For some, retirement is what happens despite the planning

Retirement used to be a virtual entitlement. These days, and certainly moving forward, it must be strategized, plotted well in advance of the completion of one's working life.

Even then, there are no assurances.

Below are the stories of three families that did the due diligence that should have resulted in comfortable retirements. But the outcomes are starkly different.

Darcy and Scott Watson are years away from retirement. The 42-year-olds are raising two boys, Ronny, 8, and Luke, 6, in Mount Laurel.

"Scott has saved rigorously over the years; he's really good at it," says Darcy, who holds an MBA and previously worked at Campbell's. She no longer works outside the home, in order to care for her sons, one of whom has autistic spectrum disorder, which requires some extensive therapy.

When he was just 22, Scott started maxing out his 401(k) with savings, which were matched by his then-employer. He has done so every year since.

"It made sense to me at the time," said Scott, "even though I was making [very little in] pay."

At 32, he and Darcy married, and enjoyed two incomes. Currently, his retirement contribution comes "straight out of my paycheck at Bristol Myers, so I never even see the money," Scott said. The Watsons also rolled in his old retirement fund and Darcy's Campbell's retirement fund into a single IRA plan.

Kids changed everything.

"Before we had kids, we thought we'd retire early - in our late 50s, maybe," Scott said. The couple even went to a financial planner to determine how much they would need to save to manage early retirement.

"But we were grossly unprepared for how expensive kids are," Scott said. "We stopped counting [the expenses] because you cry if you start adding them up."

Given the uncertainties surrounding Social Security, including the rising age mandates and solvency, the Watsons aren't counting on it being a big factor in their retirement incomes.

It all adds up to a change in plans for the Watsons.

"We're not focusing on early retirement anymore," Scott said. "That's out the window. We have to tackle college between now and then."

Now, the Darcys hope to retire in their late 60s, well after their kids finish their educations.

Ted Fischer, 62, plans to retire in less than a year, after selling his financial-advisory and estate-planning practice in Lewes, Del., to his partner.