More to Manage.

• Author: LEWERS, CHRISTINE

It's not your father's retirement plan.

In the past five to 10 years, David Gooden has noticed a shift in the way many of his mid-life clients approach retirement planning.

"They've been told for the past 20 years that Social Security isn't going to be there," says Gooden, vice president and senior investment officer at American National Trust and Investment Management Co. in Muncie. "That's what's in their mind when they start planning for retirement."

The clients Gooden describes are baby boomers, those from a generation of 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. Retirement is closing in on those born in the mid-50s, the peak of the post-war baby boom years. With less than 20 years left until they reach retirement age, the rush is on to sock it away.

But planning for a secure retirement is not only more important for the baby boomers than for their parents, it's also more complicated, say financial experts.

There are several reasons.

The first is that today's boomers can expect a retirement stretching 20 to 30 years, thanks to longer life expectancies and medical advances. While that's good news, the bad news is somebody has to pay for all those golden years.

For the parents of boomers, Social Security and company pensions took most of the worry, and responsibility, out of retirement, That's not the case for boomers, say financial experts. Boomers need to save more of their own money for retirement than any previous generation.

"The biggest change in retirement planning is that people today are relying more on their own assets to pay for their retirement," says Bill Owen, a CPA and financial planner for Olive, an Indianapolis-based accounting firm with offices across the state. That means boomers who want to rest easy about their future need to take charge.

The first step is to begin thinking about retirement in the context of an overall financial plan including estate planning, tax planning, risk management and special needs, such as paying for college.

One of the biggest things people overlook is setting goals, Owen says. That's where a financial planner can help. Financial planners help clients assess their current financial positions, set goals and come up with a plan for reaching them.

The amount of money individuals will need at retirement varies depending on income and lifestyle. However, Owen offers this rule of thumb: assume you'll need at least 85 percent of your income at retirement for your later years. If you plan to...