At its core, retirement planning is simple. You trade income during your working years for income during your non-working years. To do this, you set aside a portion of today's income and accumulate enough so you can live off of it in retirement.

Let’s talk about disability, shall we? Specifically, disability insurance.
 
Yes, it’s an unpleasant (and boring) topic. But think of it this way. Whether or not you'll achieve your goals and dreams is predicated largely on one thing: your ability to earn income. If you become too sick to work, you lose the ability to follow through on your plan. It's really that simple. No income; no plan. Fortunately, you can shift a lot of these risks to insurance companies. They are in the business to assume such risks and absorb losses for you.

Are you a Six Million Dollar Man/Woman?
 
Of course, I’m referring to the wildly popular sci-fi TV show from the 70s, The Six Million Dollar Man. Remember the show? No? Never heard of it? Okay, never mind.