In the past retirement was something people didn't have to think about. Companies had pensions available and for the most part all a person had to do was put in their time and they would have a retirement pension from their company. When I was in the financial planning business it always amazed to have people come in who were in their 70's. They would show me thier investment portfolio and then show me their pensions. These people had come up in much simpler times then you and I are living in today. They could have actually gotten 5% from a local bank's passbook saving account. I dare you to find a bank paying this type of interest today in a simple savings account! What a wonderful time that must have been. The boss took care of retirement and social security would have taken care of any gaps which left any savings to be used for whatever a person wanted. Today things are different. Defined benefit plans (the things that used to provide retirement) have for the most part dissapeared as far as the average working stiff is concerned. The muckety mucks up at the top still have them but how long that will last with the economic situation we have gone through is questionable. This is the problem we are facing today. When we retire the vast majority of us will have our social security (if that lasts) and whatever we have put aside in savings to support ourselves through our retirement years. My father retired last year with approximately $250,000 in investments. This sounds like a lot of money but now he is faced with how to take an income out of that portfolio and not using it up. This isn't as easy as it sounds. This is the problem we all face. This is why I have seriously dropped the ball in waiting till forty to start. The companies I have worked for have never provided a 401(k) plan and retirement seemed sooo far away. I believe though I have found an answer that any of us working stiffs can take advantage of that will enable us to still have a comfortable retirement and that is why I have chosen to start this blog.