I've had a lot of conversations with my Boomer friends lately, many of whom were featured in Chapter 8 of the book (Personal Stories). It seems that everyone is affected in some way by the current economic crisis, and many Boomers are having to re-examine the income side of their retirement plan. Most everyone's 401k and IRA accounts have taken a hit, so we are resigned to figuring out where else to find the money; the most common source will be from working, and working more years than we thought. Ouch, a real re-balancing act.

Some Boomers were recent victims of downsizing and layoffs, and are in the midst of finding another job, choosing this time to transition into another line of work, or taking classes to learn new skills. Some are deciding to start their own businesses like they always planned to do. Others with more serious job challenges are electing to start receiving their Social Security or pension benefits earlier than planned, in order to be able to pay basic living expenses. Scary times out there! We can all cut expenses to some degree, but there still needs to be some income (now and in the future) or we will outlive our money.

How are you faring in the current economy? Has your job or line of work been affected? How are you re-balancing your retirement plan from the income side of things?