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A retirement savings plan is essential to your future financial security. Where to put the money is not the issue. There are many places to put your retirement savings. Finding the money to put in the plan is the concern. Here's how to start one for yourself, FAST!

The old-school advice, Pay Yourself First, is without doubt, the best financial advice you'll ever get. If you don't pay you, who will? How do you manage that? Here's how.

From every dollar that comes in the door, take 10% off the top and put it in an account that you have designated for your retirement savings plan. If you have debt and lots of past due bills, this is probably a scary idea. What do I say to that? JUST DO IT! Making the firm commitment to yourself to operate on 90% of your income is half the battle. As time passes, you'll find you have adjusted to operating on less money.

The biggest benefit of this self imposed retirement savings plan is the peace of mind you'll have just knowing the money is there and that you are building your own financial security. You will find that you actually stop worrying about money. You will actually start sleeping better at night just knowing the cash is there.

Think you cannot possibly put away the whole 10% to start with? Take a look at your income from a different point of view. Review all of the suppliers you pay out of your cash flow every month and get the idea that these suppliers are all on your payroll. Is there anyone you can terminate and not really miss? Is there anyone you can cut back to part timer status? Just look at the invoices that arrive every month, and/or those automatic deductions from your accounts and you'll see exactly who is on your 'payroll'.

Here is an example. I was working with a business owner who was having a difficult time cutting operating expenses back 10% to fund his retirement savings plan. We looked at each expense from the viewpoint that the vendor was on his 'payroll.'

Right away we were starting to play a game of firing suppliers like the extra $9.95 per month third-party fraud protection on each of his credit cards. We cancelled the expiring contract on some advertising that wasn't bringing in any new business and found a more cost effecrtive alternative and saved $280 a month. We consolidated a portion of his debt to a low interest loan and saved over $300 in monthly finance charges. We sold a lease-purchase piece of equipment he was not using and paid off the balance. That gained him $239 a month. We even fired his bank and moved his accounts to one with no monthly account charges and got the old bank off his payroll to the tune of $25 a month. Now he has a nice pension fund building up each month.

Why is controlling the flow of money so important? It is the energy and life blood of a business. It is vital to pump it through the income generating areas first to keep it running well. Everything runs much more smoothly when enoughcash is available. And that includes you, the owner of the company. The Money Management Solutions software guides you towards making the best possible decisions about how to use your money to generate more profits and build wealth.

You can make a fun retirement savings plan building game with your company's cash just by changing your viewpoint about how you will use the money. Be the Donald Trump of your own organization. Take a really close look at who you are paying out of your hard earned cash flow. Don't be reluctant to say 'You're Fired!' and pay yourself 10% first by setting aside that cash in your own retirement savings plan.

Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, has years of experience helping professionals and individuals manage their money to become debt free. To learn more about the Money Management Software she created, watch the FREE 5-minute demo video on her website at www.moneymgmtsolutions.com