Have you ever considered how a long-term disability could impact your financial security? If you haven’t, you should. According to the Council for Disability Awareness, 2.3 million Americans filed Social Security disability claims in 2008. Furthermore, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 25 million Americans currently live restrictively, due to the effects of a disability.

Perhaps you’ve paid attention to such statistics, and are covered under a disability income plan at work. And maybe you’ve even supplemented that plan with an individual policy. Even if you’ve taken these important steps, chances are that, in the event of a disability, these policies may replace only about 60%-70% of your pre-disability earnings. This sum may cover your living expenses, but is unlikely to be sufficient to allow you to save for retirement or any other future need. Furthermore, most disability income policies end payouts at age 65 or your normal Social Security retirement age.

Nowadays, it is more important that ever to make regular contributions to a retirement plan or IRA. Sadly, the days of widespread coverage under a traditional pension plan, funded by an employer and paying a guaranteed income for life, are gone. Although some individuals are still covered under a traditional pension plan, one is more likely to participate in a defined contribution plan, such as a profit sharing or 401(k) plan.

It is wise to consider the possibility of becoming disabled during retirement, and to plan ahead for this scenario. Failing to make retirement plan contributions can have a dramatic impact on the accumulated nest egg at retirement age.

Some insurance carriers have developed products specifically designed to provide retirement plan contributions. Known under various product names depending on the carrier, such retirement income protection plans are not pension plans: they are disability policies that pay, as the benefit, an amount that approximates what the disabled insured would have contributed to a 401(k), profit-sharing, or other type of retirement plan, had he or she been able to work.

The benefit is generally based on the average contribution the insured had been making to a retirement plan, up to a maximum as set by the policy. The benefit also may include an amount for any contribution the employer normally would make. The benefit is deposited into a trust product at a financial institution.

Policy specifics will vary carrier to carrier. Riders may be available that adjust the benefit amount for inflation or for income increases that would have been expected, if not for the disability. As with any disability product, the prospective insured should pay close attention to how disability is defined.

The nest egg we build for retirement comes as a result of hard work and discipline. It makes sense to protect that nest egg, just as we protect other important assets, such as our lives and homes.