I save approx. 9% of my salary. I do not think I am going to make it and I agree as well as other people would agree with you. We have stagnant wages in America. As long as millions of foreign laborers flow into America, wages will be depressed and as long as companies continue to move their companies to other countries, we as the America working people will be hurting. It really is Economics 101. The prognosis for a rise in wages in America is dim indeed. We will always be under paid and have high unemployment rate within this country. If the min. wage does increase, a lot of people would be laid off. The name of the game is more for less. I seen many lay-offs through hospital and other companies are replacing working with machines. Tech is expanding. People are quick to say "get a job" or "get a higher paying job" but it isn't that simple because its a lot of workers with degrees that have been unemployed for numerous years. When you are out of work for so long, its a black mark on your employment record and it becomes hard to obtain employment. Employers are finding reason to lay people off or not hire people. Its all based on companies bottom line and the government can not control or do anything about this matter.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-tic...

I wish all you guys the best of luck within this GREEDY world.....

Ideally, you would want to be saving about 10% of your income (or more). The best way to do this is ladder your contributions to your retirement plan - the way this would work would be if you got, say a 50 cent an hour raise ($1,000/year), you would increase your contribution by say 15 cents an hour ($300/year). While it doesn't look like much, with compounding and continued increases as you get raises, you would eventually be saving 10% or more a year which will build your retirement stash nicely. Also, because you are contributing the money before or as you get a raise, you don't miss the money since your paycheck still goes up.

And you can always start other retirement plans where if you come across windfalls, you sock half the windfall away (bonus from work, money for a side job, whatever).

Throughout my career, I've put away about 15% of my salary along with what the company kicks in (that's ranged from another 5% to as much as 12%). Unless something horrible and unexpected happens, we should be able to retire OK--not rich, but with what we need and a little travel and some extras thrown in. The key was to start early and to consistently put that money away every paycheck, no matter what. Also, our mortgage will be paid off before retirement, reducing our monthly outflow.

I'm sure you can't jump from 6% to 15%, but don't be discouraged. Steve D. gave good advice: gradually increase the amount you put away over time. If you put it away through payroll deduction before you have it in your hand, you're not going to miss it.

On payday pay yourself first. Save that amount without fail in the investments of your choice be it a Roth IRA, company retirement plan etc. If you are not knowledgeable in investing, educate yourself. Estimates are you'll need over 1 million at retirement age to live comfortably as SSI @ $1200.(?) a month ain't gonna do it for your life expectancy.

Not everyone retires comfortably, some do and some dont as not everyone is equal of course. Its based on your wage and your investing throughout the years. Social security probably wont even be there as obama has now ran this country 18 Trillion in debt.

I set aside 8% and my employer kicks in an extra 5%. I don't think I would make it either if it wasn't for my wife's salary.

one more idea; try to set aside more monthly into an account designated for savings even though it isn't tax free (this means pay yourself first)

other goals are to be debt free,,, make sure your house is paid off in retirement

How much do you guys save towards retirement? I have been saving 6% of my salary for numerous years and the way things look, I would never be able to retire based on retirement calculators. How does anyone actually retire comfortable and succeed with retirement savings throughout their working career?