Retirement planning should be one of the most important components of your overall investment plan. Today, “retirement” is often a very long period of time. If you retire at 62, consider the possibility that you may live to 92 – or perhaps 102! Given the medical and healthcare advances of our time, this is not out of the realm of possibilities. When people retired in 1960 or 1980, the common assumption was that they would have to make their money last for 10 to 15 years. Now, some American retirements will last twice that long – or longer. So, it is not simply a question of making your principal last. That is certainly important, but there is also the additional goal of making your retirement money grow.