Are you age 55 or over? If so, then you may soon have something to look forward to or worry about. One morning you'll wake up and it will have happened. Before you've a chance to say Medicare Part B, you'll be:

R-E-T-I-R-E-D

Yes, it's the dreaded R word; the secretive subject virtually no one wants to discuss until it's too late for discussion. The underlying problem is that, through the magic of dreams, by the time most people reach retirement age they've already fixed in their minds exactly how their golden years are going to unfold. They don't need help from anyone, thank you.

Retirement is the pot of gold that lies at the end of a lifelong dream; a four-reel fantasy that keeps you going through years of boring business meetings, life insurance spiels and raising a family.

Fortunately, you've managed to come this far in life without a calamity to wake you from that dream. Your nest is empty, the mortgage burned. That retirement fund you started decades ago is not an Emu's egg, but with prudence and thrift it will probably see you through.

So what comes next? You could learn to square dance, take up birding or open a funky gift shop out along the highway. On second thought, perhaps those are not great ideas. You'd almost certainly end up with a bad back, a sore neck or an unsold lifetime supply of Adirondack chairs.

What's there to discuss about retirement, anyway? All you need is continued good health and enough money in the bank to guarantee a comfortable lifestyle. Right?

Up until now retirement has been a fuzzy subject, centered mostly on saving money or buying insurance. You deposit a few dollars in the 401K each week, pay your insurance premiums and go on with life. It's simple. That what folks who promote and profit from retirement money schemes would have you think, anyway.

Now, like a spitting cobra, the prospect of trading your life's work for one of leisure stares you in the face. The time has come to shift from dreams to reality. Will you be prepared for it?

For openers, there are good reasons to prepare for retirement. A study by National Council On the Aging (NCOA) Gerontologists has revealed that, on average, retirees with a poor mental attitude die some 5-7 years before those who go into retirement thinking they'll be happy. This gaunt fact alone seems to place retirement right up there with smoking and heart disease as a good way to shorten one's lifespan.

While it never hurts to be a

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