What's this "Retirement" thing?

[Andy Wong]

I'd like to know what people on here are using as retirement vehicles. Be it an IRA/ Roth IRA/ 401k/ rentals/ gold/ etc.

Of course, this is for those that are even thinking of retirement at all. Sadly most Americans have that "I'll think of it later.." mentality and the other naive majority are expecting social security to last forever. (yeah right!) Just wait for that wave of baby boomers retiring in the next 20 years.

If anyone is familiar with Indexed Universal Life & Variable Universal LIfe insurance policies you know that they're great alternatives to more traditional retirement accounts such as Roth IRAs/IRAs/401k. I'm using a VUL as a retirement savings accumulation acc. & a life insurance policy. Variable simply means it's invested in securities, and it's been doing pretty good for me so far (MUCH better than what the bank's giving).

My main concern when it comes to investing for retirement is beating inflation. What's yours?