If you're expecting Social Security to fund your retirement years, think again. Disappearing benefits and rapidly rising taxes are just a couple of the signs of impending financial disaster for many Americans-and politicians' promises are less than reliable, to say the least.

If you want to truly survive and thrive during the best years of your life, there's only one way to do it: plan ahead and take control of your financial destiny, so you can enjoy a steady, secure flow of income for the rest of your days.

It's never too soon to start, whether you're thirty, fifty, or...