That's what many older women chant these days. The reason: Like most women, they didn't start thinking about their retirement planning until they had suddenly reached their 30s or 40s and realized how much valuable time they had lost.

Yes, it's difficult to think about retirement when you're young. For one thing, it's hard to believe you'll ever be as old as 40, much less 59 or 65. For another, you have plenty of other financial pressures to contend with: paying down your student loans, managing your credit card debt, saving for a down payment on a car or just managing to cover the rent each month.

But while all that may be true, it's also true that if you start saving for retirement now, you have the best shot at attaining long-term control over your finances and ending up your life in comfort.

Watch the Money Grow

Just watch what happens if you open an individual retirement account now and start contributing to it each year. (If you need to learn more about how to work with IRAs check out, IRA:Traditional or Roth).The first year you open an IRA you'll invest $2,000, which is the maximum annual contribution. That $2,000 will be invested in mutual funds, stocks or bonds that will provide a return within the IRA account. By the end of the first year you'll have the original $2,000 investment, plus any income it has earned. Now you've got $2,000 earning interest plus interest earning interest. And on top of that you'll make another $2,000 contribution the second year. The entire sum will earn interest and so on.