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According to a recent MSN Money article, “If you begin saving for retirement at 25, putting away $2,000 a year for just 40 years, you’ll have around $560,000, assuming earnings grow at 8% annually. Now, let’s say you wait until you’re 35 to start saving. You put away the same $2,000 a year, but for three decades instead, and earnings grow at 8% a year. When you’re 65 you’ll wind up with around $245,000 — less than half the money.”

So it’s obvious that the key to a wealthy retirement is to start early. But I think it’s equally obvious that the number needed to retire comfortably is unique to every individual or couple, and depends upon their personal retirement goals. The number changes based on factors like marriage, children, and pre-retirement income, but as the above example demonstrates, if we start saving in our twenties, the better off we will be.

At a time when people are living longer, health care costs are rising, and traditional sources of retirement income are disappearing, Americans — even those of us in Generation Y — are heeding the call to plan wisely for their future; however, most people don’t know exactly how much they should be saving for their retirement, or how to go about achieving this number.

This is something that’d been kicking around my own mind for awhile, as I’m about to sign up for my company’s 401k plan. So I was excited when I received an email from reader Allison alerting me to a new program from ING Direct called “Your Number”.

I had seen a couple of “Your Number” commercials on TV in recent weeks but didn’t really get it. Apparently, the goal of the “Your Number” campaign is to “create awareness and help consumers better understand this essential part of retirement planning” (i.e how much they specifically need to retire comfortably). Apparently, the new site from ING leads visitors through an interactive, user-friendly experience that helps calculate their “number”. It also features a description of ING products and services, and links to financial advisors if they are interested.

For more about the “Your Number” view their TV commercial (via YouTube) below, or visit their website at ingyournumber.com

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