Highlights of the June 26, 2006 Issue of FORTUNE

SPECIAL INVESTOR’S ISSUE: RETIRE RICH Ah, retirement. The office is but a memory, and blessed leisure stretches as far as the eye can see. So how do you get there? And, in the end, is that really what you want? The key starting point in retirement planning: getting real about the goals that matter.

• On Exxon Mobil’s Lee Raymond: “When I was at Chrysler, I only took a salary of $1 a year, though I made a lot of money on stock options. When I saw Lee Raymond of Exxon Mobil made $400 million in one year—that’s pretty absurd. How do you explain that?”

• On working with Snoop Dogg: “When I did those commercials for Chrysler last year, they gave me five million bucks, which I donated to the [diabetes] foundation. I spent 24 hours with Snoop Dogg and didn’t understand a word he said to me the whole time.”

• On retirement: “A couple of my bosses at Ford retired at 65, and they went home to die. They were dead by the time they were 68. They had no interests. When you atrophy, you die. Retirement isn’t the end; it’s the beginning.”

The End of a Dream, by Geoffrey Colvin, page 85
By now most everyone knows that the old-style pension is in a heap of trouble. Desperate companies like UAL have already dumped plans. Other basket cases such as Delphi and Delta are threatening to do the same. But the most surprising news—and most ominous for tomorrow’s retirees—is what one healthy company did earlier this year: IBM froze its traditional pension. No need to be depressed, however. Remember, though people in general aren’t rational about saving and investing, you can be. You can start averting your own pension crisis anytime you want. SEE ALSO: How Safe is Your Pension?, page 88

Talking ‘Bout Our Generation, by Yuval Rosenberg, page 106
Bob Dylan, bard of the baby-boomers, turned 65 a few weeks ago. The milestone passed without much fanfare, but it was an unmistakable reminder that the generation that had hoped to stay forever young is nearing retirement age. Dylan is slightly ahead of the crowd, but the first of the boomers hit 60 this year, with nearly 8,000 Americans reaching the mark every day. That aging is bound to be unsettling—and not just for boomers. The graying of such a massive cohort will strain programs such as Social Security and Medicare. But it will also have a broader economic impact, potentially affecting private investments as much as public entitlements. A number of market experts warn that the population shifts ahead may spark an asset meltdown that could weaken equity returns—if not devastate them—for a decade or more.
PLUS: Four Ways to Play the Baby-Boom Effect: Whatever the macroeconomic impact of our aging population, baby-boomers will continue to have a big influence on a wide array of industries. Health care is the most obvious, given the increasing medical needs that come with age, but travel, financial services, and technology will also be affected. Picking stocks based on that notion is a tricky proposition. The key, investing pros say, is to zero in on solid stocks with good fundamentals that should benefit from larger trends. These four companies all fit that profile.

• Zimmer Holdings (ZMH)

• Harrah’s Entertainment (HET)

• Corning (GLW)

• Credit Suisse Group (CSR)

Mario Gabelli’s Broken Legacy, by Marcia Vickers, page 115
Mario Gabelli is doing what he does best: talking. The billionaire money manager is chatting amiably over the phone about the wave of criticism that’s been directed at him lately as a result of a pair of scandals. A legal dispute with his original financial backers has focused attention on both the governance of his publicly traded mutual fund company and his exorbitant pay package—$55 million of disclosed income in 2005 alone. And a civil suit involving the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission that alleges he fraudulently manipulated FCC auctions for cellphone licenses intended for minorities and small business owners has, at best, raised questions about his business ethics. But Gabelli is having none of it. He has long fashioned himself a telecom expert, indeed, a pioneer of sorts. And as he holds forth on the FCC matter, he enthusiastically recalls long-ago meetings with wireless executives and brags about his bona fides on the topic of cellphone auctions. “I was the very first guy on Wall Street to author a research report on wireless auctions, way back in 1982,” he says triumphantly. Yet minutes later, when asked more specifically about the FCC suit, he seems to remember the details of his legal position and offers an absurd reversal. “Me? I have no wireless expertise,” he says. “I don’t even use a cell phone.”

Can We Talk?, by Ellen McGirt and Andy Serwer, page 57
William Shakespeare nailed the retirement thing, buying a country house for cash, then living off his investments until he died. When we went on the Internet to ask readers what they wanted from retirement, we found people wanted what he had—a secure stream of income (and to avoid the plague). There’s the rub: Satisfying these simple desires requires complex decisions. FORTUNE wants to help. Here are ten questions that came up most often—and our answers.
THE LINEUP:

• How Much Will I Need?

• Where Should I Invest?

• How Will I Pay for Health Care?

• What’s the Best Withdrawal Strategy?

• Should I Worry About Inflation?

• AND MORE…

• Boulder, CO.

• Island, S.C.

• Sarasota, FL.

• Athens, GA.

• Maui, HI.

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