Ho! Ho! Ho! You should save more!

Ho! Ho! Ho! This is Santa. And I've delivered a great big stock market gain to you this year. And the year before. In fact, you've been getting honking big gains in your stocking since 2009. Sorry, you were naughty in 2007 and 2008.

But let's not dwell on that, or the 2005 noodle incident. All water under the bridge. Ho! Ho! Ho! You must be pretty happy now with those big wads of cash under the – what?

My jolly elves say you haven't been in the market. You've been pulling money out of the market. Some of you haven't even been saving!

Now, listen up, whippersnappers. I haven't been sitting behind Blitzen for two millennia just so you can waste a perfectly good bull market. You need to start saving.

The best way to save is to put a little aside each paycheck. Yes, I know things are tough all over, and it's hard to save. You haven't had a raise in nearly a decade, which is why you should look for work at some other company than Scrooge & Marley. But that's another story.

If you're like most people, that amount you wanted to save each week went to unexpected expenses, like new shoes for Cousin Dick's wedding, or a new infundibulum for the Volkwagen. It's really best if you never see the money hit your bank account, or if you have a set amount withdrawn each payday.

Fortunately, there's not a financial services company on the planet that's not happy to suck money from your account at regular intervals. Start with the best method, which is a 401(k) plan with a company match. You have three advantages here.

The first advantage: Free money, if your company matches your contribution. Ho! Ho! Ho! Why would anyone turn that down? But about 32% of people who have 401(k) plans available don't participate. They leave free money on the table. That's not naughty. It's dumb.

The second reason: The money you put in a 401(k) disappears before it hits your bank account, so you won't fritter it away on elf booties or stuffed antlers for your car windows. And it's pre-tax money, which means you don't miss it as much as you'd suspect.

Suppose, for example, your gross salary is $1,000 a week. You're married, claim two exemptions, and pay 6% state taxes. Your take-home pay: $787 after federal and state taxes, says Bank Rate Montor's 401(k) calculator. Contribute 5% of your salary, and your pay will fall just $40 a week. Can't afford that? Start at 3%. Your pay will fall $24 a week. You can do that.

The third advantage: If you really need the money, you can get it. Financial planners give this an 11 on the naughtiness scale, and for good reason: Taking withdrawals from your retirement plan puts a bigger dent in your retirement plan than the one Dasher got when he ran over grandma with a reindeer.

But if you're out of work and the bank is about to foreclose and you have no other recourse, you may be able to take a hardship withdrawal. You'll still owe your taxes on the amount you withdraw, but you'll still have some money available as a last-ditch strategy. And if you're still working, your company may allow you to borrow from your plan in a pinch.

Not everyone has access to a 401(k) plan, however, which means that the next best strategy for them is an automatic investment plan. Basically, you give the company your checking account information and instruct them how much to withdraw at regular intervals.

For many fund companies, you'll have to save the minimum investment amount before starting an automatic investment plan. At Vanguard, for example, $1,000 will get you entry to Vanguard Target Retirement Funds and Vanguard STAR Fund. (You'll need $3,000 for most other Vanguard funds). They're good, low-cost basic investments. After you make the $1,000 minimum, you can invest in $50 increments.

And a few very nice companies will let you start with $100 or less. Charles Schwab, for example, will let you start an individual retirement account with $100. The Ariel funds will let you start with $50 a month. And TDAmeritrade has no minimum investment to open an account.

Investing a fixed amount of money in stocks at regular intervals has one other advantage: Dollar-cost averaging. When stocks rise, you buy fewer shares with your money. When stocks fall, you buy more shares. In other words, you're buying more shares when prices are low, and fewer when prices are high.

Consider the past 15 years, which were marked by two abominable bear markets. If you had invested $100 a month into the Ariel fund, you'd have $41,523 in your account at the end of November. Had you invested that in ultrasafe three-month Treasury bills, you'd have $19,579. A 10-year Treasury note? $23,324.

Clearly, you can't retire on the proceeds from $100 a month in savings, even if you retire to the North Pole. You wouldn't believe how much elves can eat. But it's a start. If you save regularly, and increase your saving when you can, you'll be a whole lot merrier.