By diverting a portion of your paycheck into a tax-advantaged retirement savings plan, for example, your wealth can grow exponentially to help you achieve peace of mind for those so-called golden years. Yet only about half of current employees understand the benefits offered to them, according to a January survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. For example, k contributions are made with pre-tax dollars, which reduces your taxable income. Roth IRAs, in contrast, are funded with after-tax dollars but withdrawals are tax-free. When trying to decide whether to invest in a k at work or an individual retirement account IRAgo with the k if you get a company match — or do both if you can afford it. And consider increasing your annual contribution, since many plans start you off at a paltry deferral level that is not enough to ensure retirement security. Roughly half of k plans that offer automatic enrollment, according to Vanguard, use a default savings deferral rate of just 3 pe...