Disability Insurance Calculator
Income & coverage
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- United States — state-regulated insurance
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Insurance in the U.S. is regulated state by state, so rates, required coverages and available discounts differ by where you live. Your premium is set by an insurer's own underwriting — driving record, claims history, credit-based insurance score where permitted, the property itself — and only a quote is binding. What a policy pays depends on its exclusions and limits, not on this estimate.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter your gross monthly income before tax.
- 02
Set the share of it a policy should replace. Sixty percent is the usual ceiling insurers will write, because a benefit that matched your full pay would remove the incentive to return to work.
- 03
Enter any coverage you already have, including a group long-term disability plan through work.
- 04
Open Advanced options to set the elimination period — the waiting time before benefits start — and how long benefits would run.
- 05
Read the monthly benefit, the gap it leaves, and the waiting-period reserve: the cash you would need on hand before the first check arrives.
Formula
Monthly benefit = gross monthly income x the replacement percentage, less any coverage you already carry. Sixty percent is the usual ceiling an insurer will write, because a benefit matching full pay would remove the reason to return to work; that ceiling is also why the tool reports the uncovered gap rather than pretending the shortfall is nil. Annual benefit is the monthly figure times twelve, and the waiting-period reserve is your monthly living cost times the elimination period — the money you must have on hand before the first check arrives. The tool sizes the benefit; it does not price the premium, which depends on your occupation class, age, health and, above all, the definition of disability in the contract.
Example
Someone earning $6,500 a month gross, with no coverage of their own. Step 1 — Benefit: $6,500 x 60% = $3,900 a month, or $46,800 a year. Step 2 — The gap: $6,500 − $3,900 = $2,600 a month you would still have to find. That is the part no policy covers, and the reason people cut expenses long before they cut coverage. Step 3 — The waiting period: a 90-day elimination period at $6,500 a month means $19,500 of savings needed before the first benefit arrives. This is the number most people miss. Step 4 — Check what work already gives you. If the group plan pays 60% of base pay but caps at $5,000 a month and excludes your bonus, a large part of your income is uncovered even though the percentage looks right. A note on tax: if your employer pays the premium, that $3,900 is taxable and lands closer to $3,000 after withholding. A policy you pay for yourself with after-tax dollars pays out tax-free — the same 60% is worth materially more.
Definitions
- Elimination period
- The waiting time between becoming disabled and the first benefit payment — commonly 90 days. You fund those months yourself.
- Benefit period
- How long payments continue once they start: two years, five years, or to age 65 or 67.
- Own-occupation
- A definition that pays if you cannot perform your specific job, even if you could do other work. The strongest definition available.
- Any-occupation
- A definition that pays only if you cannot do any work you are reasonably suited to by education and experience. Much harder to claim under.
- Residual disability
- Partial benefits when you can work but earn materially less than before. Most claims end here rather than in total disability.
- Group long-term disability
- Employer coverage, usually about 60% of base pay with a monthly cap, taxable, and ending with the job.
- Non-cancelable
- The insurer can neither cancel the policy nor raise the premium while you pay it.
- Guaranteed renewable
- The insurer must renew but may raise rates for an entire class of policyholders.
- Cost-of-living rider
- Increases the benefit with inflation once a claim starts. Matters most on long benefit periods.
- Occupation class
- The risk band your job falls into. It drives the premium more than age does, and a physical trade costs several times what a desk job does.
- Offset
- A clause reducing the policy's payment by other benefits you receive, commonly Social Security Disability Insurance or workers' compensation.
- Waiting-period reserve
- Savings you need to cover living costs during the elimination period. Benefit times the waiting months, at minimum.
Good to know
The risk most earners underinsure
Most households insure the car, the house and their life, and leave the thing that pays for all three uncovered. Social Security Administration figures put the chance of a working-age adult experiencing a disability lasting a year or more at roughly one in four before retirement age. Very little of that is dramatic accidents. Back and joint problems, cancer, heart disease and mental health conditions account for the bulk of long-term claims — the ordinary illnesses of ordinary lives. The financial shape of it is what makes it dangerous: unlike a death, a disability stops the income and keeps the expenses, often adding medical costs on top. A household with life insurance and no disability cover has protected against the less likely of the two events.
Why the benefit is never your whole salary
Insurers cap disability benefits at roughly 60% of gross pay, and sometimes less for high earners. This is deliberate, not stingy. A benefit matching your full income would remove any financial reason to return to work, and the industry calls the resulting claims behavior exactly what you would expect. There is a second reason the 60% is less punishing than it looks: if you paid the premium with after-tax dollars, the benefit arrives tax-free. Sixty percent of gross, untaxed, can land close to your actual take-home pay. The reverse is also true and catches people out — an employer-paid group benefit is taxable, so a 60% group benefit nets far less than a 60% individual one. This calculator reports the gap in gross terms, which is the conservative reading.
