheck Shield

Your ability to earn is the asset every other plan depends on. This is the policy that keeps the paycheck coming when you can't work.

1 in 4

of today's 20-year-olds will be out of work a year or more before retirement (SSA).

~90%

of long-term disabilities come from illness — cancer, heart disease, back — not accidents.

$1,540/mo

average Social Security disability check (2025) — after a 5-month wait and a strict definition.

Read this before trusting any policy

The definition is the policy

Own occupation — the definition we fight for

You're disabled if you can't do your job. A surgeon with a hand tremor collects — even if she could teach. Your specialty is what you insured.

Any occupation — what group plans quietly become

You only collect if you can't do any job. The same surgeon gets nothing, because she could answer phones. Read the definition before you trust the plan.

Straight talk on workplace coverage — group plans usually replace 40–60% of base salary, the benefit is taxable if the employer pays the premium, and it doesn't follow you out the door. It's a foundation, not a plan.
Your numbers

Design the paycheck

Individual coverage, premiums paid after tax — so the benefit arrives tax-free. Nothing is sent anywhere.

35
$85,000
60%
Carriers cap around 60–70% — tax-free, that's most of a take-home paycheck.

Elimination period (the deductible, in time)

The sweet spot for most — big premium savings vs. 30 days.
Tax-free monthly benefit
$4,250

payable to age 65 while you're disabled — own-occupation definition

Benefit pool to 65
$0
Earnings you're protecting
$0
to age 65, before any raises
What it typically costs
$850–$2,550 /year
Rule of thumb: 1–3% of income, set by age, health, occupation class, and the riders you choose (residual benefit, cost-of-living, future increase).

Estimates only — underwriting and the carrier's contract govern. Benefits shown assume premiums paid with after-tax dollars.

Book your call

Fifteen minutes. Real numbers. Zero pressure.

Occupation class moves this price more than anything else — the real quote takes one conversation, shopped across 20+ carriers.

Get my numbers — 15 min