ARE you aged 40 and you do not have retirement savings? Well, its not too late and there's is still hope for you, says Kenny Meiring.

"The first thing to know is how much retirement income you need and this differs from person to person," Meiring says.

One can use a financial adviser for the costing or use the following basic rule of thumb. This means a person will need to multiply his or her monthly needs by 240 times to get an idea of how much will be needed when he or she is retired.

"If you think you will need R10000 a month when you retire, your savings at the time of retirements should amount to R2,4 million," Meiring says.

"You need to look at your current expenses and deduct those that you will not have when you retire, such as school or university fees, bond or car payments. There are also expenses that will increase, such as medical expenses and leisure pursuits.

"The longer you have until retirement the less you need to save each month," Meiring says.

Using the same formula if you plan to retire in 25 years' time, at age 65, you should be saving R6244 a month. Usually, employees contribute 7,5 percent of salary and the employer matches this amount.

A 40-year-old earning R20000 a month would contribute R3000, which is less than half of the original savings estimate of R6244.

Meiring says there are other ways to make up for any shortfall, such as paying an extra R145 a month into the pension fund or taking out a retirement annuity with a monthly premium of R145.