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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - I'm 54 and have no retirement plan at work. In fact, because of a divorce and other issues, I have nothing to rely on except Social Security and $110,000 I recently received from selling my home. I know nothing about investing, but there must be something I can do.

-- Gabriela Beach, Somers, Connecticut

First, some good news. I agree that at your age you would ideally like to have much more socked away. But you're better off than a lot of people. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2005 Retirement Confidence Survey, only 42 percent of people 55 and older have $100,000 or more tucked away in retirement savings (though many people still own their homes).

And if you earn a reasonable annual return of, say, 7 percent on your home-sale stash between now and the time you hit 65, you would have a nest egg of more than $230,000.

That doesn't count any additional money you throw in between now and the time you retire.

So your situation is far from bleak -- and there are still plenty of things you can do improve your prospects.

Here's what I recommend:

You say your current employer doesn't have a retirement plan. Well, you can still save up to $4,500 this year in an IRA account ($4,000 regular contribution and a $500 catch-up for people 50 and older), and that annual maximum increases to $6,000 ($5,000, plus $1,000 catch-up) in 2008.

I recommend a Roth IRA, in which your forego a tax-break on contributions for the right to withdraw funds tax free in retirement.

And don't stop there. Try to save even more in regular old mutual funds. To avoid procrastination, sign up for an automatic investing plan that moves money from your checking account to your investment account each month. Virtually all fund companies offer such plans.

Aggressive but prudent? I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but what I'm talking about is putting enough in stock funds to give you high enough returns, but not so much that you get totally hammered if the market goes into one of its periodic funks.

To translate this approach into a strategy as well as specific investments, I suggest you check out the "Investing Strategies for Retirement" from MONEY's November issue, as well as it's companion piece, "A plan for every stage".

One great way for people like yourself to make up for getting a late start on saving for retirement is to take a job after leaving your regular career. By earning the extra money, you'll be able to reduce the amount you withdraw from your retirement savings, which will allow your nest egg to replenish itself a bit and reduce the odds that it will run down before you do.

But wanting to work in retirement and actually getting a job you like and that pays decently can be two different things. You'll increase your chances of success by doing a bit of homework beforehand, as a colleague of mine, Pat Regnier, explains in ""How retirement will change."

And while I recommend working in retirement both as a way to earn extra cash to stretch your nest egg and to remain socially engaged, you've also got to be realistic about how much you can earn and how long you'll work.

For more on that, see this previous column of mine on that subject.

(For those of you who are closer to calling it a career and would like to check out the retirement job scene, I suggest you check out Retiredbrains.com, which allows retirees to post résumés and search job listings, and AARP's Money and Work center, where, among other things, you'll find a list of companies, such as Borders and Home Depot, willing to hire older workers.

This should be enough to get you started. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you diligently follow this advice, you'll have a very good shot at being able to have a secure and fulfilling retirement.

But don't procrastinate. The sooner you start, the more you'll be able to enjoy yourself after you retire.

Walter Updegrave is a senior editor at MONEY Magazine and is the author of "We're Not in Kansas Anymore: Strategies for Retiring Rich in a Totally Changed World."

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