With home prices and their 401(k) accounts falling, Baby Boomers can forget about retiring to the beach in Florida and playing golf all day. Instead, they're worrying about paying the bills.

The top financial concern for people 45 and older is now paying for food, shelter and other basic needs, according to a global survey by the Hartford Financial Services Group published on RedwoodAge.com, a Web site targeted to people older than 45.

About a third of the average retirement nest egg has been lost in the financial markets, according to the report. Hartford's data shows that half of Americans over 45 are worried about getting by on a daily basis in retirement, and the numbers are higher overseas, where many European countries have guaranteed pensions.

The study also found that 43% of Americans said they're concerned they won't have enough money to enjoy life, 27% said they're worried about running out of money before they die, and 16% of Americans said they may not be able to afford health care. With an average stay at a nursing home costing $80,000 per year, not having enough money in retirement is a scary thought.

While retiring to Florida or other sunbelt locations may be difficult, some Boomers are looking at retiring in Mexico, where home prices can be half as much as they are in the United States, according to a developer in Mexico. Maybe that's one way to solve the problem of paying bills -- convert them to pesos.

Aaron Crowe is an unemployed journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read about his job hunt at www.talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's First Family of Personal Finance, answer your money questions every Friday.

Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question.

The financial crisis is taking on a new victim: retirement. Planning and saving is hard enough, let alone trying to do it in the midst of a market meltdown! These are unprecedented times, folks, and your nest egg could get hit hard if you aren't careful.

We have heard from many of you wondering where to put your retirement money without the risk of losing it all. Here's our answer designed to keep you on the right savings path and protect your money in our shaky economy.

Dear Ken and Daria,

I am 20 years away from retirement and have been re-considering my portfolio allocation. What is the right mix in this economy?

-Gary

Not sure how to allocate your retirement funds? Visit Dolans.com for our complete library of 401k calculators and worksheets to determine what's best for you.

We are doing a terrible job saving for retirement. The median 401(k) plan balance is a paltry $18, 986!

While there is raging debate over how much you need to save in order to retire with dignity, everyone would agree that most Americans are falling far short of achieving this goal.

So how much do you need to save?

Ideally, you need to figure out how much your expenses will be when you retire for the rest of your life (and, if you are married, the life of your spouse or partner). This is not easy to do, given the ravages of inflation and a tax code that is subject to change.

Most financial planners simply assume that you will need a percentage of your pre-retirement salary.

Don't miss the rest of our series on 15 Ways to Ruin Your Financial Future!

One comprehensive study by Baclays Global Investors determined that 75% of pre-retirement income is a benchmark for a successful retirement. The study also found that, given the typical 401(k) plan savings rate, most Americans could count on replacing only 41% of their pre-retirement income.

You might think that the rich and famous never have to think about life the way the rest of us do, and certainly planning for retirement may seem like the least of their worries. But just because a person has a name up in lights doesn't mean that he or she is any better at figuring out the tricky transition from working at a main career to stepping away or starting a second act. And when it comes to money, sometimes those riches can evaporate fast.

Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

• Jimmy Carter
• Roger Clemens
• Jack Welch
• Dan Rather
• Magic Johnson
• Ed McMahon
• Paul Newman
• Bill Parcells
• Billie Jean King
• Bill Clinton
• Phoebe Cates
• Sumner Redstone
• Meg Tilly
• Geraldine Ferraro
• Victoria Principal

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

You might be able to get the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit if you contribute money to a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement arrangement (IRA). The catch is that you can only get the credit if your income falls below certain levels: single $26,000, head of household $39,000, married filing jointly $52,000.

The credit goes up to a maximum of $1,000, but you must not be a full-time student and must not be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return. The lower your income, the higher your credit amount.

This credit gives retirement savings a double bonus: You get to reduce your taxable income by the amount of the contribution, and you get a tax credit that reduces the amount of income taxes you pay. More information about the credit can be found here.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

If you're planning for retirement, you probably have been wise for many years in planning your portfolio to include a bevy of different investment vehicles that change over time to suit your future target retirement date. When you get there, though where exactly do you plan to retire?

Agreeing with your spouse on where to retire (and what to do then) is a tough business. After all, opposites attract and that dream of visiting a few continents could run right into that dream of creating a country life away from the city. Yes, priorities will collide -- but how do you navigate such a 'golden' time?

Most humans can't stand the company of the same people the majority of the day.What happens when you're retired and around your spouse 24 hours per day? Start early by negotiating retirement expectations from finances to living conditions to location. Don't blow your whole nest egg on something your spouse will grow tired of in a few years, but don't live like a hermit on a mountaintop either. Plan now.

Fidelity, one of the larger investment houses in the U.S., asked 500 pre-retiree couples about their expectations. Low and behold, 30% of the couples gave alarmingly different answers about expected lifestyles and even retirement ages in general. Would you like to be a fly on the wall in one of those households when both man and woman retire? Thought not.