Retirement Savings By the Book

The retirement savings story in America plays like a scratched record. Again and again we hear the same line: Most people aren't saving enough for their retirement.

The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald & Associates this week released the results of its annual Retirement Confidence Survey. And guess what?

Same tune.

A majority of workers say they are behind schedule when it comes to planning and saving for retirement. While 7 in 10 workers report that they and their spouses have put something aside, by their own accounts it won't be enough.

More than half of those surveyed report that the total value of their savings and investments, excluding their primary home, is less than $25,000.

Does this sound like you? If so, what are you going to do about it?

Worry? Ignore the problem? Hope you hit the lottery?

Well, you could read April's Color of Money Book Club selection, "The Retirement Catch-Up Guide: 54 Real-Life Lessons to Boost Your Future Resources Now!" by Ellen Hoffman (Newmarket Press, $22.95).

"When the moment of retirement planning truth arrives, keep in mind that you do still have some decisions to make and some options from which to choose," Hoffman writes. "Instead of sticking to the same path you've always followed -- keeping the same job, retiring at the age you chose 20 years ago, and resigning yourself to a low-budget retirement, don't be afraid to consider other changes."

This is the second month in a row that I've selected a retirement book to discuss. That's because retirement saving is one of the most critical financial issues facing people today.

Who knows what will happen to Social Security? And fewer and fewer employees can rely on a company pension. But as Hoffman points out in her book, it's never too late to start catching up.

What I like about Hoffman's book are the real-life examples of people who were able to play retirement catch-up even though they had slipped financially because of a low-paying job, procrastination, credit card debt, a divorce, business failure or bad investments.