Will you have enough money for your retirement? This is a major concern facing many Americans, as retirement looms closer on their financial horizon. If you're facing a retirement shortfall, you're not alone. Many American households will retire on less annual income than they may need to live comfortably during their "golden years."

While many financial advisors suggest that you need 60% to 80% of your pre-retirement income during retirement, it is not uncommon to need 100% or more. The following steps can help you get a clearer view of your retirement finances, and can help you identify any needed adjustments to your savings strategy:

1. Project a retirement budget, but don't compromise your standard of living. Ask yourself key questions, such as how you would meet future medical expenses, housing costs, and, of course, travel and entertainment. This will give you a target for your budget.
   
   
2. Review your assets to see if you are satisfied with their performance. Identify your lowest performing assets by listing them in order of their average rates of return. Consider reallocating your assets to weed out the poor performers. Conservative investments such as certificates of deposit (CDs) and savings accounts * typically will not carry any risk of losing principal. However, their growth may not keep pace with inflation. Bear in mind that seeking increased returns may entail diversifying your portfolio to include a mix of stocks, bonds, and cash. In short, you will have to choose your investments according to your risk tolerance and the time you have left until retirement.
   
   
3. Consider moving to a more affordable locale that could potentially free up additional retirement capital by lowering your cost of living.
   
   
4. Remember to include all your resources on your balance sheet. Some of these untapped sources may be:
   
   Home Equity
   If you own your home free of debt, you may be able to access up to 80% of your home value by buying a reverse mortgage. If you sell your home, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows you to keep up to $250,000 capital gains tax free ($500,000 if you file a joint tax return), which you can then use to boost your retirement savings, provided you have owned and occupied the residence as a principal resident for an aggregate of at least two of the last five years before the sale.
   
   Highly-Appreciated Non-Income-Producing Assets
   With careful planning, you may be able to convert non-income-producing assets, such as stocks or real estate, into income-producing assets.
   
   Valuable Collectibles
   Specialty items, such as antiques, dolls, stamps, or a coin collection, may be converted into cash, but only if you're willing to relinquish them at some point. Evaluate what their worth will be to you in your retirement years.


5. Consider delaying your retirement. Each additional year you wait will help reduce your budget shortfall; in addition, it will give you an added chance to increase your savings.

The only way to deal with a potential retirement shortfall is to plan carefully and begin acting now. Once you've firmed up your strategy, go ahead and put it into effect. If you start now (and it's never too late), your golden years could be just as you have planned.

The amount of income you'll need in retirement will vary depending on your lifestyle, health issues, tax bracket, retirement age, and cost of living, among other things.

Often you hear that you will need 70% to 80% of your pre-retirement income, but it is not uncommon to need 100% or more.

Approximately 40 percent of the 65-and-over population will eventually need long-term care, with an average stay of 2.5 years at a cost ranging from $30,000-$65,000 annually (source: Partnership for Long Term Care, University of Maryland Center on Aging, October 2002)

What you invest in will depend on how long you have until you retire - as you near retirement, you might consider moving from aggressive, growth-focused investments into more conservative, income-producing investments.

If you move to a sunnier locale when you retire, you may have to file income tax returns in two states, as well as face unexpected local income taxes.

A great tool for significantly greater retirement contributions along with maximizing tax deductions for specific Business owners is called a 412(i) Defined Benefit Pension Plan (See 412(i) for more information).

*Note: Bank CDs and savings accounts are FDIC insured up to applicable limits and offer a fixed rate of return.