Okay, it's pit and the pendulum time. A big, nasty financial blade is swinging over you if fail to do some easy things to save for your golden years.
Fortunately, you needn't fall into the pit of regret. Every one of the items I note is easily surmounted. Here they are:
* Not Saving Enough. Depending upon the preferred lifestyle you want to have when you're not working, you'll need to save from 40% to 60% of your pre-retirement income to retire comfortably.
You can do this through a 401(k), 403(b), 457, Individual Retirement Account (IRA), SEP-IRA on conventional pension. Every year the government lets you save a little more: Here's how much you can save in 2015:
Retirement savers can now potentially put $18,000 to their 401(k) in 2015 (depending on company caps), up from $17,500 in 2013.
Those who are 50 or older can even save an additional $500 toward their catch-up contribution next year, allowing for up to $24,000 in annual savings.
*Spending Money on Stuff That Doesn't Matter. This category includes a lot of discretionary purchases. Of course, you need food, medical care, clothes and housing. But you can overspend on every one of these things -- and get into debt.
Let's say you spend $100 on cable every month, which is about what the average American household spends. What if you just wanted movies? Then you could get them for free at your public library or download them one at a time from Amazon.com or Netflix. Disclosure: I'm a big fan of Amazon Prime, which I am subscribing to at the moment, although I'm not happy with their treatment of Hachette authors (I'm one of them).
Let's say you save $1,200 a year from not having cable (disclosure: my household has never had cable). You find savings of $100 a month from restaurant meals and other discretionary purchases. If you earned just 5% annually on that money, you'd have nearly $90,000 at the end of 30 years, according to the bankrate.com savings calculator. That matters.
* Getting Nailed by Unnecessary Financial Fees. Every time you get nipped by a banking fee for an overdraft or late payment, it's money that you could be saving.
How much are you spending on these fees? According to FeeX.com, Americans spend something like $155,000 on useless fees over their lifetime. Just think how that money could grow in your retirement plan.
So avoid ATM fees (use in-network machines), credit card charges, termination fees and foreign transactions.
* Abusing Your 401(k) Account. It's not an ATM nor is it an emergency savings account. Any money you pull out of the fund prior to age 59 1/2 is hit with a 10-percent penalty plus income tax.
Yet many job changers and others who view a 401(k) like it's a piggy bank take money out of the account for spurious reasons. Some 44% of 20-somethings withdraw funds from their 401(k)s when they change jobs, according to Fidelity Investments.
If you don't have an emergency savings account, start one. Keep the money in a money-market account.
* Not Staying Healthy. Adopting an unhealthy lifestyle is expensive and can lead to heart/lung problems, diabetes and a whole range of other maladies.
A simple rule is to visit your supermarket and shop around the edges. The produce counter is your friend. Stay away from brand-name, sugary and high-fat processed foods in the middle of the store.
Not surprisingly, food is at the center of so many Americans' financial problems. The average American spends an average $2,625 on dining out -- each year.
We individually waste more than $500 a year on food that we buy and don't eat, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. That's $165 billion each year for the U.S. Shop carefully and save.
Of course, changing your behavior on any one of these scary items can help you save money for retirement. Just don't get spooked by old habits.
