Although more than 80% of workers eligible to participate in a 401(k) plan do so, few have taken the time to figure out how much they will need for retirement.

Taking the time to figure out how much you will need after your paycheck stops could mean the difference between a comfortable retirement or working a lot longer than you had planned.

Once you go through the process to figure out how much money you will need in retirement, then you can figure out how much of your salary you should be deferring in a retirement plan and how you should be investing that money to reach your goal.