Most people in their fifties and early sixties think income protection means safeguarding earnings during their working years. But on the latest Income Protection Podcast, MassMutual’s Marcus Watson explains why the real pressure point comes later — when income stops, responsibilities continue, and the financial path a family takes depends entirely on which version of the future arrives first. The sequence of events, not just the events themselves, is what determines whether a household preserves savings, absorbs a major care expense, or unintentionally jeopardizes the legacy they’ve spent decades building.

That friction between uncertainty and planning is why income protection is no longer just about disability during working years. It now stretches into retirement, long-term care, cognitive decline and the financial realities of living longer than previous generations. Federal researchers note that “musculoskeletal conditions are the leading contributor to disability worldwide,” according to the National Institutes of Health, and those impairments rarely arrive on a predictable timeline. Watson uses real cases — including a 56-year-old emergency physician supporting aging parents and grown children — to show how income protection becomes a moving target when life events unfold out of order.

The episode breaks down how families navigate three competing futures: living a long life, facing a health event that erodes independence, or dying earlier than expected. Each outcome affects income in a different way, and Watson explains why the transition from earning to withdrawing is often the most fragile stage. His own father’s sudden cognitive impairment at 53, triggered by a melanoma brain tumor, illustrates how quickly income can disappear even when retirement is decades away.

As health-care costs rise, families are redefining income protection as a lifelong strategy rather than a short-term safety net. Longevity, impairment and financial responsibility are converging in a way that forces households to bolster their protection in the years leading up to retirement, not after the fact. That shift is also reflected in federal projections that “the number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to nearly triple by 2060,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (), widening the gap between what families expect and what they must prepare for.

By the end of the episode, it becomes clear why income protection has become the backbone of midlife financial planning — and why tools that tie together protection, care funding and legacy considerations are taking center stage. The details behind these strategies, however, unfold best in Watson’s own words, making the full conversation essential listening for anyone planning the next decade of their financial life.