Your retirement can truly bring you golden years, but when you lack adequate resources, or have been forced to retire before you were ready, your retirement income may not be able to give you the life you had hoped for, especially in turbulent times.

Just go to any mall in America, and notice how many senior citizens have taken part-time jobs in the stores. Some do it because they are bored. They liked the work they did, and missed the challenges and social networks of friends they had at work.

Some people find that volunteering their time at non-profit organizations such as hospitals, soup kitchens, or other agencies allows them to do good deeds and feel valued. A neighbor of mine, who retired because his wife was worried about his health, now is a volunteer for youth groups. His health has improved, and he does not enjoy sitting around the house watching television.

Other seniors are working because they must, because Social Security and whatever other income they have, does not provide enough money for them to support their lifestyle. Most of the working elderly are in this category.

If you want to spend your senior years traveling, or visiting with family or friends, or doing volunteer work, instead of working for pay, you really have to plan for how much income you will need.

Our life span is increasing, so you have to think about how long you will live, in order to properly develop a realistic future time horizon budget. You need to live within your means on an income yielded from your savings, IRA and other pension plans, social security and other assets.

Financial stability is needed to meet your living standard goals in retirement. You need sufficient cash flow for your expected level of costs. It is wise to recalculate your assets annually, and add 5 percent to all your expenses, as a hedge against possible inflation. When you figure out those costs, they will help you to see how long your retirement assets will last, at that level of spending.

Even though I am retired, I do this each year, especially because income levels are down for most retirees, who augment Social Security with bank deposit interest, and stock dividends, both of which are low, compared to their levels three years ago.

Seniors need to figure that they can withdraw up to five percent of the value of their assets (not counting their home) each year. In that way, you can see if the income you draw, added to social security, is enough for you to live on, and will last for your expected lifetime.

As a rule of thumb, most retirees are likely to need about 75 percent of their pre-retirement income, in order to sustain their accustomed standard of living. If you find that you can’t make the numbers add up to what you will need, you may want to hold off retirement for a few extra years, to build more Social Security income or pension benefits. If you are already retired and need more income, consider part-time employment, if you are healthy enough to work.

If your job gets eliminated, causing premature retirement, explore a number of options. First, you may have to use some of your savings for emergency expenses, especially if you want to work, but cannot find employment.

Second, plan a yearly budget, as it is a road map on what your income and expenses will be. If your expenses will exceed your income, you will need a map of what you expenses you can cut, or how you can supplement your income, in order to balance your own household budget.

While getting a part-time job can help, many retired persons can also work as independent contractors, selling skills or services for which they have a knack, to people willing to pay for some extra help. Consider doing carpentry, pet sitting, or gardening, for example.

Several of my friends and relatives have been supplementing their retirement incomes as home phone solicitors, on a commission basis. A relative with severe lung and breathing problems, who could not work outside his home, sold products for a non-profit veteran’s group, from his home. He earned some income, and felt good about what he was doing.

For retirees who want to start their own businesses, the Small Business Administration has a micro-business loan program for loans of up to $35,000.

Meeting you income needs in retirement is not always easy, but retirement can give you the time to explore a new world of opportunities.

— Bernard Featherman is a business columnist and past president of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached by e-mail: bernard@featherman.com.