I found this thought provoking article which must be shared with you all
TORONTO STAR sunday Sept. 19, 2004

Portfolio Doctor
I am quoting the portfolio doctor article in the Toronto star

Talk about your hot button — Freedom 55. We had no idea how much hostility that series of commercials engendered.
Two weeks ago we wrote that ifs likely the majority of Canadians will be stitching together a retirement, rather than cutting the traces at 55 and charging off into a twilight of endless golf and travel.
Furthermore, huge numbers of people will not be living on incomes that come anywhere close to the ideal level recommended by the financial services industry. Who the heck came up with that 70 per cent figure anyway? Has anyone actually researched the subject to determine how many people in retirement are living on 70 per cent of their pre-retirement income?
Retirement, especially early retirement, is an image created by marketers. Since we get into so much trouble for our digs at the financial services industry, we hesitate to say that Freedom 55 and all it has spawned is designed to sell product but... what other conclusion can one come to?
Apparently a whole lot of you agree.
"Deep down, people suspect the truth, that the financial industry propaganda of early and affluent retirement is the "big lie" — but I have not seen anyone act actually it before. Good for you, and
for the suggestion that a sole fixation on income for retirement is a mistake. I suspect most people could live reasonably happily on less income than many financial planners say they need to put aside." Dan K.
The big problem with picking numbers and making projections is that you can never factor in all the elements that make every person's situation unique. A debt-free small town widower, with children nearby to help out, might be able to live quite happily on 35 or 40 per cent of his pre-retirement income. A 62-year-old couple with a mortgage and an expensive hobby such as traveling or sailing might require 75 per cent of their working income.
"It is impossible to create common goals like Freedom 55 that suit everyone," wrote Tony W. "At the age of 58,1 decided I had better get some professional help in financial planning for our retirement. My wife and I had decided that we didn't want to wprk beyond 62; this was our main objective.
"My simple 'non-professional' analysis showed that we should have enough income to make this possible, especially since we were prepared to change our lifestyle to suit our income rather than choose our lifestyle and then work out when to retire and how to generate the income," Tony W. wrote.
"In a nutshell, we both hated work All we wanted was advice on how to maximize our income to suit our risk tolerance. The professionals just couldn't handle this way of thinking. They insisted on starting from a retirement income, as a fixed percentage of current earnings and then tried to tell us when we could retire," he added.
"They all had a fixed computer program (I suspect they all had the same program) that required our answers to specific questions. They then proceeded to apply the "fixed income investments percentage equal to age' rule. In short they had zero creativity or imagination."
Tony W. and his wife confounded the experts when they asserted that they intended to retire at 62 and damn the numbers.
"The whole Experience has taught me one important lesson that explains the attraction' of handing your finances over to professional management. It is based on fear. The fear that you might get it wrong and then have no one to blame but yourself.
'We retired in August and so far everything is on track. The main thing is that we are now in complete control of our destiny and it feels great."
Tony W. has a good point Over the years we've had to work quite hard to find Portfolio Doctors who can think outside the retirement box.
Judy R had to find her own way because, like many of our readers, she and her husband do not fit inside that box.
"My husband and I have circle of friends that have all been remarkable lucky and are facing comfortable retirement We on the other hand suffered a financial setback several years ago that left us very uneasy about the future.
"Our careers were beginning to give us lots of stress and little satisfaction and
suddenly retirement at 65 was no longer a certainty."
Bather than sit around and let the green-eyed monster consume them, Judy R and husband decided 'to research living and medical costs in Mexico. They discovered they could afford to retire in that country by renting a small house or apartment. Even so, they found themselves envious of others who were also moving south but had sufficient money to buy or build nice homes. "My problem has been one of attitude," she admits. "Why couldn't we afford to buy a house so we wouldn't have to worry about rising rents and the value of the Canadian dollar? We'll probably need to look hard to find a place big enough to put up our friends and family when they come to visit. Why couldn't we have it so easy? "Obviously I needed a swift kick in my value system and your article did it. We have found a solution that is perfect for us. We'll be able to retire early and in a place that couldn't suit us better. Maybe we won't be able to afford a car. So what if our apartment is rented and" small. We'll adjust I've stopped comparing. Work with what you've got, that is real life!"
We're always happy to administer a swift kick Judy R, but don't be too hard on yourself. The images of a fairy tale retirement conjured up by the financial services industry are pervasive and powerful. They can easily divert you from what is important. "We should never forget that investing is only a part of our lives,? wrote Susan A. "I recently moved I was totally
immersed in the move and what it meant to my family (and D, it was all I could think about. I emerged from my moving fog a few days after we had settled in to our new home. I found out that my brother-in-law had lost his job, my best friend had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and a neighbour was caring for her husband who is seriously ill with cancer," she wrote.
'This is life, it goes up and it goes down. Thanks for an excellent reminder that money and retirement savings are not everything."
Lest we start getting too big for our britches, the last word on this topic of realistic retirement and values goes to someone unimpressed with our reasoning.
"I was interested to read your hypothesis of why readers are no longer deluging you when you review multi-zero portfolios. I think a truer reason is, like me, they have just given up reading your column finding absolutely no relevance to their own situations.
"I only read it this time because I was continuing a front-page article on changing careers.
"Who ever believed those stupid Freedom 55 ads anyway, surely no one with a grain of sense!" wrote Sandra H.
At the same time, this reader was delivering her own swift kick she also stuck out her hand and asked for a portfolio doctoring, "just as a matter of interest." We'll put you in the queue, Sandra H.

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trying to find real persons