Nearing retirement age, start with gradual steps toward the homestretch.

• Reconsider taking reduced Social Security at 62. The better choice over time may mean waiting for full benefits.

• Consider easing into retirement with part-time work.

• Downsize housing.

Further reading:

A must-visit for every U.S. citizen. Estimates your future benefits, eligibility dates. While you're here, verify the accuracy of your name, Social Security number, work history: www.ssa.gov/retire2/near.htm

"The Retirement Savings Time Bomb and How to Defuse It," Ed Slott, Viking Adult, 2003, $25. IRA expert on minimizing Uncle Sam's bite.

"The New Retirementality: Planning Your Life and Living Your Dreams ... at Any Age You Want," by Mitch Anthony, Dearborn Trade Publishing, $16.95. The financial and life planner's cleverly named concept should be of interest to anyone uneasy with the traditional requirement that Americans totally drop one portion of their lives — the working part — simply because they've reached a certain age.

More resources

"I'm in no rush to retire. I have enough free time to do what I want."

• Rolled a $60,000 retirement account from a previous job into an IRA currently valued at $120,000.

• Lost about $20,000 in the stock-market downturn. Prefers owning individual stocks to mutual funds. Likes local companies he's familiar with. "I am not buying anything I don't understand." Listens to broker's advice and then does his own research.

• Admires Bill Gates and owns 450 shares of Microsoft stock. "I rode them up and down and through the splits. If you've got $40 billion I'll take a look at you."

• Insisted his twentysomething son, a part-time Starbucks employee, contribute to the company's 401(k) program and stock-purchase plan. "He'll be better off for it."

• House is paid for. Worries that Seattle's high cost of living and property taxes could "eat me alive" if he's on only a fixed income.