Planning for your retirement is not an easy task. There is no way to know real numbers that far in advance ? how much things are going to cost, how long you will need money or even what you are going to need money for. In the end, the best that you can do is look at your lifestyle today and then base your figures off of that.

1. Forget all about Social Security. If you aren't already retired, then the chances are that you are not going to see any of that money. Just consider it one more tax that the government takes from each of your paychecks.

2. Total up your yearly expenses today. If you want your investment to last as long as you last then you will want to have enough set aside that the interest is all that you have to use. That means your investments have to produce as much interest as your total expenses.

3. Sit down with a financial planner. Talk about your goals and then discuss different routes for reaching those goals. The earlier you start planning then the easier it will be to get to a place where you are able to set aside the amount of money you need to retire comfortably.

4. Get rid of debt. The sooner you can live a debt free life then the happier you will be. Not only does it free up money for investment, but living debt free means fewer expenses when you do retire.

Many experts say that you need to plan on at least $1 million for retirement. That means that at a safe investment of just 6% you would have $60,000 available each year. If you are planning on traveling and other leisure activities then you might want to have more set aside for those expenses.