The Queen of daytime talk shows has announced she is calling it quits after 2010. Oprah says, "ending the show feels right in my bones." She goes on to further explain how next season, the 25th, will be bigger and better than ever as she says goodbye to her fans.

What Oprah has "right to the bone" is an entrepreneurial talent to know how to maximize the bucks. She is able to get tons of publicity and interest by announcing the end of the show, thus guaranteeing good ratings and exposure for the Oprah brand. Oprah has amassed a large fortune with her company Harpo Productions, (Oprah spelled backwards), and is one of the richest people in the world, with a rating of 234 on Forbes Billionaire List.

Oprah took a fledgling local show and launched The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986. Her show is now seen in 144 countries and brings in 44 million US viewers each week. Her production company, Harpo produces Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, and is adding a show hosted by frequent guest Dr. Oz. She partnered the Oprah Winfrey Network with Discovery with a launch set for late 2009 or early 2010. And Harpo Films just inked a cable deal with HBO after 15 years at ABC.

It's never too early to start your retirement savings, but, as too many people are finding out the hard way, it can be too late. Make use of tools like free online retirement savings calculators and start building your retirement savings now.

Here are our top 10 rules for building your retirement savings, complete with retirement savings calculators to help you do the math.

1. Be realistic with your retirement savings goals.

You may have fantasies of taking a yacht around the world, but you have to plan your retirement savings according to your real needs, not your ideal wants. Use a retirement savings calculator to figure out how much you'll need to supplement Social Security, pensions and annuities, and aim straight for that retirement savings target.

Figure out what your retirement income will be with this retirement savings calculator; and what your expenses will be with this retirement savings calculator. For more information on Social Security, go to this retirement savings calculator.

I just bought my airline ticket for my friend's 100th birthday party, which she's anticipating with considerable excitement. Life has been quiet since she gave up competitive ballroom dancing at 85. Planning a party spices things up.

The oil wells that my friend's husband left her have kept her lifestyle comfortable – until the last couple of years when she developed a need for 24-hour care after the car she was riding in was broadsided.

Even a couple of active oil wells don't gush enough money to cover all the expenses of extreme aging. My friend and her children, who are old enough to be contemplating their own retirements, can see the day when it is all going to run out. If mom's still around – and the doc says she very well could be – longevity is going to be an expensive problem.

This week is National Retirement Week, which is a good thing since it is a topic weighing heavily on our minds. According to a recent survey by MoneyRates and GetRichSlowly, 52% of respondents didn't feel on track with their retirement. It's no wonder so many people are concerned about their retirement savings, since the Sun Financial Unretirement Index found that nearly two-thirds of Americans will delay retirement one year -- with 27% of those individuals delaying retirement by 5 years!

The most popular reason given for entering "unretirement" was to "to earn enough money to live well," a change from last year's top reason of, "staying mentally engaged," which is in second place this year. These changes are explained in part by the general pessimism of American workers, such as findings that:

• 58% of workers under 60 don't believe Social Security will be available to them upon retirement.
• 42% aren't confident about Social Security Benefits.
• 41% don't feel confident about prescription drug benefits.
• 38% are not confident in Medicare benefits.

Medical journal The Lancet reported a story that's been widely covered by major news outlets: According to The Lancet, more than half of all babies born in the U.S. (and other industrialized countries) since 2000 will live to be 100 years old.

Once a milestone only a handful of seniors reached, this new triple-digit benchmark will become downright commonplace by the time this century winds to a close. Half of all babies born in this country in 2007 will live to be 104 years old.

While the novelty factor is high ("Grandpa, tell us again how there was only one channel of the Internet when you were growing up!"), this announcement has far more serious implications for today's Americans -- both young and old -- when it comes to managing their personal finances. The Lancet study's lead author called the news good for individuals but challenging for societies.

First, a bit of history: While improvements in lifespans over the first half of this century were largely due to decreased infant mortality, longer living today comes on the back end. While the nation braces for the aging of the Baby Boomers, a process that's only just begun and has huge implications on everything from Social Security to health care, the impact of the next wave will be even greater. Fortunately, the study indicates that not only are people living longer, they're staying active longer; in other words, 70 could be the new 40 by the time your kids are adults.

What does this brave new world mean for your personal finances -- and that of your children? Walletpop spoke with John Rother, executive vice president for policy and strategy at the AARP, and asked him to weigh in on the implications for tomorrow's seniors.

The reward for working 35 years at a modestly paying job in the public sector has long been security and the promise of a pension that nearly equaled and occasionally exceeded what a worker was receiving when he accepted his gold watch. And in most cases, these pension promises were indexed for inflation so they'd grow as the worker aged.

