Financial freedom. It's what we all really want. The question is: how do we get there?

One key component to achieving financial freedom is creating a retirement plan.

Building the nest egg you need doesn't happen on its own.

Most people only save enough to get 20-30% of the investments they need for the retirement lifestyle they envision.

Creating your retirement plan can be fun. It makes you wealthier. It's not about your money – it's about your life.

This article is one of the Must Read posts on my blog. It originally appeared in MoneySaver Magazine.

Listen to the podcast episode to learn:

• How investing in the stock market can close the percentage gap.
• Why it's important to educate yourself on equity investing.
• 4 key steps to creating a retirement plan.
• Why you need to define the retirement lifestyle you want.
• How to determine your "magic" retirement number.
• The easiest way to calculate how much you should invest.
• 4 options for creating a doable retirement plan.