retirement budget

The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, is only as effective as the assumptions it makes -- in this case, about what you buy. If you spend more on certain things than most people, then the CPI will do a terrible job of reflecting the prices you actually pay. In particular, retirees often don't fit the CPI profile well at all.

So your 401K has been hammered and you'll have to work to the age of 100 to afford retirement? Not necessarily, according to Kathleen Peddicord, an expert on retiring to less expensive places outside the U.S. There are, she told me, spots only a few hours of plane time south of the U.S. where an...