I really enjoy the financial calculators at dinkytown.net. It's fun to put different scenarios into the retirement planner and figure out when I can retire, with what income and what amount of savings. Imagine how just a few years ago, it was a burden to figure out how you could reach your retirement goals, but now you just type numbers into boxes and see graphs. Incredible.

I don't know how accurate the calculators are, and Andrew Tobias, my favorite financial author, pointed out a shortcoming in one of the calculators in one if his articles. Still, they're at least amusing and probably encourage savings somewhat.

I don't know if I'll ever really retire, which is interesting because in using dinkytown's retirement calculator I'm always trying to figure out how I can retire earliest. It would be nice not to have to work, but I think I need work. I need the structure, the hard-edged goals, the rewards of producing something in a competitive environment.