Retirement is a journey unto itself. The trip requires planning and periodic re-assessment, quite like traveling on a long highway.

The most practical approach to sound financial planning is through careful management of earnings, investments and budgets. Oddly enough, it's tha process we go through all of our lives. The difference about retirement is that an adjustment in earnings is made; but it doesn't stop when our employment ends. At retirement, the one thing that should happen is an evaluation of the pre-retirement plan. We should ask the question: Did we reach our financial goal, and if so, will it be enough to support our lifestyle for the next 20 to 30 years?

According to popular statistics, the answer the average person (or couple) will give is, "no". In a real world, the employer sponsored plan and the IRA's did not add up to expected valuations. Now, it's time to live with the present and go forward. Therefore, it is really important to look into the total investment portfolio value an find the so-called "happy medium" for living out the remaining years.

For the sake of brevity, one practical approach is to begin immediately to find ways to increase the current value of your holdings - assuming you own stocks. Taking too much of a long-term fixed position in liquid assets may be harmful to your financial health. Guaranteed annuities and contracts are great for people with assets approaching $1 million and above. Not so for the household with only $200,000 - $500,000 to last a lifetime. For this reason, the average person should seek out advice from a qualified investment advisor, preferably a referral (as opposed to the neice or nephew who just got a job as a financial planner) to help you reposition your money so that it will work harder for you.

One thing that can help to increase our chances of living comfortably is to keep in mind that our economy is nowhere near as stable as it was when we started out forty years ago. It pays to seek direction every now and then.

Learn more about this author, Bill Hudley.
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