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 3 working Americans will become disabled for 90 days or more before age 65. *
- The average disability absence is 2 and a half 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 2 to 3 times greater than death during their working years.(Source *)

* Commissioner’s Individual Disability Table A |