It hasn't been easy to sock away enough money to get this far.

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With good reason, of course: The more Americans fear poverty and sock away wealth, the more money they pay to Wall Street.

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The best plans typically let rank-and-file employees sock away 6% of their pay and provide a 3% company match, for a total of 9%.

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Some people, such as myself, love the health-shopping aspect to it, where you can sock away extra money for future years by chiseling your providers.

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Now that more people are reaching retirement age with accounts upended by the Great Recession, an expedient solution is to sell the vacation home and sock away the cash.

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More than a fourth of the founders of the Forbes 200 Best Small Companies sock away stock in trusts or family partnerships and limited liability companies designed to benefit their heirs.

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HSAs come with a unique triple tax benefit: you sock away money pretax, it grows tax free, and when you take money out to pay for medical expenses, it comes out tax free.

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Consider establishing a one-person 401(k) for 2004--it's too late to open one for 2003, but depending on your age and income, a 401(k) may allow you to sock away more pretax dollars in 2004.

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But unless your employer offers no match at all, financial planners strongly recommend that you sock away savings at least up the maximum level that your employer is willing to match--otherwise you'll end up leaving "free money" on the table.

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For early boomers with exposure to the downturn (that is having two of these assets: housing equity, a 401(k) plan or an Individual Retirement Account), they need to sock away a median 7% more of their compensation each year, including raises, until they reach 65, says Jack VanDerhei, research director of the Employee Benefits Research Institute in Washington, D.

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With a simple lifestyle, low-six-figure income and no kids to support, Peter and Kelly von York can sock savings away for retirement.

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And so I would try to just get through ball of sock to try to even them out or I would just stay away from the crowd.

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