Social Security benefits are a perennial target for cuts because the program faces a long-run shortfall. Some lawmakers and opinion leaders mistakenly portray the program’s benefits as lavish. The fact is, benefits are modest and workers have earned them by paying into Social Security — protecting themselves and their families if they retire, become disabled, or die. Here are five key facts that policymakers need to keep in mind…
I pay for (via employer) long term disability coverage because it’s cheap, and because my odds of needing it are marginally higher than average.
But in reality, I buy the coverage because I hear the horror stories of people trying to get disability, backlogs, denials, etc.
For me, the fear is not being able to work / work full time, and how the hell would I live while waiting the process out? Could I reduce costs enough to live on SSDI? Probably. But I can’t reduce costs to zero while the process drags out.
As ever, we underfund programs so they do t work properly and then try to cut more funding because they don’t work properly.