Retirement is close and you've saved almost nothing

This is frightening, and it is worth facing squarely rather than through denial or despair, both of which reason forbids. Three steps: face your true position — what you have, will receive, and will need — because only the real picture lets you act, and there is usually more that can be done than despair admits; direct your effort to the years still ahead, which retain real power to save more sharply, work longer, or lower what you need; and reason toward a modest, sturdy life that fits your means, often far less fearsome than the image you dread. You cannot recover the past. You can still shape what is coming. Let us look at where you actually stand.