Sometimes readers send me questions that make me concerned for their future well-being. Other times, their "problems" make me envious.

This week's question falls into the latter category.

Joe sent me an e-mail to say he retired earlier than planned due to a corporate merger, but he left the company with a good pension and a solid 401(k).

See, already I'm jealous.

But back to Joe's question, which he said centers on the creation of a balanced portfolio for his individual retirement account.

"Through researching the Internet and publications, such as your advice, I have found many articles with great suggestions for retirement portfolios ranging from conservative to aggressive," Joe wrote. "In each case they have a (part) of the portfolio allocated to bonds. None of these seem, at least to me, to address those of us fortunate enough to have a pension, but rather they seem to focus on those who rely solely on their investments.

"Doesn't a pension and Social Security fill the need for bonds in an aggressive balanced portfolio for those of us who are not now tapping into our savings, but who need to have our IRA meet future needs as our purchasing power is depleted due to inflation?"

That's a long question, Joe, but it's a good one. For help with an answer, I contacted Roger Smedley and Sharla Jessop of Salt Lake-based Smedley Financial Services.

Sharla says they receive similar questions all the time from people who are wondering how aggressive they should be with their investments. In this case, Roger says, Joe's thinking is right on the money.

"He has a great idea, and we tell this to people when we sit down with them," Sharla says. "If you have fixed sources of income that are guaranteed, then you don't have to be as conservative" with your investing in retirement.

However, if your pension and Social Security fill a "very small" portion of your retirement income needs, she says, you will still need both conservative and growth investments.

Roger says they see couples who end up with two or three different guaranteed accounts, with one spouse contributing a pension and both receiving Social Security. In such cases, he says he suggests that people take a "barbell" approach to their retirement investing, with pensions and Social Security on one side and more aggressive investments on the other to provide balance.

But Sharla says "aggressive" doesn't mean "speculative."

"We're not talking about penny stocks," she says. "We're just talking about making sure you have a balanced risk."

"The key is achieving balance, and using the fixed portion as a bond portion is not a bad idea at all," Roger adds.