In this article, you’ll find lots of ways you can add dollars to your retirement savings. But Paul Merriman also shows that if you want to be among the relatively few people who are truly affluent, you’ll probably have to adopt some new attitudes and habits. 

Most retirees have to shift gears in the way they think and invest. When you retire, the habits and attitudes that may have helped you accumulate what you believe is enough money for the rest of your life can suddenly threaten your financial future.

From the February 2000 issue of the Alaska Airlines Magazine.
Worrying about investments is very low on the list of things people want to do when they retire. Ideally, retirees should be able to meet their income needs without eroding their principal, and that principal should have an opportunity to grow, at least in the good years. For some time I have been mildly obsessed with finding the very best combination of assets to achieve those results for retired investors. And I’ve found a combination that’s pretty hard to beat. From 1970 through 1999, it provided a compound return of more than 12 percent, at less than half the risk of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

This topic is one some people might want to avoid: the unpleasant possibility that a retired investor could someday run out of money.

Every retired investor I’ve ever talked to has experienced moments of doubt about the future. Will I last longer than my money? Will I be OK even if inflation heats up and the market cools down?