How Much Is Enough Money For Retirement? (Save)

Wondering how much you should be saving for retirement, or how much money is enough to have stockpiled for retirement?

The amount varies widely, depending on a number of factors. Will you have a house or apartment fully paid for by the time you retire? If so, that's one less large monthly payment to worry about.

What kind of retirement do you have in mind? Will you maintain a simple and frugal lifestyle in a very cheap area of the country like the Southwest, or will you want to "live it up" with lots of travel, a new car every few years, entertainment and shows, etc.

If your retirement is going to be quiet and simple, you obviously don't need to squirrel away as much. But if you plan to turn your retirement into a 24/7 vacation, well, that takes money.

I recommend the retirement planning calculator at CNN Money. You enter your current age, desired retirement age, life expectancy, current income, projected annual raise at work and your desired annual income in retirement... it does the math and figures out where you stand, and what you need to save still.

You can never save too early for retirement. Once you have any debts taken care of, one of the best things you can do in my opinion is to max out your tax-advantaged retirement accounts, such as your 401k plan at work and your Roth IRA. The earlier you sock away some of your earnings, the more time it will have to compound and grow.