Planning for life's biggest vacation.

• Position: Your Life

Can you imagine going on an extended vacation without making any plans--no websites or tour guides consulted; hotel reservations made; itinerary mapped out? Of course not. If you wanted your vacation to be a success, you would budget enough money to cover your costs; know when you were going; how long you could stay; and at least generally what you would do while there. However, when it comes to the longest vacation most people will ever take--retirement--fewer than half of all Americans have a formal plan, and that can spell trouble.

"There's nothing worse than being 85 years old, full of life, and being flat broke," says Randy Becker, co-founder of the Becker Retirement Group, Bellevue, Wash., who indicates that it takes some work to avoid the many pitfalls that can ruin your golden years. Inflation, taxes, and bad health and investments can be devastating. "It's up to you to have a sound plan, so you can focus on the important aspects of a wonderful retirement life."

Becker offers these tips for getting started so you will know you are ready to begin your retirement journey:

* Get everybody on-board. You and your spouse need to agree on your retirement goals--and the financial decisions that will get you there. Start talking about priorities: Do you want to relocate? Stay close to the grandkids? Are you emotionally and physically ready for retirement? How long will each of you keep working, and how will that affect the income streams you will rely on when those paychecks stop?

* Make a budget. Most people think their expenses will go down after they retire, but usually that does not happen. Your wardrobe budget might go down when you are not working, but...