What’s Your PDQ?

July 01, 2014

What is the risk to losing your most valuable resource – your ability to earn an income?  That’s what the Personal Disability Quotient (PDQ) calculates based on your own chance of becoming sick or injured for an extended period of time and missing work (and your paycheck).  The PDQ calculator, sponsored by the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA), only took me a minute to complete and mine came up with a PDQ of 18%.  That means I have an 18% chance of becoming sick or injured and not being able to work for at least 3 months.  What was really scary to me is if I did become disabled for more than 3 months, there is a 43% chance that I’d be out of work for over 5 years, with the estimated average of 86 months for a long-term disability for someone like me.   

You can calculate your own PDQ at http://www.whatsmypdq.org/. Once you know your PDQ, you are ready to “defend your income” by playing an online martial arts game where your attackers are various illnesses and injuries, and you try to earn a black belt by training and fighting to protect your income.  You can start sparring here http://www.defendyourincome.org/ .

Of course, the best way to defend your income in the real world is to maintain a healthy lifestyle and be safety-minded both at work and at play.  But just in case, it is also important to have a plan. Check out the Disability Security Plan provided by the CDA and check with your HR department to determine if you have LTD (long-term disability) coverage as an employee benefit.