Discover the crucial actions and decisions you'll face in the five years immediately prior to your retirement. You'll learn about the importance of building up cash reserves; how and why to simplify your financial life; when to begin taking Social Security; whether or not to downsize your home; and, if you have a pension, whether to take that payout as a lump sum or as an annuity payout.

We all have one important thing in common about our retirement: We do not want to run out of money! Examine the five major risk categories every retiree will face and learn the key aspects of developing a responsive and resilient financial plan to address these risks in retirement. Then you'll be in solid shape to weather any storms that might come along.

Many of us resist the idea of creating a budget, but having a handle on your spending is the starting point to financial success. Compare and contrast two different ways to create a personalized spending plan. You'll also learn how to make some crucial planning decisions, including whether to pay down debt first or boost savings and whether to rent or buy a home.

If you're a mid-career parent, you'll have some decisions to make when funding your child's college versus funding retirement accounts for yourself. You'll also want to make sure you're using your company's benefits to your best advantage. In this episode, you'll learn how to address those issues, plus why tax-deductible contributions to a retirement plan might not be the boon you think it is.

Where should you put your money when saving for retirement? That feels like the million-dollar question, and the sheer amount of information out there is overwhelming. Understand why discipline, not superior skill, will be your key to success as you learn how stocks, bonds, and mutual funds work, and the differences between active and passive investing.

In How to Plan for the Perfect Retirement, Professor Dana Anspach of Sensible Money, LLC will be your step-by-step guide to help you create the future you want. No matter how old you are or how far along in your working life, it's never too early or too late to develop a plan that works for you.

Don't make your crucial decisions about Social Security, health insurance, or your tax strategy based on outdated information or what anyone else did. In this episode, you'll learn about the pros and cons of all your decision options. The reward for getting these decisions right can be worth thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars.

Howie Snyder is an archetype: a retired Marine colonel in his mid 40s, he is a prototypical American entrepreneur struggling to make his business go. Howie's Shakey's Pizza franchise in Muncie, Indiana employs his whole family: wife, nine children, and Howie himself. He's the representative of the American Dream: the chance to invest long hours and hard work in exchange for financial security for oneself and family. To watch Howie Snyder as he dickers...

When a retired man takes on an internship at a growing company, he becomes a mentor for the female founder of the company.