MY RETIREMENT PLAN: JOHN WHITE, 61, RETIREE

When John White retired last year at 60, he rearranged his investments. The former senior manager of logistics for Target had originally planned to quit working at 61, but after meeting with an adviser at Granite Financial in St. Cloud, Minn., last year, White decided to pull the trigger and spend his time fishing and traveling. So he began planning cash flows for the next phase of his and his wife's lives.

The St. Louis Park resident took the healthy six-figure amount he had amassed in his 401(k) and put it into three different pots. For his everyday cash flow, he relies on two annuities, one of which pays out over the next five years and another one that will pay for four years after that. He expects to tap his IRA, which holds a mix of stocks and bonds, in 10 years.

With the rest of the retirement money that he doesn't expect to need for living expenses, White has invested in stocks. He knows investing conservatively might be safer. But he believes "the way you really build a nest egg is when you're aggressive with your investments."

White started saving for retirement in 1984 and wishes he'd started earlier. He gets about $1,200 a month from the pension he earned over his 23 years at Target. In a year he will start taking Social Security. He says twentysomethings like his two daughters figure Social Security won't be there when they retire.