I haven't started just yet. I cant afford to right now because I'm part of the working poor. I'm what you call lower middle class, after taxes i only have enough to pay bills put food on the table and have just enough gas money to last me to next pay period. I can understand why people don't put into it. Don't get me wrong i would like to but right now i cant I'm pretty sure there's more people out there in the same boat A WHOLE LOT..

I think about it quite a bit now that I am getting close to retirement. I have a few small investments but I am going to rely on my military retirement as my cushion. I am still young enough to have a second career, but I don't want as much stress in my next job. My military retirement will provide some security so that I can be picky about what I do next. In hindsight I wish I had invested more when I was younger because I might be in the position of not having to work at all. Not really interested in living at subsistence level - still want to travel the world and buy a convertible!

I have friends who also say they can't afford to invest but they seem to be able to buy new cars every 4 years and take vacations twice a year. Maybe they want to work until they drop - I don't!

That depends on how you define retirement. If you are referring to retiring from a J-O-B (just over broke), then you should at least be saving 10% of your monthly income if you are in your 20's. At the same time, I don't believe that you should ever retire if you are passionate about what you do. For example if you love to sing, and you make singing your job, then you should sing until you die. I think most people are stuck in the old industrial business model. We need to learn how to have at least 3 streams of income flowing in our life at all times. One can be a J-O-B, but the others need to center around investments and our passion. Then we would not have to worry about saving enough for retirement. I don't want to retire poor and on a fixed income. I want to retire rich, healthy, and loving to work at my passion.

Roth IRA is best for most people, even if you start late in life it still helps. I don't have enough retirement money yet but I have one of those kind of jobs that you can continue working as long as you are healthy. So I can be 80 and healthy and still be working.

I think about it all the time. I'm not maxing out 401K (TSP) yet, but working my way towards it. And I also have a Roth IRA. Everyone should do at least what their employer matches in their 401(K) and also put money in a ROTH. Having a tax free source of income at retirement is huge. Then you can draw a minimal amount from 401K and some amounts from the Roth. By doing this you remain in a lower tax bracket.

Too many people don't start worrying about retirement until it's too late. I am a former financial planner and I would sit down with people in their mid 50s that wanted to retire but had nothing saved. They thought that because their parents (who had pensions) were ok and never saved anything they would be too. It's sad. Everyone needs to do their part to inform everyone of the need to save for retirment. And anyone under 40 better assume social security won't be there.

And anyone who says they can't afford it THERE IS NO EXCUSE!! If you have a job you can afford it. I never met any working American that after analyzing their monthly income and budget that couldn't put away $100 a month. The longer you wait to start saving for your retirment the harder it will be. The person who said they can't afford to save be forewarned. You're heading towards that mid 50s person I described above...

I'm going to pay for it later, but no I am not saving near enough for retirement. Not near enough. Sad but true.

I'm with you. When I discuss personal finances with my co-workers (who incidentally work for a financial services company) I am shocked how many of them do not contribute to our 401(k) plan. On the first 6% the company matches 50% so if someone earns $50,000 they can forego receiving $3,000 and have $4,500 deposited into their account. Yet many of them pass on that immediate 50% return on their investment.

But instead they do things like lease a new car every 3 years or going out to trendy restaurants every night.

I've been working 25 years and have a net worth equal to over 15 years of my average salary over my career (i.e. of all the money I've earned from working I still have 60% of it). My earnings on my investments is 60% to 70% of my currently salary. Mostly that's due to having invested a large percent of my income from the moment I began working. In the next 5 to 10 years the earnings on my invetsments, even if invested in a fixed fund, will exceed my salary.

I think what a lot of people don't get is even if you like your job today ...

+ you might not like your job tomorrow

+ your job might not be available tomorrow

+ you might not be able to do your job tomorrow

i'm on my way

i'm doing about all i can right now. i think i'm in pretty good shape and won't have to work forever.