For many New Jerseyans, thinking about insurance is not high on their list of things to do. After all, why think about problems that are not likely to happen. And why spend money on those distant issues. But while this thinking is common, each year some of these people will have need of Social Security or disability benefits. Better to have planned for that circumstance before it happened than to scramble afterwards.

Take, for instance, twenty-somethings. People in this group, according to the Social Security Administration, have a one-in-four chance of having a disability by the time they reach retirement age.

To be sure, these disabilities vary in severity. Only about 10 percent of Americans are severely disabled at this moment. But the odds speak loudly: New Jerseyans would be wise to spend some time planning for how to handle this risk, especially researching how much SSI or SSDI benefits they may qualify for as well as to what extent they may want to purchase additional disability insurance.

When doing that research, you may discover that you already have or qualify for several forms of insurance or benefits. Some relate to Social Security, others fall into other categories like workers’-compensation benefits. But just because a New Jerseyan may already have some help in place does not mean that the help is sufficient should something go wrong.

New Jerseyans trying to figure out if they are adequately protected from a disability may benefit from discussing their situation with an experienced Social-Security-Disability-Benefits attorney, someone who knows the system and understands just how impactful a disability can be. Doing so could be the first step towards making this topic one less thing a New Jerseyan needs to worry about.

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