Many retirees can live well on less than what the financial-planning industry tells them. Here's how to look beyond the formulas.

Expensive illnesses, long-term care and extreme longevity can suddenly throw retirees' estimated income needs out of whack. When the Society of Actuaries interviewed middle-class retirees in focus groups earlier this year, "they were managing very carefully, adjusting their spending where they needed to and trying not to draw down" their savings, Ms. Levering says. "But they were not planning for shock events."

Men's Sheds movement helps men find sense of purpose when they retire. Men’s Sheds began in Australia and are ‘the shed at the bottom of the garden’ but larger, well equipped with tools and benches and run by a bunch of guys as an inclusive, practical, unprogrammed domain of shared space, work and leisure. They can be for individual pursuits or community projects and they can offer people greater purpose, achievement and social interaction.

How much can you afford to spend in retirement? The answer is getting a little more complicated.

The only hard-and-fast rule for how much retirement income you will need is that there is no hard-and-fast rule. The financial industry's typical rule of thumb—which states that retirees need to save enough to be able to replace 75% to 85% of their preretirement income every year after they stop working—isn't really useful for many people. New research shows that many retirees can live well on less than that but others rack up higher expenses through travel, expensive hobbies or medical costs that can't be avoided.

Apple computer stores and car dealerships let you "try before you buy." What if you could do the same with retirement?

With this issue in mind, we posed the following question to The Experts: What's the best way to "test drive" a retirement before you leave the office?

This question relates to the latest Encore ...

Fidelity’s latest research reveals many Americans are behind on retirement preparedness, with 55 percent in fair or poor condition. The report also provides a list of six ways to accelerate savings to catch up and be better prepared.

UBS Wealth Management’s Louise Gunderson says people are underestimating their expenses and lifestyle costs, forcing them to work longer.