I'm 45 this year. I have no substantial investments. I made $70,000. This past year. What amount of my monthly income should I put away and what's the best place to put it to have a workable retirement fund?

Retirement may seem far away but you are really in a hole by starting to save for retirement at age 45. If your company has a 401(k) I recommend saving enough money in your company's plan to maximize their company match (assuming they have one).

After that I would try to max out a Roth IRA (which is $4,000 a year this year and $5,000 a year starting next year). Once you max out your Roth, it's probably best to increase the percentage you are saving in your 401(k). If you company doesn't have a 401(k) use a traditional IRA as a substitute.

If you want a decent nestegg when you retire, you might want to think about saving at least 15% of your gross wages each year. Honestly, you might need to save 20%+ because you only have 20 years to save until you retire.

As far as where to put it, I like Vanguard personally. Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Legg Mason are all good mutual fund companies as well. If you know nothing about investing, invest your money into a target retirement fund that matches the year you expect to retire. That one fund will make sure you are diversified and will invest your money in assets that are appropriately risky based on your age and years until retirement.