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There’s a growing concern among our aging workforce that there might not be enough money to retire.

After all, the recession hit everyone pretty hard and if you were only saving the minimum to start with, you might now be wondering if retirement is a dream that’s never going to happen.

But before you throw in the towel, consider this:

In the past, experts suggested you would need between 75 to 85 percent of your existing income to live comfortably during retirement. But that’s not necessary true.

75% of $100,000 is $75,000 for example, but if your mortgage and/or other major debts will be paid off, you wouldn’t need that much to cover your expenses. Likewise, if you’ve got kids living at home or putting some through college, you’re probably spending quite a bit more now than you will during retirement.

Yes, it’s better to have more than you need versus not enough but rather than following a generic percentage recommendation, start looking at your unique financial picture.

What do you pay now that you won’t be paying later? Based on an average return, what kind of income can you expect from your investments when you actually make the retirement leap?

You may find that the gap isn’t as big as you had previously thought.

What if you haven’t saved anything yet?

First, know that you’re not alone. A large number of working Americans in their 40s and 50s have yet to stash away any substantial amount of money. Unwise? Yes, but certainly not disastrous. If you start funneling money to retirement plans now, you can still expect to embrace your retirement without struggling to get by.

Experts suggest saving a minimum of 20% of your pre-tax income starting at the age of 50 to ensure you have enough to live comfortably during your retirement.

We all know the importance of starting a savings plan for retirement early – after all, this is the only way to accumulate that million dollars the experts tell us we’ll need to live comfortably.

Unfortunately, reality doesn’t always make that possible and many of us end up in our 40s and 50s with very little saved, stressed about the retirement that’s looming in our near future.

So, can you still retire comfortably without having the coveted million dollars in savings?

Yes… yes you can. While a million bucks would certainly make things easier, it’s not mandatory for a carefree retirement. In fact, you can enjoy a wonderful retirement with much, much less.

To start, do your math and figure out how much money you would need each year in order to live. Factor in future changes such as paying off a mortgage or dependents moving away from home. Then estimate how much money you expect to have coming in, including both Social Security and any pension or retirement plans you might have.

With these two numbers, you can start focusing on how to fill the gap.

The best way to do this is with savings and investments, such as an employer-sponsored 401k or an IRA account. But while you’re socking money away in savings, also remember that you don’t have to stop working when you retire.

Maybe this is when you’ll finally launch that small business you’ve always dreamed about or work part-time as a florist or at a day-care center. This is an opportunity for you to actually choose something you’red really want to do instead of choosing a career because it pays all your bills.

For most people, figuring out how to close the financial gap opens up a whole new range of possibilities and if you let your imagination run with those possibilities, you might find that you’re a little excited about the idea of retiring after all.

Planning for retirement is one of the most important things you will do during your lifetime, and any mistakes you make today can be extremely costly later. In fact, according to experts, of those people that do have retirement plans, about 90% will still live in poverty or run out of money before they die.

You Need a Goal – Having an IRA and/or 401k in place is not enough. You need to know how much money retirement will cost you so that you can start planning and working toward that goal. Unfortunately, most people never calculate this important number and don’t know there’s a problem until it’s too late.

Not Saving Enough Money – Simply socking away 2 or 3% in your 401k isn’t going to cut it. Recent surveys revealed that about 75% of people between the ages of 55 and 64 had less than $56,000 saved for retirement. To keep from making this mistake, you will need to start saving for retirement, and do so aggressively. Put as much money as possible away now so that you’re not scrimping for cash later.

Not Saving While Still Young – While planning for retirement might not seem a like a big deal when you’re in your 20s and 30s, the truth is, time flies. Before you know it, you’re pushing 50, retirement is just around the corner and you’re just starting to think about saving. If you haven’t already started a retirement plan, do it now.

Never Rely on Social Security or a Pension – Company pension plans are a risky thing to rely on as many are underfunded and the majority of companies are moving towards dropping pension plans altogether. Social Security doesn’t offer much more security, and even if it did, the benefit amount that you receive is likely just a fraction of what you’ll need to live.

Not Investing – One of the best things you could do as far as a retirement plan is to add some investments beyond your 401k. If you get some extra money, why not put it in some type of investment, such as annuities or CDs. Of course before you invest, you should retain the services of a professional financial consultant to help you choose the investments that are right for you.