Yes, kind of. I say "kind of" because I view my retirement plan as my whole philosophy and practice with my finances. See, a few years ago, I had a bit of a financial awakening...

I checked my credit score and found out that it was.... FABULOUS. This seemed odd to me because I 1) was a graduate student with virtually no income, 2) had significant undergraduate student loans that weren't going anywhere and 3) had some credit card debt. It seemed so strange to me that I had this stellar credit score but no wealth to speak of. I was embarrassed and felt like a fraud. I started to be better about budgeting my meager monthly income. I paid off a couple thousand dollars in credit card debt and I started a small Roth IRA.

Enter Dave Ramsey. I found out about Dave Ramsey through This American Life and I started listening to his podcasts. It took me a bit of time, but after a few months of regular listening to stories of the disastrous consequences of living on borrowed money, I bought into his philosophy full-force. His basic idea? Debt is bad and the reason you can have a great credit score with no actual wealth is because the FICO score only measures how much you love debt (and how well you manage debt)--it says nothing about how financially secure you are.

I started following his steps toward getting myself completely out of debt. It was slow going (large student loan, tiny income). Since then, I met a guy who is on the same page with money and, just this year, we got married. Now, unfortunately, "my debt" is "our debt." On the bright side, "his income" is also "our income." We aren't rolling in money by any means, but we live well within our income so we can sucker punch my student loan. Once that is done (next month!) we'll be building up our emergency fund and then socking money into retirement left and right. He has the lofty goal of retiring at age 52 and that doesn't sound half bad to me either!

(Um. I love to talk about money, in case you couldn't tell....)

I put away 7% of my income into my 401k and my employer matches 3% of that. Then I put 10% of my paycheck into a high yield savings account (I use ING). My wedding is in less than two months and I can stay even though we are going small, we have seriously gone into our personal savings reserve.

ING lets you do different accounts and so I try to keep at least 3 months of survival money in my FML Fund. Then my LML fund is for things like my wedding or saving for a house down payment etc. Then I also have my Vacation fund, for trips I plan to take.

I only have like 5k in student loans and my interest rate is like 2%, which is really not worth not saving money for. Not using your companies 401k, if they match AT ALL is like giving money away

I have a little put away from a job I had in my early twenties. I haven't done anything with it since then though, so I've been thinking I need to roll it into something new. After that job I ended up with a crappy job, but I kept doing max deductions to a 401k--big mistake. I couldn't really afford my rent and I was charging groceries and I basically spiraled out of control with spending and depression for a couple years. So saving when you can't afford the necessities: stupid. But I've paid off all my cc debt (as has my husband), so it's time to start saving for the future again.

I do have a 401k at work and some invested as well. The economy always makes me skeptical about how much I'll actually have when I retire, but I like knowing it's at least *there* for now.

When I started with the company I'm at now, almost 8 years ago, starting a retirement fund was the last thing on my mind, but my employer starts one for each employee unless you opt out. I didn't opt out, and declared to invest the minimum. After a couple more years, I upped that investment and have now maxed it out. Looking back, there is a lot I could have done with that money, but I still have it now and it will always be mine. Including the investments my company made on my behalf. Pretty awesome.

I've always been a saver. I started an IRA when I got my first job at 16. I would irritate my friends by ordering only coffee when we went out - No matter how much my paycheck was, I took out $40 for gas and fun, then put the rest towards travel, car insurance and retirement.

I read long long ago that with compound interest, the earlier you start saving, the earlier you can retire (well, it was more complex than that, but memory being what it is...), and took it to heart.

Right now, I'm staying home with my daughter, so I'm not personally putting away money, now, but we're hoping that in a few years after I go back to school, my husband can take off while I work, and we want a nice long retirement with lots and lots of travel, so we're pretty careful to save a lot.

WinKitty - don't be embarrassed. Shame does you no good. If you wan to do better, there are plenty of resources that can help you!

Good job, Indeed! I started out much like you, but lost my way in my early 20s. I hope you also save for travel now? I feel a pull in both directions--to save for retirement, and to make sure I'm exploring and learning and living as much as possible now.

Today I lost a friend suddenly--the second friend under 33 to die unexpectedly this year--and I'm reminded that we're not guaranteed retirement. What is that saying? Hope for the best and plan for the worst? Saving for retirement is very important. As is using some of our earnings to enjoy our world now. xoxo

Bombshell - Travel is one of our priorities I get itchy feet if we haven't explored somewhere new in a while. So far we're managing a non-visiting-relatives trip every other year.

With my husband turning 30 this year we've done a lot of talking about life goals, long term and short term. Funny bit is, all the stuff he wanted to do by 30 (married, house, kids, good job) is accomplished, so we only have up to go from here.

I'm so sorry to hear about your recent losses. I have an internet hug for you.

I don't have a retirement fund right now, but I'm not particularly worried about it as I'm 22 & Matt's 24. Our goal is to get all of our personal debt knocked out (should be done by the end of this year, knock on wood) and then immediately start socking away savings. We're actually starting savings before the debt is quite gone, but we won't be putting a lot of stuff in it. March should be a big month for both of us, and we're planning on putting 25% of earnings towards getting rid of debt & 25% towards savings. Of course, we're going to be getting a "new" car (vintage VW bug, so that it can be fixed easily/cheaply) ASAP, since our old one is on its last legs...wheels?, and that will take a chunk out of the savings. But anyways - I don't have a retirement plan/savings now, will in the future though.

I do the same at my work. I've managed to save up quite a bit of money without even missing it. I definitely recommend taking advantage of your company's 401k plan because they often match a certain amount of what you put it. That's free money!