7 Steps to Take Now to Catch Up on Retirement Savings Even if your finances weren’t devastated by the pandemic recession, many Americans have not yet started saving. Here’s what you can do. Joni Ratts at her home in Nipomo, Calif. Ms. Ratts needed to reorganize her finances after a difficult divorce. Credit...Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times By John F. Wasik May 8, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET For millions of retirement savers, the pandemic was a gut punch. There was the jarring stock market drop in March 2020, then millions lost their jobs, health insurance and ability to fund their savings. It was a financial catastrophe for many Americans — and they may not recover for years.