Your financial plan will be the road map to retirement.

Don't get overwhelmed, though. "Once you get through some of the basic variables in the beginning, it's really not that hard," Reilly says.

Some of the basic variables include the amount you currently have saved and how much money you'll need to retire.

A rule of thumb is to assume you'll need 80 percent of your current annual income in retirement. Subtract any known retirement income such as a pension or Social Security, and you have the amount you'll need per year in retirement.

According to the Social Security Administration, the normal retirement age is about 66 years. Many financial planners recommend running your financial plan to age 100, which means workers need to plan on financing about 34 years on average.

Socking away money probably won't get you to retirement by itself. That's where wise investing comes in.

Use Bankrate's return on investment calculator to find the approximate rate of return your portfolio needs for you to reach your retirement goals.

The asset allocation of your portfolio will be based on rate of return as well as your time frame and risk tolerance.