The real lowdown on a meaningful life and retirement

ages 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, and 92. Why count in multiples of 10? Long-range planning is always wise, but if you think too far out, the “fog of the future” can cloud your thinking. Just focus on the next 10 years. Why 10 years?

LEWIS J. WALKER, CFP

There’s a hot new company advertising on television, The RealReal. Based in San Francisco, TheRealReal is an online resale marketplace for staffauthenticated luxury goods. If you are going to buy used Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton or other upscale item, you want certainty it’s the genuine article. Anyone who has traveled and seen the guys selling “luxury handbags” on European or Asian streets, aggressive salesmen who run like rabbits at the first sign of the police, has cause to be suspicious of deals and illusions that too often are too good to be true.

Illusions portraying a happy and perpetually idyllic retirement are peddled constantly. We know that the process of growing older is not one long day at the beach, so to speak. Money worries, physical aches and pains, responsibilities in caring for oneself and others and myriad other challenges can upset the best of plans. Have you thought about your game plan?

In reality, your plan for a happy and well-adjusted life should be crafted long before retirement, ideally when you are young and just starting out. But since life is a process of learning that should not end until the day you die, you will think differently at age 22 than you will at 32, and so on at