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Americans are understandably shaken by the turn of events. Many are afraid to look at their statements until they learn from osmosis that things have gotten better. Or, they’re tempted to put everything in cash and ride out the storm. While it can be traumatic to see your 401(k) plummet, this isn’t the time to hide your head in the sand. This is the time to actively position your 401(k) for the future.

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Personal Finance Info

If you’ve saved enough money to retire, congratulations. You’re far ahead of many others.

Now your challenge is to make that money last.

Some consumers use annuities, which are contracts sold by insurance companies, and create an income stream at a later point in time, typically at retirement, to provide steady cash flow.

But there’s a new kid in town called a managed-payout mutual fund, which is similar to annuities but definitely not the same.

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Personal Finance Info

Tags: managed+payout+mutual+fund, retirement+planning

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Work often stops unexpectedly. You’d better be prepared with a financial plan.

Paulette Geller thought she had her retirement all figured out. Geller, 64, planned to work until 66 or 67 to boost her Social Security check. Then, after successful foot surgery last year, she was in the hospital being wheeled to her car to go home when she had a stroke.

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Tags: retirement+planning

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Bill Neugent, an engineer in McLean, Va., is doing his bit to ease the looming generational financial squeeze as the nation’s 75 million baby boomers begin to retire. He’s working longer.

Mr. Neugent, 62, plans to work full time until he is 65 and then part time for the Mitre Corporation, a federal research contractor that encourages older workers to stay on.

There are, it seems, too few such workers and employers. The average retirement age for men now is 63 and for women 62. But the emphatic conclusion of recent research into retirement policy and labor markets is that working another two or three years would have a surprisingly powerful impact on the retirement living standards of millions of boomers and on the economy.

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Tags: retirement+planning

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Retirement is the No. 1 goal of investors. Yet, looking at the numbers, it’s clear that many investors are undermining their good intentions with unfortunate actions. Here are nine mistakes to avoid if you want your retirement dreams to become a reality.

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Human beings, it is said, are distinguished from our animal cousins (no slur against the in-laws intended) by our ability to plan ahead. While that may be true, it’s difficult enough for most of us to plan anything just six months ahead, like summer vacation. So how on earth are we supposed to deal with something in the distant future — like retirement?

In an effort to kick-start your retirement plans, we’ll take a cue from the animal kingdom’s "fight or flight" mentality and scare you into action: If you don’t do something right now to assure your retirement, you’ll end up living in an alley fighting the stray cats for your dinner.

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The old adage about asset allocation during retirement was this: Take your age, subtract it from 100 and that is the amount your portfolio should be exposed to stocks. However, your advisor shouldn’t still be using this outdated formula. That’s because if you’re fortunate to see 90 it means your account not only needs to generate 25 years of income but it will also experience several up and down market cycles. To be locked into such a conservative portfolio, especially when the market rallies, could actually cost you returns. "That isn’t going to get the job done," says Jeff Buetow, the chief investment officer of XTF, an investment shop in New York. Today some advisors suggest subtracting your age from 120 instead.

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Tags: retirement

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Have questions about planning for retirement? Our Money Mentors have some answers.

We’ve assembled our Money Mentors — a panel of retirees — from around the country. They’re not financial experts, but rather ordinary people forced by the circumstance of retirement to manage their own money.

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Some call it hogwash. Others call it B.S. No matter what it’s called, those on the verge or already in retirement need to be on the lookout for it. Older Americans must have their "detector" up when it comes to the products and services being hawked by those in the so-called retirement industry.

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This may seem strange coming from a fellow who’s not yet forty, but I’ve been thinking a lot about retirement lately. Now that I’ve repaid my debt, now that I’ve begun to save money, I’m curious how much a person actually needs in order to retire. How do you know when you have enough?

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