Higher education costs money, as does retirement. Though it's a noble goal to fund Junior's college education, it shouldn't come at the expense of saving for retirement.

"Everyone wants to retire; not every kid goes to college," says Peter Donohoe, Certified Financial Planner at PRW Associates in Quincy, Mass.

"If you do have kids that go to college, there are options for kids, student loans and scholarships," he says.

Obviously, no such loans exist for retirees. Given the near extinction of defined benefit plans -- those pension plans where companies foot the retirement bill -- workers need to completely overhaul their spending and saving priorities.

"People have not been willing to make the sacrifice to save more for retirement. This is really going to hit home when we see people hitting retirement age and not being able to retire," says Carrie Coghill Kuntz, director of consumer education for FreeScore.com.