Plan Your Retirement in 60 Seconds

Retirement. It's the Shangri-la we all have to look forward to at the end of our working lives.

With more than one-fifth of U.S. retirees depending on Social Security for virtually all of their income, for many, it's a poorly funded Shangri-la.

While there's no optimum amount to save for retirement, saving a little more over the course of your working life can mean the difference between retiring on dinners of lobsters or ramen noodles.

Say you're 35 and earn $60,000 a year. You intend to work for the next 30 years. How much difference would it make if you saved an extra 5% of your pay if your return is 8% a year? ...