Spotlight: Bud Hebeler
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During the accumulation stage -- while people are working, say, from their 20s through their 50s -- how much should they be putting away toward retirement, expressed as a percentage of earnings? Is there a number that can work for everyone?

My father used to tell me to save 10 percent of my wages all the time for retirement. And so I did. I never looked at any retirement plan; we didn't have retirement planning tools in those days. We didn't have experts to advise us. We didn't read financial magazines and newspapers.

Savings myths and realities

• Percentage you must save. • Saving more if you're behind. • Achieving $50,000 income. • What about inflation? • Social Security shortcomings. • Is 4 percent withdrawal safe? • Changing the investment mix. • Pensions not enough. • When to take Social Security.

I just did what my father suggested. I always put away 10 percent. My father said if you have a year where you can't do that, put away your next raise, you won't know the difference.

A lot of people around me did the same thing. That was in the day when a lot of people got pensions. If you take pensions out of the picture, then you're going to have to save more. I think the number is closer to 15 (percent) to 20 percent -- that's from the time when you're a relatively young person, say, 30 years old or something like that.

It also depends on what kind of work you do. If you work with the government, it's not as much of a problem. You can probably save slightly less. That's because the government provides COLA (cost of living adjustment) pensions. So with the exception of the government employees, I'd say save 15 (percent) to 20 percent at the minimum.

What about those who are playing catch up?

Since people are starting from such a low base, they're going to have to save a lot more as they get older. Many people are going to have to save 50 percent of their income. They're going to have to clamp down on everything. They are going to have to resolve: We are not going to get a new car. We are not going to have cell phones for every person in the family. We are not going to buy that 52-inch plasma TV. We're just going to have to clamp down.