What do these things have in common? Your daughter’s wedding, turning 40 and retirement.

You thought that day would never come.

But it did - or it will.

Just ask your mom, the neighbor next door or grandpa who will all tell you, “Life goes by quickly”.

As Americans, we got pretty skilled at living in the now and putting off the future.

 We used credit cards because we could “buy now and pay later”. (And then the creditor starting calling).

We borrowed for a home we really couldn’t afford because we were sure our incomes would continue to increase. (Now we are kept awake at night trying to find creative ways to pay next month’s mortgage).

And now we appear to be raiding our nest egg acting as though “that day will never come”.

Unfortunately, more and more of us are raiding our 401(k) plans, paying the tax penalty as we go, and mortgaging our retirement in the process.

Hewitt Associates found that “’an alarmingly high’ 46 percent of workers with a 401(k) plan who quit their jobs in 2008 took a cash distribution rather than keep their tax-deferred savings by rolling the money over to an individual retirement account or leaving it with their old employer.”

The “National Retirement Risk Index” as calculated by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College indicates that “a record 51 percent of American households are now considered at risk of not having enough money to sustain their standard of living in retirement.”

 Clearly, the recession is affecting more than jobs, our lifestyles or holiday spending plans.

Denial of our credit problems or our mortgage blunders only made things worse.

Necessary borrowing becomes harder if you have not been paying your bills on time. And too many are now fighting just to stay in their homes due to insufficient reserves in the past.

So why make the same mistake with your retirement?

Sooner rather than later, Susie will put on that wedding gown. And you may alarmed to see that invitation to your twenty-five year high school year reunion.

But those events may pale in comparison to the shock you’ll discover if your retirement expenses exceed your retirement savings.

As bad as it may seem now, at least you probably have your health, a job or some prospects, and even compound interest on your side.

At 65 or 70, those things change.

Raiding the retirement piggy bank for cash may provide some immediate relief.

But at what long term cost?