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How $10 could save your retirement

When money is tight, it's tempting to put off any thought of saving. But don't give in. Even the change in your couch cushions can make a difference.

The economy is in turmoil. You may have noticed.

Your house is worth less, your job is less secure, credit is harder to come by, and filling the gas tank consumes virtually a whole day's pay. Many Americans are experiencing their worst financial pinch in decades.

Thinking about the future seems almost pointless.

There is a solution, though. [Keep reading to find out ..]

Don't listen to your budget howl about how tight money is and how you need every dime for today. Now, more than ever, it's vital to build a cushion for tomorrow.

It's not a pipe dream. It's essential. As difficult as it might be now to make ends meet, it would be far worse when you're old and gray and don't have bus fare, let alone money to fix the car.

The good news (and isn't my column always good news?): Ten bucks will do it.

Unbelievably depressing data

First, let's contemplate the scary data from the 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey (.pdf file) by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a nonprofit organization that tracks 20 million participants (i.e., real people) in 54,000 401(k) plans:

    * Nearly half of all workers 25 and older have less than $50,000 saved for retirement (excluding their homes and any pensions).

    * 22% of workers and 28% of retirees say they have nothing saved.

    * The top financial obstacles people listed were, in order: the rising cost of living, health insurance or medical expenses, mortgage payments, debt, and fuel and energy costs.

Cost of living versus cost of not saving

Those would be the reasons my husband and I have a hard time saving, too. (Except I'd change making mortgage payments to "paying for my rapidly growing 19-month-old food- and clothing-consumption machine.")

Our heating bills last winter were close to $2,500. It now costs more than $50 to fill up the car, and, honestly, I can't even add up the gas or grocery receipts each month because it's so depressing.

I did it in February. Not including gas, we spent about $600 on food and miscellaneous household expenses, about $150 to $200 more than we did last spring.