I know, I know, it’s a long, long way off: “I’m young, I have plenty of time.” -or- “OMG, I’m 55 years old and the only savings I have are in the coffee can on the bureau”.

I’m Detective Frank Money and my answer to that kind of reasoning is, excuse my French, baloney! The time to start your retirement is NOW – whatever your age! Believe or not, it’s the most expensive purchase you’ll ever make.

Have you seen how much everything cost today? Houses and condos starting at 350K and up; the average car is moving above 30K; and we’re all familiar with the cost of higher education. Don’t count on these prices coming down any time soon.

So it’s your responsibility to understand and execute investing, tax saving, company matching and automatic deposits from your paycheck.

Take immediate steps to make retirement savings something that is automated, so you don’t even think about it. If you work for a company that matches your retirement contributions, that’s like free cash!

If you don’t want to take my word for it, start practicing saying: “Do you want fries with that?” when you’re 65!