Gary, you are right about retirement/IRA. I've been paying into SSI since I was 18, I'm now 65, and still paying into it. The upside was that my SSI check is a good one. I also get a retirement check from my former employer that I retired from 10 years ago. I pull a little out of my IRA once a year to play catch up and then by the time the next year rolls around, that money is made up by interest payments.

Another thing to consider is getting everything paid off..house, car, etc. By the time my wife retires, we'll be there on that one.

I no longer contribute to an IRA but my wife, who is 4 years my jr. still contributes to hers.

So between the two of us, we do o.k. Income doesn't provide for a lot of toys but I can always buy more toys by playing out just a bit more.