Answer: You don’t need your employer to help you save for retirement, fortunately. Since you’re over 50, you can contribute $6,000 to an IRA or Roth IRA annually. You can open an account at virtually any bank, brokerage or credit union. Look for one that doesn’t charge you account service fees and that has a broad array of low-cost investment options. Vanguard, for example, waives its service fees for IRA investors who sign up for electronic statements.

If you’re able to save more, you can do so in a regular, taxable brokerage account. You won’t get a tax break for your contributions, as you would with a traditional IRA, but you can qualify for low capital gains tax rates if you hold your investments for at least a year.

Your Social Security benefits will be based on your 35 highest-earning years. The Social Security website (http://www.ssa.gov) has a benefits calculator that enables you to see your estimated future benefit based on your work record so far, and that enables you to create different scenarios — such as a lower salary going forward, or different retirement ages — to gauge their effect on your future checks.

Answer: The most important thing you need to know about investing is that there is no such thing as a truly risk-free investment.

You won’t lose your principal if you invest in “safe” investments, such as Treasuries and FDIC-insured bank accounts. But you won’t earn enough to keep ahead of inflation. Basically, you’ll never be able to save enough to retire, since the purchasing power of your funds will erode over time rather than grow.

To stay ahead of inflation, you need to take more risk. Stocks over time have consistently offered returns that beat inflation. In every 30-year period starting in 1928, stocks have returned average annual returns of at least 8%. But they certainly don’t gain that much every year, and some years you’ll face steep losses. When you invest in stocks, you have to be prepared for volatility. In other words, sometimes your investments will lose money.

You can reduce that volatility somewhat by diversifying your stock investments (some small companies, some large; some U.S. companies, some foreign) and by including a diversified mix of bonds in your portfolio, along with cash.

A fee-only financial planner can help you design an investment plan that makes sense for your situation. Or you can consider opting for the “lifestyle” or “target date retirement” funds offered by your plan, since they do the diversification and rebalancing for you.

Answer: You’re right. The math typically favors delaying Social Security payments for as long as you can. Your benefit gets bigger for every year you delay until age 70. Also, your benefits are sharply reduced if you continue to work after taking early Social Security checks.

But this is yet another area where there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Some people may opt to apply for benefits early, perhaps because their life expectancies are short, they want to let their investments continue to grow tax-deferred or they simply want (or need) the money. Others may delay for as long as possible to maximize their payouts.

You can’t know for sure in advance which is the right approach, since there are so many variables involved — including how long you’ll live and how long you’ll enjoy good health.

As you approach retirement, you should make an appointment with a fee-only financial planner to review every aspect of your retirement plans, including this particular issue. Another good resource is the awkwardly titled “Personal Finance for Seniors for Dummies” by Eric Tyson and Robert C. Carlson, who spend a fair amount of ink on the “when to retire” conundrum.

Answer: If you’re prone to panic, you should turn off the television pundits who like to scare people, which seems to be most of them.

What you need are perspective and balance. If you’re within 10 years of retirement, you should invest in a session with a fee-only financial planner to make sure your portfolio is appropriately diversified. Taking too little risk can be as dangerous as taking too much when you have a 20-year (or longer) retirement horizon.

Over time, the stock market does march upward, although it’s never a smooth path.

Answer: Refinancing to a 30-year loan can certainly make sense for people who want to lock in the lowest payment and maintain their financial flexibility in the face of possible financial setbacks. You’re also right that this couple seems disciplined enough to make the extra payments to get the loan retired before they do.

However, you missed a key factor: This well-disciplined couple had a mortgage with an interest rate of 5.875%. That indicates they’ve had this mortgage for a while. If they’ve paid down enough of the principal balance, they may be able to refinance to a 15-year loan with a significantly lower interest rate (as in slightly over 3%) without dramatically raising their payments. Many people, when faced with that option, would want to lock in the lower rate.

Answer: You don’t say how much is in your husband’s 401(k), but a 6% contribution rate when you’re in your late 40s is unlikely to generate a big-enough nest egg to retire. Boosting that contribution rate should be your priority, and you should consider contributing to a Roth IRA for each of you.

Likewise, saving anything for your child’s college education is smart, but $100 a month won’t get you far. Just for comparison, consider that parents of newborns need to save around $600 a month to pay the full cost of a public college. Those who start later or want to cover a private college have to contribute much more.

Most families aren’t able to save that much, so the next best thing is to simply save what you can — after you’re fully on track with your retirement savings.

You shouldn’t prioritize paying down your relatively low-rate debts over these two far more important goals. But you may want to consider refinancing your mortgage to dramatically lower your rate and perhaps free up more cash for your goals. Just try to make sure the loan will be paid off by the time you plan to retire. A 15-year loan, in other words, might make more sense than refinancing into another 30-year mortgage.

Answer: You’ve been lucky the past two years, but your luck may soon run out.

Favorable market conditions allowed your 401(k) to make up for your withdrawals, but there’s no guarantee that will continue. Bad markets dramatically increase the chances a retiree will run out of money, since withdrawals are being made from a shrinking account. The money taken out isn’t there to benefit from the inevitable rebound.

That doesn’t necessarily mean your withdrawals, or your travel, has to stop. But you need to have a better handle on how much you can withdraw each year without running a big risk of running out of money. You can get a rough idea by using mutual fund company T. Rowe Price’s retirement income calculator at www.troweprice.com/ric. For the best results, however, you should hire a fee-only financial planner to review your situation and make suggestions about how to make your money last.

Answer: You can enjoy life and still refrain from doing stupid things that will jeopardize your retirement.

And tapping retirement funds early is typically pretty stupid. You’re giving up all the future tax-deferred returns that money could have earned. By the time you’re 60, that $38,000 could have grown to nearly $450,000.

You also may be underestimating the tax bite. You can withdraw up to $10,000 from an individual retirement account for a first-time home purchase, but the remainder of the withdrawal will be penalized at a 10% federal rate, plus whatever penalty your state assesses. The entire withdrawal will be taxed at your current income tax rates.

The taxes and penalties are substantial for a reason: You’re supposed to leave this money alone. Since you probably won’t be able to contribute to a retirement account for a while, it’s even more important not to squander these funds.

Besides, the extra $30,000 would lower your monthly payment by about $160 on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5%. That doesn’t seem like much of a payoff considering what you’d be giving up.

Answer: Moving to a less costly part of the country is a time-honored way to make your money stretch further in retirement. It also can help you save more for retirement if you dramatically lower your living expenses.

What you don’t want to do, though, is incur all the expenses of moving and buying a new home only to discover you hate where you’re living. Do substantial research and visit your targeted communities at different times of year before you commit.

Also, tying up 60% of your portfolio in a single, illiquid asset such as a home is risky. You may well be better off moving to a cheaper area and continuing to rent until you’ve built up a bigger nest egg.

Answer: The short answer is no. If you work, you typically have to pay into the Medicare and Social Security systems. Console yourself with the fact that you’re at least receiving the benefits for which you paid earlier. Younger workers typically pay in much more each month with no assurance they’ll get the full benefits they’ve been promised. As currently structured, Social Security will be able to pay just 75% of promised benefits after 2036, and Medicare is scheduled to run into the red several years earlier.