Many experts agree that financial planning should start early – the earlier, the better. Even people in their 20s and 30s should be planning for a financially stable future. This raises the question – why aren’t more financial planners and insurance agents offering disability insurance to younger clients?
For most people, financial stability depends on a steady income. A disability can take away that steady income, and it’s not just older individuals who are impacted. If you wait until your clients are in their 50s to address paycheck protection, you might be waiting too long, and it’s a mistake that could cost your clients.
Younger Workers Have Little in Savings and a Lot in Obligations
In 2020, Millennials are between 24 and 39 years old. Most of them are out of school. They have jobs, and many of them have families and mortgages and other obligations as well. What they don’t have is savings.
According to Business Insider, 58% of Millennials have less than $5,000 in savings. To make matters even worse, 45% of Millennials have student loan debt.
With so many responsibilities and so little in savings, it’s clear that these workers depend on a steady income stream. If something were to prevent them from earning a paycheck, the situation could get back quickly.
Disability Can Strike in the Blink of an Eye
The Social Security Administration says that one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before reaching retirement age. Now, you might assume that if disability strikes, it will do so closer to retirement, but this isn’t always the case.
According to the Council for Disability Awareness, pregnancy is one of the leading causes of long-term disability claims, accounting for 9.4% of all claims. This means that women of childbearing age may have an increased risk of disability.
Mental health issues are another leading cause of disability, and younger adults are more likely to experience mental health issues. The National Institute of Mental Health says that 29.4% of adults between the ages of 18 and 25 and 25.0% of adults between the ages of 26 and 49 have some form of mental illness, compared to only 14.1% of adults aged 50 and older.
Disability can stem from a number of mental and physical health issues – and younger workers are not invulnerable.
Start Selling Disability Insurance
If you’re not already selling disability insurance, now is a great time to start. And if you’re not routinely offering disability insurance to your younger clients, you may be missing out on a huge market.
The best source is your own book of business. You’ve probably already sold hundreds of life insurance policies or even car and home insurance policies, but if you haven’t offered these clients disability insurance quotes, you’ve neglected their most important assets.
Ready to get started? Request a quote from DIS and experience our exclusive Analyzer comparison. Also be sure to download our infographic, The Right Age to Buy Disability Insurance.
