For many of us, getting started on a financial plan can be the hardest part. Start by writing down three financial goals you want to accomplish. Goal setting and goal attainment tend to go hand in hand. Setting your own goals, and setting a timeline for these goals, also helps put you in the financial driver's seat. Prioritize your goals and set timelines for when you want them to be accomplished. Some of your goals will have hard deadlines like paying for a child's first year of college while others are more flexible, like a home renovation project. For longer-term goals, including funding your retirement, be sure to set interim goals along the way to keep yourself on track. Create separate savings or investment accounts for each of your major goals, and then choose saving and investment options suited to meeting each of your goals based on your time frame and your tolerance for risk.

Planning for retirement is not a one-size-fits-all model. While savings, health, cost of living, and lifestyle expectations are major factors, research shows that gender can play a large role in retirement planning and that women may have additional challenges that should be considered. On average, women will live longer than men, spend more years in retirement as single, spend more money on healthcare, have lower earnings and savings, play a larger caregiving role that may lead to more part-time work, have more work gaps in their careers, and have a greater reliance on Social Security upon retirement.