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Many Americans (including myself) dream of retiring early and moving to a warmer climate. Dreaming is fine but you also have to take action. Social Security will not provide enough to live comfortably in retirement. In fact, knowing how our government runs things, it is very possible that Social Security will not be around for all of your retirement and for the younger people it may not be around at all.

So how do you get into a position where you are not relying on Social Security? First you need to set up a budget and stick to it. I know many people cringe when they hear the word budget, but it is not that bad. Remember that you are in charge of the budget. You set it up, but once it is set, you must follow it.

You should pay off all of your debt including your house. You may have to make some sacrifices to do this like take your lunch to work instead of eating out, you may have to only eat out 1 evening per week and you may even have to temporarily take a second job. Look for unnecessary expenses as you set up your budget. It will be worth the sacrifice to get out of debt in order to be able to enjoy your retirement. The reason you want to get out of debt is simple, it will mean that you will need less money in retirement.

You should save money. It is easy to have money automatically taken out of your check to save and invest. You first should have an emergency fund of 3-6 months expenses in a savings account. It is important to have this money in a savings account because you need to be able to get to it quickly, remember this fund is just for what it says, an EMERGENCY. Then you want to invest in IRA's and 401k's.

You should invest in your 401k at work up to the point that the employer matches. For example, if your employer matches 1% for every 1% you put in up to 3%, then invest 3% in your 401k and your employer will put in 3%. Then invest in a ROTH IRA. ROTH IRA's are great because they grow tax free. Since the money that you invest has already been taxed, the money that you withdraw is tax free. You should invest as much as you can in a ROTH IRA. I think the limit in 2009 is $5,000 per person.

Your total investing in retirement should be at least 10% of your gross income. 15% or more should be your goal. The real key to having success is time. The sooner you start saving, the better off you will be. For those of us that didn't begin to save until we were in our late 40's or early 50's, we can only hope to save enough to cover basic necessities and hope Social Security is around long enough for us to have enough money to enjoy our retirement. For those who begin saving before age 40, they should have plenty of money to retire and pretty much live the life they want, even if there is no Social Security.

Learn more about this author, Art West.
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