“Without them, without a pay-yourself system that automatically puts money aside,” Brinks adds, “the average young person will be overwhelmed by messages to buy now and won’t be able to save.”

However, the problem of under-saving for retirement is more widespread, according to a new survey of workplace professionals.

And these woes are not only a young person’s problem. The increasing use of freelancers has meant millions of American workers have irregular incomes, making it more challenging to save and invest regularly, advisors say.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that Americans generally save just 6.88% of their disposable income, more than those in Canada or Australia, but less than those in countries like Germany, Switzerland, South Korea and Ireland.

“The research shows there is definitely room for improvement,” says Jon Brodsky, CEO (USA) of Finder. “Americans have the highest average disposable income of all the nationalities included in the study, yet we save less than 7% of it.” He noted that some countries are saving almost 20% of their disposable income.

A recent survey by Express Employment Professionals of white collar, blue collar and grey collar workers (the last falling somewhere between blue and white collar) found many are not on track for retirement planning goals.

“The majority of the workforces are worried about saving enough for retirement,” according to the survey, which explained why people save too little. “Almost one in three are drowning in debt.”

The survey also found that 62% of blue collar workers are still paying off student loans, as are 45% of grey collar and 40% of white collar workers.

So perhaps advisors need to aim for a higher retirement savings figure than 10%, a number often suggested as a good beginning amount. It is possible, Ward says, to do 50% better than that over the long term.

Ward says it is possible to reach the 15% savings goal by working in steps. Moving toward that goal, she adds, can happen in the workplace. She adds that many offer a service that will automatically increase retirement plan contributions by one percentage point each year.