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" Has your traditional pension dwindled, or has your employer cut back on helping you add to your 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plan? If so, you&amp;#039;ll need to pick up the slack. And if you own your own business, you&amp;#039;ll need to look at your personal finance needs more closely than ever before.   Where to start  To start a retirement-savings check-up, you first should consider how long you expect to live a healthy life. While there is no foolproof way to determine your life expectancy, you should begin thinking about the age at which you&amp;#039;d like to retire. Lastly, envision your ideal retirement lifestyle.   Basic assumptions  Financial experts believe you need 80 percent of your annual pre-tax income for each year of retirement. To determine how much money you will need from other sources, first calculate 80 percent of your annual income. From that number, subtract your estimated Social Security benefits (available using this calculator). The result represents how much money you will need from pensions, IRAs and other personal savings. If you can meet your financial requirements, experts project you will be able to withdraw 4 percent of your retirement savings. Following this advice will allow your money to last 30 years.   Retirement calculator  One of the handiest personal finance tools ever created is the retirement calculator. Once you&amp;#039;ve estimated your life expectancy, Social Security benefits and likely income from a pension or retirement savings, you&amp;#039;re ready to use the AARP calculator to learn if you&amp;#039;re saving enough. This calculator will tell you how long your money might last, how much you can afford to spend each month and if you&amp;#039;re on track to retire on time.   The results  Only about 20 percent of private-sector employees are covered by traditional pensions that guarantee a monthly income for life. As a result, many workers assume that without sharply increasing their saving habits, they&amp;#039;ll have to work way beyond the conventional retirement age. Once you&amp;#039;ve finished your calculations, however, you might be pleasantly surprised at how well you&amp;#039;re doing. If you&amp;#039;re not, you&amp;#039;ll need to come up with some practical alternatives.   Options  If it looks as though you won&amp;#039;t have enough savings for a comfortable retirement, financial experts advise reworking your budget to save more money for retirement each month. They also may urge you to push back retirement so you can earn and save longer. However, some creative retirees have weathered the economic downturn by working 10 to 20 hours a week. Others decided to moonlight in a different field while still working full-time, then began a new career part-time after retirement.   Keep in mind that the path you choose must fit your individual or family circumstances. To meet your personal finance goals, take a look at your retirement-savings picture at regular intervals, and make any necessary adjustments. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/work-money/tips/a3786/personal-finance-check-up-are-you-saving-enough-for-retirement-77241/>