Today, retirement can mean different things.For many Americans, it meansthe end of the money-earning part of their lifeand the beginning of a period of enjoyment.But retirement calls for planning and savings.In many countries, employers may offersome kind of retirement savings plan.The plan could be linked to the company's stockor to a managed investment service.Almost any financial planner will say workers should use these plans to save money easily:often directly from their wages.But an employer plan should not be your only wayto save for retirement.Pete D'Arruda heads his own financial planning companyand gives retirement advice on radio shows and television.He tells people to save whenever possible.But he says as retirement nears,you must take fewer financial risks.PETER D'ARRUDA: "There's three stages of life therewhen we look at it.There's the part where you're earning money.And when you're earning money, if you have a salary,it makes it easier to take risk because you knowthat if you lose the moneyyou can go back and earn some more."By risks, Pete D'Arruda means investing in stocksand other financial instruments that can lose value quickly.He says people should move moneyaway from riskier investments as they ageeven if there is a possibility of a higher rate of return.Instead, investors nearing retirement should seekmore secure investments for their savings.PETER D'ARRUDA: "But then we get to the transition phasewhen we're within five years or so of retirement.I call it the financial red zone because now is the timewhen you need to protect what you have,you need to start transitioning away from the risk of Wall Streetand into safe places that guarantee lifetime income."Pete D'Arruda has a simple way of decidinghow much of your retirement savings should be at risk.He says, take your age and put a percentage after it.That is the percentage of your retirement savingsthat should be fully protected from losing value.So, for a sixty-five-year-old, the rule works like this:PETER D'ARRUDA: "Sixty-five percent of the moneymust be in a place that can't lose it.The reason why is when you're in retirement it's impossibleto get the money back that you lostbecause you don't have a salary coming in,so time is no longer on your side."The investment services company Charles Schwabprepares studies about Americans' retirement planning.The company's Retirement Pulse Surveylooks at how people of all ages prepare for the big event.One recent survey found that forty-four percent of baby boomersfeel secure in their readiness for retirement.Baby boomers are the generation of Americans bornin the years immediately after World War Two.The first baby boomers are now reaching sixty-five,currently the full retirement age in the United States.And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report.