The Number: What Do you Need for the Rest of Your Life, and What Will It Cost?

Money-and how much of it you have saved-is usually the first thing people think of when they plan for retirement. But planners these days look beyond finances and ask instead about a client's dreams for the future. In a new book, The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life, Lee Eisenberg explores how you can shape your financial future so you will be able to achieve and afford what you value most. We offer an excerpt:Feeling at times like the angel of doomsday, I travel the country asking men and women: Are you saving enough money? Are you properly invested? Do you have a number in mind-the amount you'll need to see you through inflation, health-care costs, the inevitable surprises that will visit your next 30 years? Answers take the form of blank stares or silence, as if to say, "Please, can't we talk about something else?"