Are your retirement savings a little low? You're not alone. In fact, about one in five (21%) of Baby Boomer workers has less than $50,000 saved for retirement, according to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies 2023 survey. If you're in that low-t🍎o-no camp, here are the th꧙ings you can do to help shore up your finances for retirement.

1. Save Your Raise

If you're still working and get a raise, bonus, or some other form of extra compensation, commit to saving it for your retirement. Unless you absolutely need that extra money to live on, your retirement funds are a great place to stow it. Do this by upping the amount that is deducted from your paycheck for retirement if it's deducted on a pretax basis. Remember, even if you're retired, you can s💙till save for retirement.

2. Save Your Tax Refund

We all want to use our tax refunds as play money, but if you're behind on your retirement savings, that's not a wise idea. You can deposit the money directly into an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:i𝔍ndividual retirement account (IRA) using IRS Form 8888.

3. Save Your Inheritance

See the pattern? Any time you come into extra money, don't spend it. Instead, put it toward your retirement. It's not nearly as fun, but you'll thank yourself later.

4. Invest in Your 401(k)

If your company is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:matching your contributions, you should probably invest in your 401(k). It's f💟ree money. Your company is paying you to be involved.

"Save as much as you can in there until it hurts," says , founder and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:chief investment officer (CIO) of Bell Rock Capital in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. "Build this nest egg as fast as you can and also get🌃 a slight tax benefit since it's pretax dollars ꦚyou are contributing."

Note: A traditional 401(k) uses pretax dollars for contributions, whereas a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Roth 401(k) uses after-tax dollars for contributions. To choose between them, decide when you want your tax break: upfront (as with a traditional account) or during retirement (as with a Roth, as long as it's been at least five years෴ since you first contributed to the account).

5. Delay Social Security

If you don't need to collect Social Security when you're first eligible at age 62, then don't. If you can wait until you reach age 70, your benefits will be significantly higher. That will likely mean working longe༒🔯r, but it might be worth it.

"This will give you an automatic increase in benefit amount and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cost-of-living adjustment and avoid unnecessary taxes on Social Security while you're working and drawing the benefits," says , CFP®, EA, ChFC®, CLU®, founder and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:chief executive officer (CEO) o🦹f Paramount Investment Advisors in Buf♓ord, Georgia.

6. Re-Evaluate Your Investments

In the investing world, little things add up fast. For example, if you're invested in high-fee 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mutual funds or other investment products, consider some different choices. Fees can eat away at your savings. And hi𝓡gher fees do not equate to better performance. 

"It is crucial for every investor—especially those retirees with a modest-sized nest egg—to keep the investment costs as low as possible," says , Ph.D., founder of the 7Twelve Portfolio in Springville, Utah. "[An annual expense ratio] below 25 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:basis points (BPS)🎐 is definitely the target; 10 BPS i💛s achievable with Vanguard funds."

7. Get a Cheaper Vehicle

A vehicle is just one example, but 💮what are you spending m🎃oney on that you could cut? The lawn service? A rarely used gym membership? Expensive subscriptions?

8. Downsize Your Home

Maybe the kids are gone, but you're still living in that big house. How much could you bank for retirement if you sold your home and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:found something smaller? There are a lot of financial variables involved in this decision, so talk to a financial 🐽planner to♈ see if it's right for you.

9. Learn a New Skill

How about something like consulting work? Or maybe you're good with computers and could learn a computer language. Learning something that can earn you extra money as you age means 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:you can ℱcontinue working we💧ll into retirement.

10. Give Up Expensive Habits

For example, if you can give up smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, that could be an extra $2,300 annually for retirement. How about 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cutting out drinking? Water is a lot🐲 cheaper 🔯than alcohol, and the savings can add up fast.

11. Give Up Expensive Hobbies

How much is your golf game costing you? What about your boat? Whatever your expensive hobby, either give it up or, even better, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:find a way to monetize it. For example, becꦏoꦗme a golf instructor or start a charter service with the boat.

12. Get Aggressive With Your Budget

First, if you don't have a budget, start one.

"A budget is like a roadmap or game plan. It clearly lays out your sources of income and expenses and the difference. By having it clearly in front of you, you can see how you can adjust your income or expenses to reach the overall savings goal you desire or need," says , founder and president of Index Fund Advisors, headquartered in Irvine, California, and author of Index Funds: The 12-Step Recovery Program for Active Investors.

If you're already budgeting, it's time to get more aggressive. Cut more expenses. Maybe eat out only once per month, use more coupons, look for deals, and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网꧟:don't go on that expensive vacation thiꦓs year.

The Bottom Line

You're probably not going to make a massive change to your retirement savings unless you get an inheritance or another large-scale blessing, but little changes add up fast. Just because you're 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:low on savings doꦏesn't mea🔯n it has to stay that way. Work longer, save more, and spend less—however that looks in your life.