Early retirement, or retirement at all, is only financially feasible if you've got enough money stowed away in the bank.

And with baby boomers' have-to-have-it mentality, more people may soon be faced with a reality check - either they work past typical retirement age or forego some of the creature comforts to which they've grown accustomed.

That's according to Ted Sarenski, a certified financial planner with Dermody, Burke & Brown in Auburn. Sarenski has had to tell several people in their 40s and 50s that they will have to work longer to obtain their retirement goals because of their lack of planning, and he predicts that is only going to happen more frequently as millions of baby boomers prepare to retire.

About 25 to 30 percent of his clients aren't financially ready to retire, a number that is probably higher for the general population, considering Sarenski's clients tend to be on the affluent side.

In order to plan accordingly, Sarenski recommends taking stock of your current and future expenses.

“Don't think you're going to be able to live on less when you're not working anymore,” he warns. “As we age, even though we've had medical advancements, those medical advancements cost more. Your cost of care is going to go up.”

It's also important to consider longer life expectancies - you may live another 20 years even if you retire at 70 - and inflation.

“If you stopped working and you have a certain amount of money coming in and now it's buying less, that hurts,” Sarenski says.

The good news is that even if you have to work longer, the labor force's transition from manufacturing, labor-intensive jobs to more service-oriented, mental jobs can make it easier to do so, he adds.

If you leave the workforce and find that you can't make ends meet, Sarenski advises applying for a part-time job or cutting back on superfluous expenses like going out to eat.