Contract or self-employed workers who don't have access to company-sponsored retirement plans should explore the many options out there to save on their own. There are many retirement savings vehicles available to contractors, as long as they are pulling in a steady stream of income.

The first step for anyone looking to increase their retirement savings is to come up with a savings goal, says Victor Guettlein, president of BluePrint Financial Services in Arvada, Colo. "How much do you want to save for a given year and how consistent can you be with it? That's going to determine the types of vehicles available," he said. "You have to start with the end in mind. You have to look at income and tax status, what is your time horizon, how long until you will be retiring and tapping into your money."

Most people know about traditional individual retirement accounts and Roth IRAs, but there also are simplified employee pension individual retirement arrangements (SEP IRA), Simple IRAs, traditional pension plans and solo 401(k)s.