There was a time when U.S. homeowners could proudly point to their homes as the key to their retirement years. Home values, after all, were soaring every year during the great housing boom. Homeowners could dream of selling their residences for big dollars, enough to fund their retirement plans. However, those days are long gone. Today, even homeowners in the top real estate markets in the country have to scramble to find new ways to boost their retirement savings.

Too many U.S. residents have forgotten how to save for retirement. That’s because they were relying on their homes to constantly increase in value. Unfortunately, with the dawn of the housing crash, and the Great Recession’s lingering after-effects, there’s no guarantee that anyone’s home will increase enough in value to fund retirement. Remember, people are living longer than ever. This is good, but it also means people need more income than ever to make it through their retirement years.

And home values just aren’t increasing enough to provide the money people need. In fact, home values are falling. The National Association of Realtors reported the national median existing-home price for all housing types stood at $170,500 in October. That’s down 0.9 percent from one year earlier.

Those homeowners who purchased their homes at the peak of the real estate boom – in 2004, 2005 or early 2006 – are often underwater. Their homes have lost value since they purchased them, so they owe more on their mortgage loans than what their homes are worth.

Even though home values have dipped, there has been no let-up in the importance of saving for retirement. This means, then, U.S. residents have to look for other means to fund their retirement years.

Those who work for companies offering 401(k) plans need to invest as much as they can every pay period into their accounts. This will help boost their retirement dollars at a far faster clip.

Those who don’t work for such companies will have to open their own retirement savings accounts, such as traditional IRA or a Roth IRA.  Again, it’s important for residents to invest as much as possible into their retirement savings accounts if they want to maximize the amount of retirement money they have available to them after they turn 59-and-a-half.

Accumulating enough retirement savings has never been an easy task. It’s more difficult than ever today. Fortunately, those residents who take the time today to start investing in a retirement savings account will greatly increase their odds of being able to live comfortably once their working years are behind them.

Those who continue to rely solely on their homes to provide their retirement savings? The odds are good they’ll be struggling financially long after they’ve sold off their homes.