How to Restore Confidence in Your Retirement Fund

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Is your retirement plan losing some luster?

If so, you're hardly alone.

The Employee Benefits Research Institute estimates about half of all U.S. adults are either "not at all confident" or "not too confident" in their ability to retire comfortably.

The EBRI data say that only 18% of Americans are "very confident" about the financial stability of their retirements.

One reason is that U.S. workers have unrealistic expectations about how much money they'll need to retire and live the life they expect. Some 43% say they are targeting saving up to 30% of their annual income on a yearly basis, but that would be too low, according to most financial advisers. The expert estimate: Workers will need to save about two-thirds of their annual income for a comfortable ride through their golden years.

Another 46% of EBRI respondents say they haven't even bothered to calculate how much money they'll need for retirement, and only 2% of workers rate "saving for retirement" as their most important personal financial goal.

Suzanna de Baca, vice president of wealth strategies at Ameriprise Financial reached out and sent along some tips on what Americans can do to improve their confidence in retirement: