The acronym S.T.A.S.H. represents the top five things you should be thinking about in order to start saving for retirement. Award-winning author and retirement expert, Anne Lester, joined Robert 'Bob' Powell on the debut episode of Decoding Retirement to discuss the acronym mentioned in Lester's book, 'Your Best Financial Life: Save Smart Now for the Future You Want'.

S.T.A.S.H. stands for the five things the next generation should be thinking about to build their retirement savings.

S. Save for a rainy day

T. Tax advantage savings

A. Assess your budget and pay off debt

S. Stay the course and max out your retirement savings

H. Have fun!

Lester explained, "I think executing that S.T.A.S.H. is really about making sure you've got the emergency savings fund. You have eliminated all of your high interest rate debt, and you are putting 10 to 15 percent into that long-term savings."

Retirement planning doesn’t mean locking up your money for a rainy day and forgetting about it. Planning your future means reacting to events today. Decoding Retirement gives you the tools to navigate the years ahead, and take action now!

Yahoo Finance's Decoding Retirement is hosted by Robert Powell, and produced by Zach Faulds and Alexander Frangeskides.

Find episodes of Decoding Retirement at http://goldberglawma.com/?id=videos/series/decoding-retirement.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

Editor's note: This post was written by Zach Faulds.