Your Retirement Alarm Clock Is Ticking: Do You Have a Plan?

Remember when employers used to hand out gold watches and generous pensions to workers when they retired?

Those traditions are fading fast. People rarely wear watches anymore, for one thing. Employees are less likely to stick with one company for their entire career, for another. And fewer and fewer companies offer defined-benefit plans, even to longtime, loyal employees.

Still, it might make sense to revive the timepiece tradition with one major metaphorical modification: A clock could be delivered before workers' paychecks stop - you know, as a little reminder that time is ticking and it might be wise to put a detailed financial plan in place prior to facing 20 to 30 years in retirement.

Americans are living longer. According to the , a man reaching age 65 today