With both stocks and bonds gyrating wildly again many of us are reminded of just how volatile the markets can become. This also convinces many people that they cannot risk being invested very heavily in equities as they approach retirement.

Bond yields have finally starting moving up as the Federal Reserve has begun hinting that they might reduce the amount of bonds they have been buying. The ten year treasury yield is now at 2.12%, which is nearly 0.50% higher than we saw a year ago. Of course, we have a long way to go to reach the 5% level we saw in 2007.

I spend a lot of time helping people understand how much money they will need to meet their retirement goals. Today I want to look at this another way: What will $2 million actually get you in retirement? This is an interesting question because a) Many people believe that $2 million is a comfortable amount to meet their retirement goals and b) We can look at the different ways in which a couple can use this $2 million without running out of money.

Retiring before age 60 is but a dream for many people approaching this age. Unfortunately, the average retirement age has increased over the last decade as many folks have figured out that they a) didn't save enough and/or b) couldn't use their home as a cash machine any more.

As I write this Apple's (AAPL) stock is down 42% from its peak of $705 a share. It has been a brutal nosedive for those who recently bought Apple hoping they would see some of the tremendous gains that other investors have over the past four years.