The fear is evident all around us: People are afraid of not having enough at retirement – both having enough to retire and having enough to last throughout their retirement years. News article titles such as “Retirement: Playing a Frantic Game of Catch Up”, “Do You Ever Worry About Ending Up Old and Poor?”, and “Don't let Debts Grow Old With You” point to the gravity of the situation for workers and retirees alike.

So, what can you do to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of not having enough at retirement? Here are some tips that can help you today and tomorrow:

1. Feelings vs. Reality: The news can make any situation seem bleak. And, you can feel like you're behind at any age. So before letting panic overtake you, it’s important to determine what is true about your situation. Start with these steps:
   1. Collect your investment and retirement account statements to see how much you have saved.
   2. Do a retirement analysis to see how much you will need in retirement. Look at when you plan to retire and analyze the effect if you delay retirement for 2, 5, 7, or 10 years.
2. Get Your Priorities Right: Which is more important, to pay off debt, save for retirement, or save for your kid’s college? Here's a general outline of how to determine where you should put your dollars:
   1. Retirement Trumps College – Saving so you have enough to live in retirement is more important than saving for college. Education can be paid for with loans and scholarships, retirement can’t. Take care of what you will need in retirement first and don’t think you’re being selfish. Your kids will thank you!
   2. Retirement Savings Need Time to Grow – The biggest tool you have is the power of compound interest on your contributions, so save as much as you can and start as soon as you can. This may mean lifestyle adjustments today so you can have a decent lifestyle tomorrow.
3. Use the Available Tools: Make sure you are using all the tools so you can increase your retirement savings as quickly as possible:
   1. Make sure you’re contributing enough into your employer-sponsored retirement plan to get the full match. It’s free money that increases your contribution by up to 100%.
   2. Take advantage of the Catch-Up Contribution if you're over 50. It’s an easy way to leapfrog your savings and give your contributions more time to grow before you retire.
   3. Put the 2011 2% reduction in Social Security withholdings into your retirement account. You’ll get the benefit of increased savings and probably won’t miss it next year when the reduction expires.
   4. Remember to pay yourself! Take half of any raise you get and put it into your retirement plan.
4. Find Your Vision: What do you want out of retirement? If you’re married, use this Retirement Checklist to guide your conversation. Knowing your goals will help you make the hard financial decisions today and keep you motivated and committed to getting there! Use these questions to get started:
   1. Where do you want to live? Will you need a big home? Can you downsize?
   2. What do you want your lifestyle to look like in retirement? Will you travel?
   3. What will being in relationship with your kids look like? Where are they geographically? How often do you want to see them and what will that cost?

A successful retirement really isn’t that different from a successful marriage, career, etc. To have enough funds in retirement, you have to dream and plan, invest your time and money, remain committed and engaged, be flexible enough to accommodate the curves life throws at you, and have enough perspective to still enjoy life each day.

• If you’re not on track, decide today to make it a priority and get started. Visit the Envoy website for help and tools
• If you’ve been half-hearted about it, get engaged and pay attention. Start here.
• If you’re well on your way, congratulations! Go encourage someone else to do the same!