[Ralph]

I'm currently 75....and retired in 1998. Thought I had enough money for maybe two lifetimes.

Made some (non fatal) investment mistakes. Main one was.....I didn't fully comprehend that how you make your money before retirement is usually concentrating on some big idea.....real estate, great stocks, building a business, etc......where you take risks, put up with a lot of volatility.....and await the day when you can cash out. That's how most people make their money. Investing slowly and being super diversified doesn't get most people what they need for retirement.....I have observed. How you make big bucks is one thing.....how you keep it is another.

In retirement....you have to invest differently. Now the objective is to keep what you have. Be diversified, invest for income as well as some growth. Maybe keep some at no risk at all. This requires a lot of patience, and isn't as exciting as what you do to grow the money. But if you live a long time in retirement, and maybe with no part time job.....your money has to last.....you can't take as many chances, because you have no way to make it back. However....for me personally.....I do this by keeping enough liquid investments for 3-5 years of spending, so don't have to liquidate when markets are down, and still own mostly boring low volatility dividend paying stocks for future.

IMHO one of the best income ideas in retirement.....is to keep working in some fashion doing the work you like in your field....just maybe fewer hours with less responsibility. Make sure you have no debt, and you will need as much income in retirement as you need when working. Will spend less on work related things (clothes, vehicles, gasoline, etc) , but more on others, especially health related including vision, teeth, dermatology, etc...as you age.

I understand this is not exactly what most advisors preach. And it's probably not the advice the rules would require me to give if I was still advising clients. But it's how I think investing in retirement works.

BTW.....I'm retired from Merrill Lynch and this is what I did for a living. And even I didn't get it all right. It's hard for someone who doesn't think about this all the time. I'm no longer registered and licensed to give financial advice....so ignore this.