<prompt> Human: In 2011, the median US annual wage was 26,364 1Lets say that youre 30 years old, and you earn this amount of money. This isnt very much. But its more than you might think.Imagine that you had 850,000 in the bank, invested in a fund like Vanguard Target Retirement Income. Assume that the safe withdrawal rate is 4, and that the average inflation rate is 3.5.If you withdraw your annual salary from that fund each year -- adjusted for inflation each year -- then your money will last until you turn 65.In other words, your ability to earn 26,364 per year for the next 35 years is worth approximately 850,000 in todays dollars.You could also multiply your salary by 35, to get 922,740. But that number isnt quite accurate, since the time value of money means that money you earn today is worth more than money you earn when youre 62. Yes, theres inflation, but theres also compound interest.Now, lets say you earn 100,000, and youre 25. Using the same formula, your future income is worth about 3.65 million dollars today.If you own a home, you almost definitely have homeowners insurance. If you own a car, you have car insurance. But your career is probably more valuable than both of these assets, and all of your other investments, combined. Get long-term disability insurance, and if you have dependents, get life insurance too. Hopefully, you and your family will never need to make a claim, but if you do, youll be very glad you had this insurance.1 This number probably sounds low. After all, the median household income is closer to 50,000. But income includes things other than wages like investment income and certain government benefits, and household income may include more than one wage earner.  <response>: Thus the importance of multiple streams of income, some of which you can hopefully continue to get even if youre disabled. 