How much money do you need to retire on? What's the magic number that would make you feel secure?

Some say you need 85 percent of your preretirement income, including Social Security benefits. Various experts call for final salary times eight or eleven or more. Time was, a $1 million nest egg sounded like a lot, but $1 million isn't what it used to be. Yet that's more than 9 in 10 American families have been able to put away.

The old rule of thumb was that a retired couple could safely withdraw 4 percent of their holdings each year. Older people were advised to put more of their capital into safe, risk-free bonds. But today's interest rates are not high enough to allow a 4-percent drawdown each year. Not-yet-retired savers may need to adjust their portfolios. Retirees will need to adjust their withdrawals. And everyone will depend more on Social Security.

For nearly 30 years, Mike Nickerson has owned and managed a small, full-service accounting practice in the Midcoast. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Southern Main and a master's degree in financial planning from Bentley University.

He is a past board member and president of the Maine Society of Certified Public Accountants and currently serves on the Maine Board of Accountancy.

An aged rock musician, Nickerson now finds musical enjoyment playing upright and electric bass in a variety of bands spanning folk to jazz music genres. He and his wife have three grown children, and they enjoy their free time hiking, kayaking, golfing, bicycling and motorcycling.

http://www.nickersonpa.com/