3 Hacks for Crushing Your Retirement Goals | Personal Finance

In this scenario, by contributing an extra $750 per year (which comes out to around $63 per month) and earning an additional $750 per year from your employer, you can boost your lifetime savings by around $300,000.

One other thing to keep in mind is that because the amount you receive in matching contributions is typically a percentage of your salary, you'll receive more from your employer as your salary increases. By consistently maxing out your employer match as you receive raises and bonuses, your total savings will skyrocket over time.

Christy Bieber: Most people want to start saving early and aspire to max out their employer match. But actually following through on investing for the future is a lot harder than planning to invest.

Unfortunately, life often gets in the way and money you hoped to invest for retirement ends up spent on other things. The best way to make sure that doesn't happen is to not give yourself a choice. You want to take the effort out of investing by automating the process.

It's pretty easy to do this with a 401(k). You just sign up with your employer to have contributions taken out of your paychecks before you receive the money. But you can, and should, also do this with other retirement investing accounts such as an IRA or health savings account.