Re-evaluating Your Retirement Game Plan

Re-evaluating Your Retirement Game Plan

Joshua Lipton, 12.18.08, 06:00 PM EST

After a miserable year in the market, investors need to assess how the turmoil will impact their retirement plans.

Banks are issuing preferred stock with yields of 10% and higher. Nice yields, but don't get suckered into buying bad paper. Click here for Forbes-Lehmann Income Securities Investor.

In Pictures: 7 Steps To Fix Your Retirement

Remember when your broker pulled you aside and showed you that neat, reassuring table of data proving how you could retire before becoming an octogenarian?

Rip it up--if you're planning on retiring anytime soon.

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The past decade's bull run lulled most people into thinking financial security during retirement was all but certain. Hold a diversified portfolio of stocks and boost your allocation to bonds as you near retirement age and you would be able to coast into your golden years. But then the financial collapse of 2008 hit, wreaking havoc on the best-laid financial plans.

Year-to-date, the stock market is down 40% and it's back to the drawing board for boomers and their advisers when it comes to retirement. With that in mind, Forbes.com called up financial planners, wealth managers and accountants to get a sense of what they're telling their clients as they navigate these tough times. The bottom line is that to secure a worry-free retirement, it's critical to re-assess and re-calculate your retirement strategy right now, after the storm.

In Pictures: 7 Steps To Fix Your Retirement

First, determine your retirement income needs. How much are you going to spend every year when you do retire? What are your expenses going to be? Once you arrive at a number, you will have a sense of the resources you'll need in order to live out your golden years in comfort.

There are a couple schools of thought about how to determine that magic number. It's common to discuss desired annual retirement income as a percentage of your current income. Depending on who you're seeking advice from, they may say it's anywhere from 60% to 80%.