Retirement may be our nation’s next four-letter word.

According to a study recently released by the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI), the percentage of workers saving for retirement dropped from 75 percent in 2009 to 66 percent last year. And of those surveyed, more than a quarter – some 28 percent – said they had no confidence they would be able to retire comfortably when the time came. Another 21 percent said there weren’t “too confident” they could retire confidently.

So half of our workers are facing a bleak retirement, with little confidence in their ability to pay bills and provide for economic needs. And Social Security, once thought to be a program to provide those much-needed benefits when we aged out of the workforce – won’t be able to provide much help, offering only a meager monthly income that won’t fully cover a retiree’s needs.

So what are we to do? Corporations and employers urge employees to save and plan now for their retirements, but we need more than simple urging. We need better savings instruments and more incentives to help American workers save and prepare for their retirement. Ignoring the problem now will only compound the issues and problems we face as generations age and incomes disappear.