Now I remember why I dropped my subscription to Money Magazine. So many times I'd open up my issue hoping to find a pearl of financial wisdom and I'd be disappointed at some of the inane articles and advice I'd read there.

Today they published an interview with economist Laurence Kotlikoff, who believes the financial planning software used by financial planners advises people to save too much for retirement.

What I am saying is that online calculators advise most people to save too much. The same is true with the software that planners use. They start with the assumption that you need 70 percent to 85 percent of your current income to maintain your lifestyle in retirement.

Isn't that a little like saying doctors advise smoking less because your chances of developing lung cancer may be low enough if you only smoke a little?

Can you tell I don't care much for what the on line calculators advise? My position is simple and straightforward: Save 'til it hurts.

Part of the argument presented in the Money Magazine article is that financial planning and retirement calculators estimate that you'll need 70-85 percent of your pre-retirement earnings to cover expenses. They feel like that might bee too much, that realistically the percentage may be lower. I did the math for my own situation. The number I came up with: 72%. It could go a bit lower; and it could go higher, especially if gas prices keep going up like they are. But the 70-85 percent range appears realistic from my own point of view. You should do your own math and decide for yourself how much of your current standard of living you can do without when you retire.

But let's run with this for a bit. Suppose you and I do manage to save too much for retirement. What sort of problems will this bring?

Well for starters we might actually reach our goal of financial independence sooner, rather than later. I think I'm OK with that. How about you?

Suppose you keep on working anyway - not me, but you might decide to keep working. You might end up with a bigger nest egg than you actually need to live off of for the rest of your life. If that happens you'll be faced with a couple of potential problems. You'll need to live longer, spend more or leave a legacy for your kids or through establishing a charitable foundation for instance.

We should all have those kinds of problems.