The other option for disability coverage, one more and more Americans are taking, is buying your own disability insurance policy. Disability coverage is similar to auto insurance in that you can buy a lot of it or just a little. How much do you need? In general, it is recommended that you have enough to replace about 60% to 70% of your pretax income.

Note. If your salary is $5,000 a month, you would need about $3,000 to $3,500 in benefit payments a month from your disability policy. But there are a lot of factors to consider. You should consult with someone experienced in selling disability insurance to determine how much coverage you need.

There are numerous options for coverage in terms of when it is available. You can buy disability insurance that pays benefits for just a few months (short-term disability or STD). Or you can buy coverage for many years or even as long as you live (long-term disability or LTD).

Tip. Generally though, disability insurance is best used for longer terms. Buying short-term disability only is equivalent to purchasing auto insurance for just fender-benders. It makes much more sense to insure against a big (long-term) loss in income.

Disability insurance comes with a waiting, or elimination, period. That's the time between when the injury or illness occurs and when the benefit payments start coming. For LTD, the waiting period ranges from 60 to 180 days. The shorter the waiting period, the more the policy will cost.