In The New Retirement: The Ultimate Guide to the Rest of Your Life, Jan Cullinane and Cathy Fitzgerald tackle the basic questions of what to do during your retirement and where to spend it. Their book is chockfull of worksheets and checklists to help you determine whether you're ready to retire, whether to relocate and even whether you have the right skills to make a success of that long-dreamed-of bed and breakfast.

The authors, former teachers, advise readers not to turn off their work ethic after they earn those gold watches. They say surveys of baby boomers nearing retirement age show 80 percent plan to keep working, at least part time. For retirees with enough income, they encourage volunteering.

The book proves especially thorough in helping you decide where to spend you retirement. Cullinane and Fitzgerald give a report card to each community they recommend, grading them on climate, cost of living, health care, transportation and things to do. As you might expect, Florida's coastal communities rank among their favorites but so do Reno, Nevada (perhaps you'll find a new career at it's professional bartending school!) and Asheville, North Carolina.