Worry 4: I don’t know how much to save for retirement
In an ideal world, you would be saving 15 percent of your income each year in a retirement account, says Peggy Cabaniss, a financial planner in Lafayette, Calif.: “Doing so would ensure you’d have plenty for a comfortable retirement.” In the real world, few people come close to this goal. Because each person’s financial picture is a little different and there are lots of variables to factor in, you need to run the numbers. Thanks to handy online calculators, though, you don’t need to do any of the tiresome math yourself.

Do right now:
If you have not opened a 401(k), do so now (see “I Save Too Little” ). Already have one? Great, now check to make sure you’re putting in the maximum allowed. That amount varies from company to company. If your employer doesn’t offer a 401(k), open an individual retirement account (IRA) at your bank or with a mutual-fund company. If you are self-employed or have self-employment income, consider opening a SEP-IRA. You can contribute as much as 20 percent of your self-employment income, up to $46,000 a year. And just like a 401(k), the money you’re contributing is pretax dollars.

Dig up the following documents (for both you and your spouse, if you have one) and stick them together in a folder. You will need to refer to them when you start plugging in your numbers.

• The most recent statement for your employer-provided retirement savings plan, such as a 401(k). If you can’t find it, call the toll-free number (or go to the Web site) of the investment company (such as Fidelity or Schwab) that handles the plan and ask for a copy. Most of these companies also let you view your accounts online.
  
  
• The latest statements for any other retirement accounts you may have, including IRAs, 401(k)s from previous employers, and SEP-IRAs.
  
  
• The Social Security statement that the government sends you each year. If you threw it away or never got one, request a copy here.
  
  
• Paperwork about your pension plan, if any. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, only 18 percent of nongovernment workers will receive a traditional pension, which the employer pays for in full rather than requiring the employee to kick in money. If you’re lucky enough to be one of them, you’ll want to factor those numbers in. If you’re not sure of your status, call your employer’s benefits coordinator and ask.

Next steps:
Visit a free online calculator. Try the version offered by Money magazine (which, like Real Simple, is owned by Time Inc.). After you plug in the numbers from the documents you’ve collected, enter some other facts (like your tax rate), and choose how aggressively your nest egg is invested, the calculator will tell you how much money you will need to live comfortably when you say sayonara to your salary.

The cool part is that you can play around with the numbers. What if I retire two years later? What if Social Security goes kerflooey? What if I change the way my money is invested? Then you can come up with several different game plans to choose from. For example, you may learn that if you move your 401(k) stash from mostly bonds to mostly stocks, you’ll be able to save $200 less a month starting now and still reach your retirement goal.

If calculators leave you cold, or just plain bored, consider making an appointment with a financial planner (see “I Need to Develop a Financial Plan”) for a personalized assessment of your savings situation.

Worry 5: I need a budget
If you find yourself consistently short of money or you never seem to have enough funds for a vacation, a budget can help. A budget is simply a plan for how to spend your money. It doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, the key to sticking to one is to make sure it’s both realistic and simple, says Jeffrey Pritchard, a financial planner in Beaumont, Texas, who writes the blog allfinancialmatters.com.

Do right now:
Grab a blank notebook. Write down everything you spent money on today, from the utility bill you paid by check to the bus ride you paid for with cash. Do the same thing tomorrow, and so on, for a full month. “That’s the only way you’ll know where your money is going,” says Pritchard.

Next steps:
Take stock. At the end of the month, create basic categories — like food, clothing, shelter and savings — then allocate your expenses accordingly. (If you’re computer-savvy, putting them into a simple Excel spreadsheet can make the math easy.) If you know you have certain areas of weakness, like eating out, break those out in more detail (restaurant meals, breakfast at a coffee shop, etc.).

Play with the numbers. Now that you know how much money you spend each month, you can divide it in ways that are more satisfying. For example, if you want to have more to spend on cultural events (like plays and concerts), maybe you are willing to forgo hair coloring at the salon. You should end up with a list of all your expenses and how much you would like to spend on them each month. Use this as a guideline for future spending.

Sign up for an online money-tracking program, like wesabe.com or mint.com. If you do your banking online, you simply link one of the programs to your bank and credit-card accounts and the program automatically grabs your spending activity from those sources and categorizes it for you. For example, if you put $125 worth of groceries from Whole Foods on a credit card, these sites will record that in the food category. Then you can check your actual spending against your budgeted spending whenever you want, without having to save scraps of paper and enter the information by hand. However, you do have to remember to enter cash transactions. These programs can see that you made an ATM withdrawal, but not what you spent the money on, making them best for people who use debit or credit cards more frequently than cash.

Worry 6: I need to develop a financial plan
A financial plan will help you achieve the things that are most important to you, whether that means paying for your child’s college education or creating a fund for a vacation home. It’s broader than a budget, encompassing savings, investments and even insurance. Who needs a plan? Anyone who feels anxious or confused about her financial situation.

Do right now:
Write down the names of three people you know and admire who are diligent about money — say, your father-in-law, your next-door neighbor, and a former boss. Call each of them and ask a simple question: How do you plan your finances? You’ll come away with a wealth of practical recommendations, as well as the realization that none of this is rocket science.

Next steps:
Do some reading. Try browsing around the site getrichslowly.org, a great all-around personal-finance Web site by blogger J.D. Roth, who writes entertainingly and knowledgeably about digging out of debt and investing for the future. A good basic book is “Get a Financial Life,” by Beth Kobliner. Although it’s aimed at people in their 20s and 30s, it’s a fine introduction to financial planning for people of any age.

Find a planner. If you want some hand-holding (and who doesn’t?), hire help. Look for a fee-only financial planner — the kind who charges a set price, averaging $200 to $250 an hour. Because she’s not making money from commissions on investments she sells you, you know her advice will be objective. To find an adviser, start by asking friends for recommendations. You can also go to the site run by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and click on “Find an Advisor.” Also try the Garrett Planning Network, another network of fee-only planners, and click on “Locate an Advisor.” Look for the letters CFP (certified financial planner) after the adviser’s name. That designation means the adviser had appropriate training and passed a rigorous test.

Before you make an appointment, ask the planner if she is willing to have a short initial meeting with you at no charge, so you can make sure you feel comfortable with him or her before moving forward. (The Garrett Planning Network’s site has a comprehensive list of questions to ask at the first meeting.) A planner will help you create a solid game plan that takes into account your financial needs and priorities. And because you’ve paid for the advice, you’ll be more likely to follow it. “Once you pay for something, to not follow through feels like a waste, like throwing food away,” says author Jason Zweig. That’s just one more way to trick your brain into doing the right thing.

For more solutions on solving your biggest money problems, check out the March issue of Real Simple magazine, or visit realsimple.com.

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