A disabled man sits in his wheelchair on a pier overlooking a lake.

Odds of long-term disability

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A disabled man sits in his wheelchair on a pier overlooking a lake.

Insurance claims studies indicate that the odds of becoming disabled for 90 days or longer are much greater than dying during one's working years.

Studies also suggest that, as the number of business owners or key employees increases, so do the odds that one of them will suffer a long-term disability.

Probability of at least one long-term disability prior to age 65

  Number of people in the age group
Age 1 2 3 4 5 6
25 58% 82% 92% 97% 99% 99%
30 54% 79% 90% 96% 98% 99%
35 50% 75% 88% 94% 97% 98%
40 45% 70% 84% 91% 95% 97%
45 40% 64% 78% 87% 92% 95%
50 33% 55% 70% 80% 86% 91%
55 25% 43% 57% 68% 76% 82%

Note: Based on the 1985 Commissioners Individual Disability Table, most recent available.

Determining odds of long-term disability among people of different ages

Use the following table and worksheet to determine the risk of a long-term disability among your business owners or key employees.

  Age
25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Value .42 .46 .50 .55 .60 .67 .75

Step 1: For each owner or key employee you wish to include in your analysis, choose the value from the table above that corresponds to the age closest to the actual age of the owner or key employee, and include the value in the space below.

Step 2: Multiply all of the values by each other to arrive at a single value.

______ × ______ × ______ × ______ × ______ = ______

Step 3: Multiply the single value by 100 to convert it to a percent.

100 × ______ = ______ %

Step 4: Subtract the single value from 100% to determine the odds of long-term disability for any one of the groups of owners or key employees in your company.

100% − ______ = ______ %

Note: You can perform this analysis for any number of owners or key employees, not just the five shown in this worksheet.

These materials were reproduced with the permission of Advisys, Inc. No State Farm® entity prepared these materials nor does State Farm represent or warranty the opinions or statements expressed therein. These materials are being provided for information purposes only.

The information in this article was obtained from various sources not associated with State Farm® (including State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates). While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. State Farm is not responsible for, and does not endorse or approve, either implicitly or explicitly, the content of any third party sites that might be hyperlinked from this page. The information is not intended to replace manuals, instructions or information provided by a manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional, or to affect coverage under any applicable insurance policy. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. State Farm makes no guarantees of results from use of this information.

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