For most of us, retirement seems like a long way off

Whether it’s 10 or 40 years away for you, you need to start saving for it – now. The earlier you start saving, the less painful it will be for you, since starting early means you can enjoy more cash with much smaller monthly contributions. Even if you’ve waited a while, you can still make your retirement plans a reality. Here’s how:

1) Create an aggressive war plan for your debts. Whether you have rolled over payday loans, credit card debts, or personal loans, debts delay retirement (you need to keep working to pay those things off) and rob you of cash you could be putting towards retirement.

2) Talk to a financial professional about your goals. Even your bank can offer free services from a qualified professional who can help you determine how much you need to have at retirement to live at your level of comfort and can help you determine how much you need to set aside each month to retire on schedule.

3) Make savings automatic. Have your employer or bank automatically deduct your retirement contribution from your paycheck so that you don’t have the chance to spend it or miss it. Automatic contributions also mean one less thing you have to budget for.