Tags: financial planning

Once the kids are gone and careers are peaking, many couples in their 50s start indulging themselves. That's when financial advisors should get tough, says retirement expert Alicia Munnell.

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Munnell runs the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. She's watched with dismay as the Baby boomers got pounded by bad market conditions and Social Security fears.

To at least give the Boomers -- who are closer to retirement and so most at risk -- a better shot, she urges advisors to tell their 50-something clients to save more, spend less, and work longer when they can.

The goal here isn't really about the dollar amount that emerges, but simply shaking these clients out of paralysis is the first step, Munnell told participants in the recent FPA conference in San Diego.

The sad thing, of course, is that many of the most at-risk Boomers out there have never seen a financial planner and so have no real idea of their constraints or what they can do to improve their golden years.