I know it sounds silly when there has been pressure on your net as of late. But you need to save to retire. Of course, before you save, you need to pay down all unsecured loans that have a higher interest rate than what you earn on your savings. Then you need to buy insurance, then you need to fund all the government sponsored savings accounts. Then you might consider a 529 plan simultaneously in trying to build a cash account of three months and another three months of income that can easily be borrowed. Now you are ready to start saving for a real estate purchase at the bottom of the market. The easiest way for me to save is to have a percentage of income to be sent to a money market fund before I have a chance to touch it. You can go to fidelity.com and start now.