Her children take turns checking on her every day. Once a year, on Mother's Day, the whole clan gets together for a reunion, with more than 70 people filling the picnic tables at a local park. Philip and Blanca Luz Ross don't look like gamblers. But their retirement rides on the stock market. Stocks pay for the couples' monthlong trips abroad and for new cars, including a bright red Dodge Stealth for Blanca Ross, 70.
Stocks pay for season tickets to the ballet, symphony and theater.
The Rosses know they're taking risks. Meanwhile his wife, a former ballerina, ran the Buena Park, Calif., dancing studio that still bears her name. The company offered a 6 percent match in company stock. Ever the engineer, he eventually developed a spreadsheet that helped him project how much the couple would need to retire. After he turned 50, the couple made a big push to trim expenses and put away even more.