The Mamas and the Papas once exhorted their fellow boomers to "go where you wanna go, do what you wanna do."

It's still good advice, 46 years later. Maybe your retirement dreams are heavy on affordable wish-fulfillment, like the skydiving George H.W. Bush. If it's pricier pastimes like playing golf every day, use public courses at off-peak hours. If it's traveling the world, you now have the latitude to explore during less-expensive shoulder seasons. Meanwhile, senior discounts are offered on everything from movies to subway passes.

And don't forget fun that's free. Volunteering may not pay, but neither does it cost. Bea Burridge volunteers at the Retirement Home for Horses, a sort-of rest home for elderly and abused equines in central Florida. So does her father, who's 95.

The bottom line: To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, you can't always get what you want. But if you sync financial realities and retirement dreams, you just might find you get what you need.