The Benefits of Retirement Planning and Why it is Very Important

Obviously, you plan on retiring at some point. The question is in what manner do you wish to retire: forced or planned? By making that decision early on, you can plan accordingly.
Far too many people decide on "forced". Although it's the far easier choice, this means that you will be limited to social security's benefits in your advanced years, or becoming a burden on your family. Either option is not an entirely pleasant one, and could have been avoided just by making some basic plans when you were a bit younger. Admittedly many people have no real choice in this (the whims of fate can affect anyone, no matter how prepared), it's nonetheless a choice that is made. More accurately, it's a choice of omission; the person doesn't really bother to make a choice and simply goes along with whatever happens. Sometimes it's far easier to go with the river than to force it the way you want it.
However difficult it may be to force the river to change direction, the direction needs to be changed. Decisions need to be actually made, and then acted upon. The earlier that the river is changed to a course of your liking, the easier it is too change in the first place, and the easier it is to maintain, and to adjust the course should something untoward happen. It is even easy to look for potential bumps in the river, and to allow for them before you even get there.
It helps to look at your income as a river on a number of levels. After all, you can explore a number of income streams, each of which increases the size of your river. You can see rocks (solid problems that need to be avoided) and rapids (softer problems that just need be survived) just by paying attention. It's just a matter of changing the course of your personal river to course that you want it, and then learning to flow with the changes. Just determine how much water you can send out, and which ways are most effective for you; not everyone has the same mix, and that what works for one person may not apply to someone else, and may actually hurt the person. Remember that your needs are not the same as everyone else's, and you should do okay as long as you commit to your personal river.