Insurance & Costs of having and raising a child

[d.o.g.]

Technically speaking, we buy disability insurance to take care of the remote possibility of permanent disability since the financial damage is huge. Most of us have enough savings to tide over a few months of temporary disability.

True. I agree - that's why I bought disability insurance myself - to deal with the small but non-zero chance of becoming a vegetable due to whatever cause.

I suppose there are many ways to die(cancer, stroke, accidents, flu, murder etc) but fewer ways to be permanently disabled.

The same things that cause death can cause permanent disability. It's a question of degree. But yes, often it's a fine line between permanent disability and death in the case of serious illness or physical trauma.

The occurrence of permanent disability for those that are less than 60 years old is not high.

It may not be high, but if it hits the financial damage is severe.

The fact that disability income policies have been modified for the worse or completely withdrawn since I first purchased my own policy over 10 years ago suggests that the premiums at that time were too low. So the insurers have had to raise the premiums, lower the coverage or both. Or they have simply left the market altogether.