You might not see it on your calendar, but Oct. 18--24 is National Save for Retirement Week. This event, endorsed by Congress, is designed to promote the benefits of saving for retirement and to encourage workers to take full advantage of their employer-sponsored retirement plans -- so you may want to use this week as a starting point to do just that.

For many of us, the need to boost our retirement savings is critical. In fact, some 53 percent of Americans report that the total value of their household's savings and investments, excluding the value of their primary home and any defined benefit plans, is less than $25,000, according to the 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey, sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Also, the decline in popularity of these defined benefit plans -- the traditional pension plans that make payments based primarily on years of service -- is one reason that saving for retirement has become such a major issue. From 1986 to 2008, participation in defined benefit plans among full-time workers in private industry declined from 76 percent to 24 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In many cases, these defined benefit plans have been replaced by defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans -- which means that much of the responsibility of adequately funding retirement has shifted from the employer to the individual.

Given these factors, it's clear that you must be proactive in building resources to achieve the retirement lifestyle you've envisioned. So, consider taking the following steps:

By making the right moves, you can turn every week into a "Save for Retirement" week. And you'll probably be glad you did, once your actual retirement week arrives.