BOSTON -- As the economic trouble on Wall Street continues, many Bay State residents are watching to see if their retirement accounts evaporate.

NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported Monday that there are steps people can take if they need access to their money now.

Financial Planner Offers Advice For Would-Be Retirees

"If you have bills to pay, you ought not to have that money invested in the market," said Gerald Polcari, of G.W. and Wade. "It's simply too risky. That risk is being highlighted, I think, in the last several weeks."

Polcari said not to bank what could be investment dollars.

"If you have a goal to buy a new car, for instance, or a new house in the next 12 months, then my advice to you would be that money ought to stay in the bank," he said. "But if what you are saving for is a college education for a young child, you might use this as an opportunity to say, 'You know what. I am going to step forward, and I am going to buy some of these stocks.'"

"I was actually looking to do some investing, and I never got around to it. I am leaving it in cash," one investor said.

"Hanging on to it. Hoping the market comes back and I make money on anything new that goes into my environment fund," another investor said.

"Just because you are coming up to retiring, doesn't mean you are going to pull everything out of the market. With my retired clients, I try to segregate, depending on their situation, three to five years worth of living expenses set aside in regularly maturing bonds or bank accounts, CDs," Polcari said.