Retirement

Using the Social Security Administration's online system, you can run tailor-made scenarios showing how much you'll get from the government benefit when you retire. And from there, you can plot out your master retirement plan.

It's easy to assume that building up a luxurious retirement nest egg is something only the wealthy can do. Well, here are four tales of ordinary people that disprove that idea. (And you could easily do better than they did.)

A reader asks: "What's a realistic retirement age? How much longer will most of us have to work?" The answer depends on how successful you've been at saving, how cushy a lifestyle you want, and, of course, when you prefer to disengage.

A man who dressed up as his mother in a bizarre real estate fraud that involved doctoring her death certificate and cashing her Social Security checks for six years after she died was sentenced Monday to more than 13 years behind bars.

There may be several good reasons to withdraw funds from your IRA before 59 1/2, but be careful, because the penalties and fees can add up, writes MoneyShow personal finance expert Terry Savage.

The average Gen Xer is on track to face $1,700 a month income gap in retirement. The average baby boomers will fall a whopping $2,100 a month short. Those may sound like insurmountable numbers, but don't throw in the towel yet.

Most Americans aren't saving anywhere near enough money to live out their golden years comfortably. Odd are, you're one of them. If so, here are a few ways you can realign your finances and plans with reality ... before it's too late.