Reading the income gap honestly
The tool always shows what the benefit does not cover, because that number decides whether a policy is enough. On $6,500 a month of gross income at 60% replacement, the benefit is $3,900 and the gap is $2,600 a month. That gap has to come from somewhere: savings, a partner's income, cutting expenses, or all three. Work through it concretely rather than assuming. A household that could cut $1,200 of discretionary spending and draw $1,400 from a partner's income is genuinely covered. One that could not is looking at a slow drain on savings during exactly the period when medical bills are rising. The gap is also the argument for buying a policy you own rather than relying on the group plan, since the tax treatment alone can close a large part of it.
The elimination period and the cash it demands
The elimination period is how long you must be disabled before benefits begin, and it is the biggest lever on the premium. Ninety days is the common choice and is far cheaper than thirty, because the insurer avoids every short claim — and short claims are most of them. What it costs you is the reserve: at $6,500 a month of expenses, a 90-day wait means $19,500 you must have on hand before the first check arrives, and payment usually comes at the end of the first benefit month rather than the start, so budget one month more than the arithmetic suggests. This is where disability insurance and an emergency fund stop being alternatives and become a pair. The right elimination period is the longest one your savings can actually carry, not the shortest one you can afford the premium for.
The definition matters more than the price
Two policies at the same monthly cost can be worlds apart, and the difference is usually one clause. Own-occupation pays if you cannot perform your specific job. Any-occupation pays only if you cannot do any work you are reasonably suited to. A surgeon with a hand tremor collects under the first and not the second. Modified own-occupation sits between them and pays only if you are not working elsewhere. Look next for residual or partial disability cover, which pays proportionally when you return at reduced hours or income — most real claims end that way rather than in total disability, and a policy without it can stop paying the day you go back part time. Then check whether the contract is non-cancelable, which locks both coverage and premium, or merely guaranteed renewable, which allows rate increases across a class.
Frequently asked questions
How likely is this, really?
More likely than an early death during your working years. Social Security Administration figures put the chance of a working-age adult being disabled for a year or more at roughly one in four before retirement. Most of it is not accidents — back injuries, cancer, heart disease and mental health conditions account for the bulk of long-term claims.
Doesn't my employer already cover this?
Partly, and usually less than people think. Group long-term disability typically replaces about 60% of base pay, excludes bonus and commission, caps the monthly benefit, and ends when the job does. Check the cap: a high earner often finds the cap binds long before the percentage does.
Is the benefit taxed?
It depends who paid the premium. If your employer paid it, or you paid with pre-tax dollars, the benefit is taxable income. If you paid with after-tax dollars, it is generally tax-free — which is why a 60% own-policy benefit can be worth more than a 60% group benefit.
What does own-occupation mean?
It is the single most important term in the policy. Own-occupation pays if you cannot do your specific job. Any-occupation pays only if you cannot do any work you are reasonably suited for. A surgeon who cannot operate but can teach collects under the first definition and not the second.
How long should the elimination period be?
As long as your savings can carry. Ninety days is the common choice and it is far cheaper than 30 days, because the insurer avoids all the short claims. The trade is that you must fund those months yourself, which is what the reserve figure on this page shows.
How long should benefits last?
To age 65 or 67 if you can afford it. A five-year benefit covers most claims but not the ones that end a career, and those are the ones that would actually ruin a household. If cost forces a choice, a longer benefit period usually protects you better than a shorter elimination period.
What about Social Security Disability Insurance?
It exists, and it is hard to get. SSDI uses a strict any-occupation standard, most initial claims are denied, and the average benefit is modest. Many group policies also offset their payment by whatever SSDI pays, so the two do not simply add.
Should I add a cost-of-living rider?
If the benefit period runs decades, yes — a fixed benefit loses roughly a third of its purchasing power over twenty years at 2% inflation. It adds meaningfully to the premium, so it is a genuine trade rather than an obvious yes.
What is residual or partial disability cover?
It pays a proportional benefit when you can work but earn less than before. Most real claims end this way — a gradual return at reduced hours — so a policy without it can stop paying the moment you go back part time.
Is it worth it if I am self-employed?
More so, not less. There is no group plan, no sick leave, and often no employer coverage to fall back on. An individual policy is the only thing standing between a diagnosis and the end of the business income.
Can the insurer cancel or raise the price?
Not on a non-cancelable policy, which locks both the coverage and the premium. Guaranteed renewable locks the coverage but allows rate increases across a whole class of policyholders. The difference is worth asking about explicitly.
What does this calculator not model?
It sizes the benefit and the gap. It does not price the premium, which depends on your occupation class, age, health and the definitions you choose — and those definitions matter more than the price. Two policies at the same monthly cost can be worlds apart.