Retirement planning is essential, and starting early can alleviate future pressure. The first step is estimating your retirement corpus, which involves calculating your current monthly expenses, adjusting for inflation, and applying the '25-30 times' rule to estimate the total amount needed. It’s important to diversify investments into three buckets: a growth bucket for long-term gains, a stability bucket for risk management, and an income bucket for retirement phase income. Regular reviews of your plan and incremental increases in your investments are crucial for building a robust retirement fund. Common pitfalls include withdrawing from long-term investments prematurely and failing to account for inflation, which can significantly impact the final corpus. A disciplined approach, even if started late, can help achieve retirement goals effectively.