If you’re reading this article, you’re probably further along than most people. You’re thinking about your finances; you’re doing some reading and research. This is a good thing.

Wealth management software used to be the domain of professionals only. Now, individuals can get their hands on web sites and software as powerful as wealth management professionals use.

When looking at income-generating investments, it’s tempting to just pile into the big dividend payers. You might think you have done your homework by looking at a company’s most recent 10-year history of dividend payments and reviewing its history of returning capital to shareholders.

People approach retirement planning in a number of ways. Sometimes a retirement plan starts with a single, high-level goal. "I want to retire with $1 million," for example, or (and this is a better way of thinking about it), "I want to retire with enough money invested that will generate $75,000 a year."

How much money should you have in your 401(k)? It's a tough question.

Times are good for the budget conscious and for those who like to track their investments' every move. There are tons of options--many of them free, many of them mobile-friendly--available for keeping tabs on your inflows, your outflows, and your investments. It really never has been easier to keep track of saving and spending.

Does it make sense to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA? If so, when, and over what period of time?

Most of us know that inflation means prices are generally rising and most of us take it as a given that inflation will occur pretty much every year. But what many don’t know is how big of an impact inflation can have on one’s retirement plan.

I have written a number of articles about whether a certain amount of money would be enough to retire with. A million dollars. Two million dollars. I put a hypothetical couple through a hypothetical saving-and-spending scenario, and we see how it goes. I used the WealthTrace Financial Planner to calculate all of the scenarios in this article and you can do the same using our free trial.

When we talk about "asset allocation," we are, broadly speaking, referring to where you're investing your money. Over longer periods, the more willing you are to take some risks with your money in the stock market, the better your returns will be.

One definition of a worry-free retirement is not having to worry about where the money is coming from. As I have written before, "You are truly retired (or able to retire) when your passive income covers your expenses."

For the more adventurous, real estate income is another way. Investing in rental property can be a compelling option for those who have the time, the handyman abilities, and the willingness to find and work with tenants.

If you're retired, or close to it, you probably know the story. Income--especially guaranteed income--is hard to come by these days. 10-year treasuries yielded 2.3% at the end of November of this year. Ten years ago, that number was nearly double, at 4.5%; 20 years ago, it was 6.1%.

A solid plan for any project, not just retirement, needs strategies to make it happen. Here are some essential building blocks for a retirement plan.

To get retirement right, you'll have to move beyond the dream stage. This means thinking about what will really be important and meaningful to you in retirement--and what it will cost.

You may have seen articles in the financial press recently about the rise of index-fund investing and the demise of active management (stock picking). This is actually nothing new. Investing has been evolving this way for many years, and is in large part a welcome development: Over time, most active management does not beat the indexes, and is expensive to boot. Low-cost indexing is the way to go for most investors.

If you have ever worked with a contractor, or at least a contractor who is being up front with you, you may have heard something like the following: "You can have the work done cheaply, quickly, and of very high quality--but you can only pick two of these things."

You owe it to yourself--and your retirement--to do better than basing it on a simple spreadsheet. Using planning software such as our WealthTrace financial planner gives you the full picture.

In planning for retirement, a lot of time and effort and focus is understandably on saving enough money and investing it in the right securities. But a successful retirement plan--especially one that is longer than normal--can depend at least as much on spending.

The rules for planning for retirement are largely still the same rules once you get to your 40s. If you have been diligently saving and investing in 401(k)s and IRAs thus far, don't stop now.