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This article first appeared at U.S. News and World Report Money.

It鈥檚 pretty well established that if you start saving about 10% of your income for retirement starting at age 25 or so, you鈥檙e going to be in excellent shape for retirement when you hit age 65. This fact should be emblazoned on every single college and trade school diploma issued in the United States today: start saving for retirement now, not later.

Unfortunately, that fact doesn鈥檛 fit with most of us. Quite a few of us didn鈥檛 save at all during our twenties鈥� and some of us didn鈥檛 save during our thirties, either. I hear from readers all their time in their late thirties or early forties (or even later鈥�) who are just now realizing that they need to start saving for retirement or they鈥檙e going to work forever.

If this describes you, the obvious answer is to聽start saving immediately. Right now. If you鈥檙e reading this article and you鈥檙e a professional adult without any retirement plan in place, you need to start a retirement plan.聽

If your employer offers a 401(k) program with matching, run (don鈥檛 walk) to the HR office and sign up for that plan. Contribute enough to get every dime of that matching money because it鈥檚 essentially free retirement savings for you. If your employer doesn鈥檛 offer matching in their 401(k) program, look into聽. I recommend contributing 10% of your income to that IRA, for starters.

So, you鈥檙e saving. Now what?聽The first thing to think about is time.聽If you鈥檙e only contributing 10% of your income per year to a typical retirement fund, it鈥檚 going to take about 40 years of saving before you can safely retire. Like it or not, that鈥檚 the reality of it.

If you鈥檙e 30 when you start, that means you鈥檙e looking at retiring when you鈥檙e 70. If you鈥檙e 40 when you start, that means you鈥檙e looking at retiring when you鈥檙e 80.

Another problem is that simply doubling the contribution doesn鈥檛 mean that you can halve the time. You can鈥檛 expect to contribute 20% for 20 years and match what you would get out of 10% over 40 years. That would only work if you were getting no return on your money 鈥� if your retirement plan involves stuffing cash into a mattress, in other words.

No doubt about it 鈥� saving for retirement once you鈥檙e behind the curve looks quite scary. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to help improve your situation.

贵颈谤蝉迟,听get a Social Security estimate.聽The average American earns 40% of their retirement income from Social Security benefits, so knowing what you have coming to you can go a long way toward soothing retirement fears. The Social Security Administration offers聽聽to help you figure out how much you鈥檙e going to receive in benefits. I strongly encourage you to plan on waiting until you鈥檙e as old as possible to start collecting benefits so you can maximize the income.

厂别肠辞苍诲,听look for ways to boost your income.聽Many mid-career folks have many opportunities for freelance work and side businesses that can supplement their current income. Instead of simply spending that money, however, channel all of it into retirement savings (or into a mix of retirement savings and debt repayment). If you鈥檙e unsure where to start, I suggest visiting your local library for information on side businesses and freelance opportunities related to your career path.

罢丑颈谤诲,听if you wish to retire earlier than forty years from now, you鈥檙e going to have to save more.That means a higher percentage of your income. A good quick rule to use is that for every ten years you want to shave off of your goal, you need to double how much you鈥檙e saving. If you want to make it in thirty years, shoot for 20% per year. Twenty years? You should be saving 40% of your income per year. You need that boost to make up for the time you lost.

Finally 鈥� and this is the tough part 鈥撀�you may have to consider some lifestyle cutbacks. If you鈥檙e living a lifestyle that makes saving for retirement inconceivable, then you鈥檙e simply living beyond your means. You also can鈥檛 assume that 鈥測our ship will come in鈥� someday and everything will be okay. Everyone has expenses that they can cut from their life.

It鈥檚 a challenging road 鈥� but it鈥檚 not an impossible one.

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