Estimate your monthly benefit and what long-term disability coverage should cost
Estimates from published 2025 pricing patterns. Actual premiums depend on health, occupation details, state, and rider choices.
| Elimination Period | Typical Premium Effect | When to Pick It |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | About 35% above baseline | Rarely worth it. Only if you have no savings and no employer short-term coverage |
| 60 days | About 15% above baseline | A small emergency fund but no way to bridge a longer gap |
| 90 days | Baseline (most common) | Three months of expenses saved, or employer short-term disability fills the gap |
| 180 days | About 15% below baseline | Six months of savings, or generous sick leave plus short-term coverage |
| 365 days | About 28% below baseline | A full year of reserves. Maximum savings for households with deep cushions |
The elimination period is the cheapest lever on the policy. Lengthening the wait cuts the premium without shrinking the monthly benefit, so match it to however long your savings could carry the household.
| Annual Income | Monthly Benefit (60%) | Annual Premium Range at 1% – 3% |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $2,500 | $500 – $1,500 |
| $75,000 | $3,750 | $750 – $2,250 |
| $100,000 | $5,000 | $1,000 – $3,000 |
| $150,000 | $7,500 | $1,500 – $4,500 |
| $200,000 | $10,000 | $2,000 – $6,000 |
Benefits are tax-free when you pay the premiums with after-tax dollars, which is why 60% of gross income often comes close to your regular take-home pay.
Long-term disability (LTD) insurance replaces a chunk of your paycheck when illness or injury keeps you out of work for months or years. It's not the same as short-term disability, which covers the first weeks after something like surgery or childbirth, and it's not Social Security disability either. SSDI pays a modest average of about $1,580 a month in 2025 and turns down most first-time applicants. LTD is the layer that actually protects your standard of living, and this calculator estimates both sides of the deal: what it pays and what it costs.
The benefit side is simple: monthly benefit = annual income ÷ 12 × replacement percentage. The premium side starts from a baseline of 2.0% of income, which matches a 35 to 44 year old in a skilled trade with a 90-day elimination period and benefits to age 65. The calculator then applies multipliers for your age band, occupation class, waiting period, and benefit length. Results show as a range because insurers price the same applicant differently. Published 2025 averages put individual long-term disability between 1% and 3% of income, and the model stays inside that band.
Enter your income and pick a replacement percentage. 60% is the standard offer, and most insurers cap you somewhere between 40% and 70%. Choose your age band and occupation class honestly, since desk work prices far below physical work. Then play with the elimination period. It's the easiest way to cut the premium without touching the monthly benefit.
Take a $90,000 earner, age 40, in a skilled trade, with a 90-day wait, benefits to age 65, and 60% replacement. The benefit is $90,000 ÷ 12 × 0.60 = $4,500 a month, which is $54,000 a year. Pay the premiums with after-tax dollars and that benefit arrives tax-free. The modeled premium midpoint is $90,000 × 2.0% = $1,800 a year, shown as a $1,350 to $2,250 range, or about $150 a month at the midpoint. Two percent of income, protecting the other 98.
Individual long-term disability typically costs 1% to 3% of your income, so someone earning $90,000 pays roughly $75 to $225 a month, with $150 a fair midpoint. Age, occupation, elimination period, and benefit period all move the number. A 30-year-old office worker sits near the bottom of that range; a 55-year-old electrician sits near the top.
Most policies replace 60% of gross income, and insurers rarely go above 70% because they want you to have a reason to return to work. That sounds thin until you factor in taxes: pay the premiums with after-tax dollars and the benefits arrive tax-free, so 60% of gross often lands close to your normal take-home pay. On $90,000, that's $4,500 a month, untaxed.
The Social Security Administration estimates about 1 in 4 of today's 20-year-olds will experience a disability before reaching retirement age. Set a roughly $150 monthly premium for a $90,000 earner against a benefit that could pay $4,500 a month for years, and the math favors coverage for anyone whose household depends on a paycheck.
SSDI pays an average of about $1,580 a month in 2025, applies a strict definition that requires you to be unable to do substantially any work, and denies most initial applications. Private long-term disability replaces 60% of your own income, often $4,000 to $8,000 a month for professionals, and an own-occupation policy pays if you can't do your specific job, even if you could do some other one.
It's the waiting period between the day you become disabled and the day benefits start, essentially a deductible measured in time. 90 days is the most common choice. Stretching to 180 days cuts the premium about 15%, while shrinking to 30 days adds roughly 35%. Pick the longest wait your emergency fund or employer short-term coverage can bridge.