Q: I have only $20,000 saved for retirement and am 50 years old. I know I have to get going, but my head is swimming with things I have heard about a deferred compensation plan and a 403(b) variable annuity at work. I’m a teacher, and can use either of the plans. But some people at work say the annuity isn’t good and the deferred compensation plan is better. I tried to get help from a person in benefits, but they sounded like they were talking in code. So I haven’t been doing anything, although I did pay off my house. What should I do? – K.D., Minneapolis

A: You are right: You have to get going.

Rather than being afraid of choosing the wrong retirement savings plan, you should be more worried about the dismal future you could face if you keep spinning your wheels.

Say you leave $20,000 invested in a strong mixture of stocks and bonds. If you had an 8 percent annual return in the next 15 years, you would end up with about $63,400. If the money is simply in a savings account, you will probably end up with less than $27,000.

Either way, your savings aren’t going to carry you far in retirement.

There’s a rule of thumb that if you want your savings to last through 30 years of retirement, you cannot remove more than 4 percent each year, then adjust it each year for inflation.

Under that formula, if you accumulated $63,400 by the time you retire, you would have $2,536 for living expenses the first year away from work – about $211 a month.

To put it into perspective, consider that Medicare doesn’t cover all medical expenses during retirement. So retirees typically buy extra medical insurance. That alone runs about $150 a month now per person. Although some teachers may not receive Social Security benefits, most people who do overestimate what that amount will be. The average is about $1,011 a month.

The good news for you is that your home is paid off. Still, there will be property taxes, utilities and upkeep.

If you happen to have a pension, and have been in your job for many years, it might provide a nice sum – perhaps about 60 percent of your annual income on the job.

If that’s the case, you won’t have a luxurious retirement, but you will probably get by. Financial planners frequently recommend that people have at least enough money from savings, pensions and Social Security to give them about 70 percent of what they were used to during their last year of work.

But do not take the prospect of a pension for granted: Even as a teacher, you might not have one. And because pensions are based on the years of service, your benefit could be small if you are relatively new to your job. Contact your benefits office, and find out what to expect. If your pension income turns out to be disappointing, you need to start saving quickly.