These pension liabilities don't have to be accounted for like they are in the corporate world. No putting on the balance sheet what actuaries believe the municipalities, school boards, etc., will need to meet these pension obligations so that taxpayers can understand what they've committed to and workers can judge the odds that they'll get what they're owed.

Maybe I'm just paying more attention since I'm closing in on retirement age, but it does seem like every day I read a new list of places that somebody thinks would make ideal spots for people contemplating relocation after hanging them up.

U.S. News & World Report released its picks in its October issue. When I read the list, I had to laugh. The 10 cities named there might be perfectly lovely places, but none of them is my idea of a retirement haven. For instance, one of them is Columbus, Ohio. I spent four years in Columbus, Ohio (Go Bucks). Unless it's changed a lot, it's cold and gritty.

Money magazine in its September issue, lists four steps to "Worry-Free Retirement":

1. Know the risks of stocks and bonds
2. Crunch the numbers
3. Worry less by downsizing your plans
4. Control what you can including spending

The advice is laced with what are probably savvy suggestions for making the decision between stocks and bonds, calculating risk and evaluating the value of a pension, no matter how small.

As I read it, I couldn't help thinking about my 85-year-old mother-in-law, a recent widow. She and her late husband, a former draftsman, lived in retirement for 20 years – on his pension, banking most of their combined Social Security.

Psychologically speaking, the number one doesn't do a whole lot for most people. Do you want ONE extra french fry? Do you have ONE dollar I can borrow? Can you spare ONE minute of your time? See it's hard for most people to get excited about the number ONE, which is sad because it's the loneliest number...

Well what if I told you that there's at least one situation where ONE is not only important, but also as far from lonely as you can get? If you're following along you've probably already guessed that this post is about the power of an additional ONE percent interest, specifically compounding interest.

J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly turned me on to this easy-to-understand infographic that shows you the power of one percent and compounding interest when it comes to savings for retirement. If this doesn't help you overcome the psychological "meh" that comes from seeing the number One in an investment brochure, then I'm not sure what will.

It's hard to imagine, but it's true: two years after one of the greatest stock market drubbings in history, at a time when most people will need to put their saving into overdrive to recoup what they've lost, the IRS may actually reduce the amount you're allowed to contribute to your 401(k) in 2010.

And it isn't even really its fault: 401(k) contribution limits are indexed to inflation. A temporary decline in prices has led to deflation in recent months -- and that could mean a decline in 401(k) limits to $16,000, which would be down $500 from this year's max, according to the USA Today.

Congress could act to change this because of the extraordinary circumstances, and hopefully it will. With all the money that is being pumped into the economy to try to stimulate spending, it would be absolutely criminal to discourage people from saving at a time when saving has never been more important.

But in order to get this taken care of in time, Congress will need to start looking at possible solutions now -- I would support raising the cap on 401(k) contributions to $30,000 per year for the next three years to encourage/allow people to play catch up in the wake of the recession. Here's an idea: write to your Congressman today, include this blog post (or the USA Today story) and make him or her aware of this issue.

If you're age 60 or over and daunted by the prospect of having to work again, or just as bad, the idea of putting off retiring indefinitely, then a new movie might provide a little goose.

The documentary Gotta Dance chronicles the first season of the NETSationals, New Jersey Nets' cheerleading team. Unlike your standard squad, this one's comprised of mostly untrained dancers aged 60 and over. Instead of retiring and hitting the couch, its participants took a chance, auditioned, and won places on the special team. During lulls in games, the group -- some of whom are grandparents of the buxom young fawns on the standard cheerleading squad -- hustles to center court and shakes their stuff to hip-hop music while the crowd goes wild.

In the world of online personal finance services, each site performs the standard tracking and reporting features respectably, but it's the execution and additional features that make a service standout. For Yodlee, which powers Mint.com and 32 of the top 50 banks, its strengths are the number of accounts you can add, net worth calculation, and plethora of alert options.

When it comes to adding accounts and assets to Yodlee, it goes far beyond tracking your checking account and emergency fund. Investments, retirement accounts, real estate, rewards accounts, cell phone accounts, student loans and many others can be linked to your Yodlee account to create a truly centralized place for your finances.

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's first family of personal finance, answer your questions every Friday.

Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question.

According to the Labor Department, the June unemployment rate for those 55 and older hit 7%--the highest on record. That's bad news for seniors who are out of work or being forced to re-enter the work force to make ends meet. The Dolans have some job hunting tips for the 55+ crowd, including good news about some advantages you may have over the younger competition.

Dear Ken and Daria:

Thanks to the investment losses I've suffered, I have to come out of retirement and go back to work. Do you have some job hunting tips for seniors?

--Maureen

Job losses are still mounting! Get our Dolans.com 7 step plan for what you can do now to recession proof your job.